Car of the Day - Bentley Continental GTZ Zagato

Car of the Day - Bentley Continental GTZ Zagato

Bentley CEO, Dr. Ing. Franz Josef Paefgen and Zagato President Dr. Andrea Zagato met at the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance and agreed to a deal for the Carrozzeria to design a limited production car on the Continental platform. Undoubtably the success of the Ferrari 575 GTZ, which was presented at the 2006 Villa D'Este Concourse helped in this decision.

Zagato followed the 2006 Ferrari GTZ with the 2007 Maserati GS Zagato, again presented at Villa D'Este. The Maserati used a different design language to the Ferrari, while still a beautiful car it was a nowhere near as successful a design. The styling cues of the 575 GTZ were not only carried over for the Bentley, it actually looks like the original design was ovelayed on the Continental profile and stretched to meet the envelope and then the Bentley front fascia added. Obviously the proportions of the Bentley do not allow that design to be as sleek and it was not as well recieved when unveiled at the 78th Geneva International Motor Show in 2008.

Perhaps suffering from the obvious comparision to the Ferrari, the Continental GTZ is still a stunning and individualistic car. The car itself is imposing and the design obviously Zagato, a design I feel will age well and become a classic of the start of a modern period of renewed interest in carrozzeria style production.

Rod Halligan