(Auto Express mock-up) Looks worse than I could have ever imagined...

Surprise, surprise. Another luxury crossover is coming our way. This time it’s from Bentley. According to Auto Express, a crossover is one of three Porsche-platformed Bentleys being planned over the next few years.

The crossover, which may be called the Cross Continental, would share a platform with the Cayenne, but would get a more premium interior and feature W12 and V8 engines borrowed from the Continental GT. Cost is being speculated at around 120,000 pounds ($195,000).

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Bentley may come up a little short when it comes to a list of the world’s fastest cars, but it does have one speed record: fastest speed on ice. Bentley announced this week that a Continental Supersports piloted by Juha Kankkunen hit a world-record-breaking ice speed of 205.48 mph. Bentley took the record from itself: Kankkunen set a 199.83 mph ice record in a Continental GT in 2007.

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The traditionally W12-powered Continental GT is getting a V8 engine. That much we know. It’ll be a 4.0-liter unit designed in conjunction with Audi.

What hasn’t been clear is what exactly the engine would look like in terms of pressure charging and output. A new rumor reported by Autocar puts a few figures out there.

Actually, it puts two figures out there: 415-hp from a turbo V8 and 555-hp from a twin-turbo V8. According to the site’s anonymous sources, those will be the two V8 options that Bentley will offer alongside the bigger 570-hp 6.0-liter W12.

Bentley is expected to add the V8 to the line-up early next year. [via Autocar]

Well here’s a predictable fact: give Axl Rose a $192,000 Bentley and he’ll treat it like a one-night hotel room. According to TMZ.com–and where else would we go for celebrity minutia–Bentley has filed a lawsuit against Axl for trashing a leased 2006 Flying Spur. Actually trashing the Bentley was only the tip of the ice berg; Axl returned the lease several months late, already owed nearly $74,000 in back payments and fees, drove it 42,000 miles over the lease terms and lost the original key for it. As far as damage, the car had two dinged-up doors, a gouged bumper, a cracked windshield and taillight and two bad tires. Yeah, that’s about what we’d expect the combination of Axl Rose and a Flying Spur to produce. [TMZ via Inside Line]

Auto Express' mock-up

Bentley and entry-level aren’t two terms that ever go hand-in-hand. But even an ultra-premium brand like Bentley has got to have a bottom-end offering, though it may not qualify as “entry level” in any other way.

According to an Auto Express report, Bentley is currently developing a five-door model that will reside at the lowest end of its line. The model will be built on the Audi A7 Sportback platform, and will have a sloping roofline and Continental-like front-end. The car will feature the Audi/Bentley-developed 4.0-liter V8 engine that will be offered in the Continental late next year.

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Bentley will be dropping its redesigned Continental GT in a couple of weeks (Sept. 7)  over the Internet and live at the Paris Motor Show in late-September. Whetting our appetite, Bentley has launched a new microsite with a short, 43-second teaser video of the new car. The video shows some fleeting glimpses of the actual car as well as some behind the scenes renderings.

In addition to some minor cosmetics, the redesigned Continental GT is expected to get some nominal performance upgrades to its 6.0-liter W12 engine, along with a little load lightening thanks to an aluminum spaceframe. [via Autoweek and Top Speed]

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Sharp Rocky Mountain peaks meet bluebird skies on one of Colorado’s 300 annual days of sunshine. And the driver of this cherry red Bentley Supersports drop-top takes full advantage. It’s two minutes of blissful video that makes us all wish we had worked just a little harder in college or chosen a more lucrative occupation. There are also some new photos to enjoy, so see what the open-air version of the 621-hp Supersports has to offer. [via MotorAuthority]

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Touring Superleggera Continental Flying Star

A new Autocar article citing “sources at the highest level” of Bentley indicates that Bentley is chewing on the idea of a five-door fastback in the same vein as the Porsche Panamera. The conversation is part of a larger discussion on whether the company needs to expand the Continental line past the models already offered. The five-door Contlimera is said to be the most popular of potential additions. Before a five-door becomes a reality, a new GT coupe is expected to launch with a market date of 2012.

Frankly, a Continental five-door makes more sense to me than the Porsche version. [via Autocar]

Who in their right mind takes a Bentley Continental GT muddin’? Apparently some bored Russian folk. In what looks like the mud pit of a local Renaissance festival, some guy got the $200,000 car stuck in about six inches of mud. Surprisingly, the owner doesn’t appear to be the  guy rolling and flopping around like a drunken hog, but we’re guessing that he too had a few too many vwodkas. He actually manages to get the car out of the pit eventually.

Looks like this guy needs some driving lessons, because the entire passenger side rear is also smashed up. [via Carscoop]

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