Bentley's EXP-10 Speed 6 Sports Coupe: The Continental GT's Athletic Little Brother

Meet the world’s prettiest (imho), and most petite, Bentley: the EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept. It’s also one of the first real surprises to come out of the 2015 Geneva Motor Show – nobody really saw it coming. This lower, tighter coupe from the British outfit known for making big and heavy luxury cars is a definite departure for the company.

In Bentley's own words, “It offers thrilling, driver-oriented performance, complete with trademark modern Bentley luxury and effortlessness.”

With the dimensions not as generous as previous Bentleys, this one eschews the 2+2 layout and instead is a simple two-seater. Despite it being easy to spot the styling details that denote its marque, the large meshed grille (with a ‘6’ logo that’s only visible at an angle, a nostalgic nod to Bentley’s heritage), long hood, and muscular haunches that flow over the rear wheels, there’s a lot of new touches here to preview the company’s future designs.

Very obviously, the body itself is more svelte and curvy, the scooped hood has more contour while being more aggressive, the headlamps are sleek new takes on Bentley’s classic double bubble shapes, and the air ducts behind the front wheels are indicators of the EXP 10 Speed 6’s more sporting intentions. Moving to the rear, the shape of the taillights are similar to those we’ve seen on Bentley most recent Continental GT, only halved and expanded width-ways, complementing the similarly shaped exhausts.  

Overall, the lower height and tighter dimensions of the car as well as wheelbase pushed toward all four corners give it a very seductive stance.

Bentley has been silent on the actual specifications but speculation points to it having six cylinders to correlate the Speed 6 name. Whether or not Bentley leafs through the Volkswagen Group’s catalogue or, like the Mulsanne, decided to go in-house, is anyone’s guess. 

Interiors are Bentley’s wheel house. And as much as we love the prospect of a more sporting Bentley, especially one that looks this gorgeous, the interior is drop dead. Bentley says it features “3D quilting, milled directly in to solid straight-grain cherry wood. Each resulting diamond is finished with a copper centre.”

Modern flourishes dressed in classic luxury. Should this car come to market like we see here - fingers crossed – it’s the interior that will really set it apart. Gone are the perceptions of antiquity that have been Bentley interiors before.