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Bentley's surprise sports-car concept aims a fist at Jaguar, Porsche

Bentley's surprise sports-car concept aims a fist at Jaguar, Porsche

Bentley's resurgence in recent years under the wing of the Volkswagen Group reflects the devotion to delivering exactly what a group of well-heeled customers want. The basic Bentley design has not altered much in the past decade, and that's just fine with owners who might otherwise buy a new house or boat instead of another Continental.

But at some point, Bentley's masters want to grow the business. On the high end, that means a new and somewhat un-British SUV that will out-pamper the Rolls-Royce and Mercedes alternatives. And tonight in Geneva, Bentley unveiled a concept that shows another direction it could take — straight at Jaguar, Porsche and other sports car stalwarts.

This is the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6, an ungainly name for a striking two-seat car, wearing a special metallic shade of British racing green, intricate headlights and a numbered grille just like the Bentley Blowers of the '20s. While Bentley declined to talk about how much power the concept held, the current Continental GT Speed makes 626 hp from its W-12 engine; in a smaller, and one assumes lighter, package a car like the Speed 6 concept with the same engine would be a buzz bomb.

Bentley made no promises about building the EXP 10 Speed 6, but the tone from brand chief Wolfgang Durheimer was one of desire rather than duty; there are concepts, and then there are things auto execs really want to build, and the EXP 10 likely falls in the latter category. We'll have more from an up-close look tomorrow.