Bentley Continental GTC: Women-designed one-off convertible revealed

Bentley has called on three world-class women musicians to craft a one-off Continental GTC V8 Hybrid themed around their musical careers, revealed publicly for the first time at a women-focused Cars and Coffee event in the UK marking International Women’s Day.

Organist and conductor Anna Lapwood, cellist and composer Tina Guo, and Sister Bliss — a founding member of dance act Faithless — visited Bentley’s campus in Crewe, England last year to design the special Continental with consultants from Mulliner, Bentley’s in-house bespoke and coachbuilding division.

In keeping with the theme, the musicians worked with two women design consultants from Bentley’s Mulliner division, who led the project. The Continental GTC is now complete and Bentley has revealed the convertible, dubbed the ‘Extraordinary Women’ car.

The musicians opted for a deep blue-green Peacock Stain exterior paint paired with a Dark Grey Metallic roof. A Tornado Red accent line is applied to the gloss black front bumper and rear diffuser, matching red detailing on the wing mirrors and brake calipers. Peacock Stain is also carried over as an accent on the ten-spoke 22-inch wheels.

Inside, all three musicians collaborated on the main colour palette but each added their own finer details to reflect their individual careers. The seats are wrapped in Imperial Blue leather, matching the exterior paint, contrasted with gold accent hide.

The seats feature contrast blue, red and gold stitching, while the headrests — usually finished in chrome — are painted in Blue Satin to match the cabin. Pillar Box Red has been applied to the inner dials of the rotating display, while the speaker grilles are finished in anodised gold.

Each musician also specified their own bespoke element. Tina Guo selected a Copper Stone dashboard fascia, made from real stone and measuring 0.6mm thick.

Sister Bliss added a soundwave embroidery design - a first for any Bentley - stitched in red thread across the seats, doors and the convertible’s tonneau cover. The soundwave also appears on the treadplates and an animated version is projected onto the ground when the doors are opened.

Anna Lapwood customised the air vents, known within Bentley as ‘Organ Stops’. These controls take inspiration from organ pipes, and Lapwood specified they be finished in 24-carat gold.

The build is finished with a polished stainless steel plaque on the centre console featuring  signatures of the three musicians and a unique Spotify code linking to a playlist curated by Lapwood, Guo and Sister Bliss.

Mechanically, the Continental GTC Speed uses Bentley’s latest hybrid powertrain, combining a twin-turbocharged V8 with a 140kW electric motor for a total output of 575kW and 1000Nm.

This allows the convertible to accelerate from 0–100km/h in 3.4 seconds and reach a top speed of 285km/h, while also offering up to 81km of electric-only driving range.

After its debut over the weekend, the Extraordinary Women Continental GTC now joins Bentley’s UK press fleet for several months. Afterwards, the Continental GTC will be offered for sale.