The Bentley Continental GT first debuted in the 2003 model year. Before the sleek and smooth fastback coupe hit the streets, there was only the Bentley Brooklands if you wanted to go the coupe route with the overtly British nameplate. The older stogie Brooklands was true to Bentley cache, but the GT incorporated that panache with a new age of styling for the brand.
Back in '03 the GT was a departure from anything the Bentley nameplate offered before. It quickly caught the eyes of athletes and Hollywood celebrities alike. Famed Musician Prince even owned a baby blue one. In its day, it was touted as the perfect blend of posh, style, sport, and comfort. Affording its occupants the luxuries of the day and the effortless performance on tap at any moment.
First, let's take a closer look at the Bentley GT and what makes it valuable.
What Makes The Bentley GT So Special?
It was the first delve into fastback coupe designs for the brand. The British luxury brand focused on stately large land yachts with performance. The lower-tiered fast-back Bentley GT was almost unbecoming compared to the brand's lineage of silhouettes. The Bentley nameplate is born from sport performance, and it was only a matter of time before they designed a fastback coupe.
Inspired by the Rides of a Sultan
The Continental GT was born roughly ten years after the reveal of the Bentley Java Concept. The Java Concept made its first appearance on the worldwide stage in 1994 at the Geneva International Auto Show. The Concept was designed by Rolls Royce Head of Design Graham Hull. Based on the BMW E34 5 Series platform, the ride was powered by BMW’s twin-turbocharged V8 launching it from 0-60 in 5.6 seconds.
The Bentley concept car was only meant to be a show car, but being the coach builders, they are, when a client asked, they produced 18 units. More specifically, they manufactured six coupes, six convertibles, and six estates which were ultimately sold to a Sultan of Brunei. The Continental GT takes its smooth sheet metal lines form the Java Concept. Clear inspiration was also taken from the concept's decadent interior trim design.
The Cheap Bentley?
Showing up in showrooms for the 2004 model year Bentley Continental GTs were nowhere near cheap or affordable. Given the track record of the company and its brand heritage (not to mention its relation to Rolls Royce), the GT was not expected to be cheap. But it was the lowest priced Bentley of the family.
At the time it premiered in 2003, the base price for a brand new Bentley Continental GT was the cheapest way to buy into the brand. Starting at around $150,000 in 2004. In 2021 money with adjustment for inflation that number translates to about $204,000. So with the base 2021 Bentley GT at $208,000, things haven't changed much.
Of course, with it featuring two doors fewer than its bigger brother, the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, the GT always sat at the lower end of the Bentley family. That is until the Bentley Bentayga came along. With a starting price of around $180,000, The Bentayga is now the entry-level Bentley even though it is larger than its more expensive siblings.
How Much is the First year Bentley Continental GT worth?
Car brands like Rolls Royce and Bentley take heavy cuts when old man depreciation comes around. That's mainly because if you have a high price in the beginning, there is more for depreciation to siphon from.
When it comes to the Bentley GT, the initial buyer paid handsomely for the gorgeous coupe. In many cases, anywhere from $200k to $260k. The second buyer is only going to pay a fraction of that and so on and so forth. Fast forward today, the GT from its first year is now almost 20 years old. A Camry that’s 20 years old starts off at about $20k and is worth about $2k today. The Bentley, on the other hand, is only worth about $35-$60k of its original over $200k price tag.
You can find several examples of low-priced Bentley Continental GTs from 2004. Sites like Cars.com, eBay, and more all have their fair share of GT inventory. However, buying one of these older used beauties is hard to recommend since maintenance costs are still for a $200k car. Nevertheless, as a show-stoppingly gorgeous piece of automotive artwork, the Bentley GT is sure one hell of a ride.
The good news is most of the Bentleys, at least in America, have been babied, and even garage kept. So it's not hard to find a halfway decent-looking one. They even have low mileage considering the average yearly miles of a driver and with the car being 18 years old. Many have sub 100k miles.
The Bentley GT is one of the most iconic cars in the automotive industry blending both the ultimate epitome of luxury with a hand on performance. Sure it's a Grand Tourer, but the coupe gets up and goes. Powered by VW Group’s W12 from the start, the coupe makes 552 horsepower and sprinted from 0-60 in just 4.4 seconds, so it's no slouch. Add in the fact that in 2008 Bentley added the Speed edition, shaving that time down to just 4.0 seconds flat. The Bentley has only been getting faster from then on with its current iteration leaping to 60 from a standstill in the low 3-second range.