Bentley Continental GTZ Zagato

You’d think that having spent at least $200,000 on a Bentley Continental GT Speed, most folks would be satisfied. And you’d be right. But if you don’t want to drive just any Bentley Continental GT Speed, Andrea Zagato has a deal for you. For an extra $340,000 to $370,000 — yes, that’s extra, on top of the MSRP — Zagato will give your GT Speed a brand-new body. 

Zagato has nine firm orders, deposits paid, for the Bentley Continental GTZ, which made its world debut at the Geneva show. At least five are for U.S. customers. Andrea Zagato says the company will build somewhere between nine and 99 of the cars. “We made 99 of the Aston (DB7 Vantage Zagato), but I think this one will be more oriented toward nine cars,” he says. The inspiration for the Conti GTZ came directly from Bentley boss Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, who met with Andrea Zagato at the Pebble Beach Concours two years ago. Paefgen wanted to know whether there had been any Zagato-bodied Bentleys. “I went back through the archives and found we had done lots of cars — I even found a Zagato-bodied Rolls-Royce from 1926 — but we had never done a Bentley,” Zagato recalls. “Dr. Paefgen suggested we do one.” Zagato worked closely with Bentley to ensure no loss of quality or driveability. While every body panel is new, the car retains much of the Conti’s original structure under the skin. The windshield and A-pillars are carryover items because it made no sense for Zagato to attempt to develop seals that matched the originals in terms of their ability to suppress wind noise. The people who buy a Conti GTZ are spending a lot of money to buy a future classic, Zagato says. “These cars are for collectors,” he adds. “They will not be driven every day.” And despite the steep pricetag, Zagato insists they’re good investments — he claims the Zagato-bodied Ferrari 575 GTZ shown two years ago is now worth three times the cost of its new body. “The Continental GTZ is like a painting you can drive every day.”

Rival designers have mixed opinions on the Conti GTZ, partly because Dirk van Braeckel’s original design is such an accomplished piece of work, and partly because Zagatos, with their characteristic “double-bubble” roof, can be something of an acquired taste. But the Zagato aficionados will love it. And for the guy who can drive anything, it’s a Bentley like no other.

Source: Motortrend.com