Just over a decade since their first Bentley modern motorsport-inspired road car, the GT3-R in 2013, the Crewe-based marque is roaring back with the new Continental GT Supersports. Returning to their proprietary lightweight 4-litre V8, rediscovering the sensory joy of burning fossil fuels in the internal combustion engine, and relishing the thrill of road-legal race performance metrics. Celebrating a century since the Supersports (SS) badge was first pinned to a Bentley, Project Mildred (the internal codename) has produced a car worthy of the SS name.
The codename rightly honours Mildred Mary Petre, a British record-breaking racing motorist, who, at the height of the “Bentley Boy” era, showed them how it was done when, in June 1929, she drove a Bentley 4½ Litre at Montlhéry for 24 hours, setting the world record for single-handed endurance driving with an average speed of over 89 miles per hour.
The new Bentley Continental GT Supersports with its prominent front splitter, dive planes and side‑sills.
Powering the new GT Supersports is a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 generating 657bhp and 800Nm of torque, sent solely to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The result is an unfiltered rear-wheel-drive experience, stepping away from the marque’s familiar four-wheel-drive grand-tourer approach.
The transformation goes deeper than engine and drivetrain. Project Mildred has been meticulously engineered to be lighter, sharper and more engaged. The total weight is yet to be fully declared, but claims state “sub‑two‑tonne” for the first time in the modern GT era. The roof panel is carbon‑fibre, the rear seats are discarded in favour of a carbon‑fibre tub, and sound insulation as well as certain driver‑assist systems have been pared back. This is going to be a “heart in your mouth” driving experience.
The performance-oriented rear styling of the new Supersports showing the side‑sills, fixed rear wing and diffuser.
The outer architecture of the car is governed by the aerodynamic requirements to match its performance. A prominent front splitter, dive planes, side‑sills, a fixed rear wing and diffuser, where each element is functional and measured. Bentley claims more than 300kg additional downforce versus the standard GT Speed. In effect, this is the most purposeful exterior a Bentley has seen since the GT3R, yet the detailing remains composed, luxurious and refined.
Inside, the layout is equally intentional. Two lightweight sports seats are mounted lower in the cabin, where high tech materials like carbon‑fibre and Dinamica trims integrate with natural leather and heritage finishings. Limited to 500 units, every specification is individually numbered, ensuring this is a collector’s as well as a driver’s car.
The racing-inspired icabin in the Bentley Continental GT Supersports features just two seats in carbon fibre and Dinamica trim.
Driving dynamics are the showpiece. With the rear track widened and new torque‑vectoring and rear‑steer systems calibrated for this layout, the Supersports is said to corner up to 1.3g on Pirelli Trofeo RS tyres, roughly 30 percent faster in lateral speed than the standard GT. The narrative here is less about straight‑line top speed – quoted at around 192 mph – and more about the quality of the drive, the interaction of driver and machine.
What makes Project Mildred so compelling is the shift in focus. A new CEO, Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, with a career history at Porsche developing their GT race cars, has started to instil a similar ethos at Bentley, returning it to its racing history. In an era of mega‑hybrids and electric grand tourers, Bentley has chosen to go back to purity, smaller cylinder count, rear‑wheel drive, weight reduction, driver engagement. It signals not just a new car, but a renewed statement of intent.
Built for performance, the driver orientated Bentley Continental GT Supersports is lighter, quicker, and more powerful.
For the serious collector‑driver who values heritage as much as horsepower, whose ideal weekend run spans sweeping corners rather than straights, the new Supersports is a singular proposition. Bentley’s Project Mildred is the marque’s most focused Grand Tourer yet, luxurious, powerful and breathtakingly beautiful. It is the most modern Bentley‑of‑Bentleys to drive.
Author: Andrew Hildreth
Other articles on Bentley you may like include the Blower works team at Le Mans, the Continental V8 GT Convertible, and racing at Le Mans in the 1927 Team Car “Bitch”.
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