The Continental GT's conceptual lineage traces to 1994, when Rolls-Royce Motors — which then owned the Bentley brand — previewed the Concept Java at the Geneva Motor Show. The Java was intended as a smaller, more affordable yet still exclusive Bentley to generate increased sales volume. While that concept never reached production in its original form, the Continental GT fulfilled its vision, offering a price at launch less than half that of the previous Continental R.
The Continental GT debuted at the 2002 Paris Motor Show and went on sale in 2003. It was powered by a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine producing 560 PS, transmitted through a Torsen-based permanent four-wheel-drive system. The car could accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and reach a top speed of 318 km/h.
The convertible variant, the Continental GTC, followed in 2006 with a power-operated roof produced by Karmann in Osnabrück. The GT Speed variant, introduced for the 2008 model year, raised output to 608 PS and added uprated suspension and wider sports exhaust outlets.
The most powerful first-generation model was the Continental Supersports, announced in February 2009. Its W12 engine was rated at 630 PS and the car could reach 330 km/h, making it the fastest and most powerful production Bentley at the time of its release. The Supersports was also the first Bentley capable of running on both conventional fuel and E85 ethanol. A Supersports Convertible followed in 2010.
The second generation was unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. A significant addition was the Continental GT V8, introduced for 2012 with a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine developed jointly with Audi, producing 500 hp. The V8 featured cylinder deactivation technology that could shut down half the cylinders under light loads, improving fuel economy by around 40 percent compared with the W12. Higher-performance V8 S and GT Speed variants followed, with the 2017 Continental Supersports — available in coupe and convertible form — producing 710 PS, making it the most powerful production Bentley at that time. Only 710 Supersports were built.
Unveiled at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, the third-generation Continental GT shared the Volkswagen MSB platform with the second-generation Porsche Panamera. It featured a lighter body, an extended wheelbase, and a 48-volt roll-control system. The body was notable for being the first production car to have an entire body side manufactured using the Super Formed process, a precision technique that molds heated aluminium sheets using gas pressure rather than conventional stamping. The enhanced W12 TSI engine produced 635 PS. A twin-turbocharged V8 variant producing 550 PS was added in 2019. Third-generation models also introduced a rotating dashboard display as a standard feature.
The fourth generation Continental GT Speed was publicly debuted at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It replaced the W12 engine with a twin-turbocharged Ultra Performance Hybrid V8 producing 782 PS and 1,000 Nm of torque, enabling a 0–100 km/h time of 3.2 seconds. A 25.9 kWh plug-in battery mounted behind the rear axle provides an electric-only range of 81 kilometres. The Mulliner variant added exclusive visual details including crystal-cut headlamps and a floating diamond grille. A non-hybrid 4.0-litre Continental Supersports producing 666 PS was announced for 2026, weighing just 2,000 kg — the lightest production Bentley ever built.
A Bentley Continental GT Speed driven by four-time World Rally Champion Juha Kankkunen broke the world speed record on ice in early 2007, averaging 321.6 km/h on the frozen Baltic Sea near Oulu, Finland. In February 2011, a Continental Supersports Convertible driven by Kankkunen raised the ice speed record further to 331 km/h, as verified by Guinness World Records.
Bentley developed the Continental GT3 for circuit racing in collaboration with M-Sport, based on the Continental GT V8 coupe with a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 rated at 608 PS and rear-wheel drive. The car entered the Blancpain GT Series in 2014 after completing FIA homologation, and the Team M-Sport car won the Silverstone round of the 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series. In 2015, the Continental GT3 won the Blancpain GT Sprint Series championship with drivers Vincent Abril and Maximilian Buhk, while finishing second in the Endurance Series championship by just three points. At the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour, two Bentley Team M-Sport GT3s finished third and seventh.