VW Phaeton Loses Two Doors, Roof, Back From Dead (2009 Bentley GTC Speed)

The VW Phaeton, better known among laypeople as the Bentley Continental GT range, will see yet another new addition to the family in Detroit at the Auto Show there in a couple of weeks. The humble “people’s car” underpinnings may come as a surprise to those who look at a Bentley and see the kind of automotive heritage that only 4 consecutive 24 hours of LeMans can bring. Sadly, those ‘tween World War days are over. Today we live in an era of automaker platform sharing and cost cutting. Most people don’t know much about the short-lived Phaeton, only that its offspring has been a much bigger successor than the VW could ever have hoped to be. Follow the jump to see the pinnacle of what happens when an altruistic German car dies, but then goes all Cockney Lazarus.

So what’s the difference between the deceased Phaeton and a this king of the Conti GT castle? Two doors, a roof, snob appeal, two turbochargers, and 150 horsepower, and a sum of money I’d rather not ask (especially considering that a pre-loved Phaeton W12 could be yours for less than $40k).

This vehicle doesn’t quite stir the soul the way the Stirling Moss does, but we expect that it will end up being more of a boulevard cruiser rather than a afterlife-seeking missile. The reason the new Bentley Continental GTC Speed is arriving on our shores at all is to remind regular GT and GTC owners that they aren’t all that and a bag of potato chips. But you already knew that.

For you numeric fetishists out there (you know who you are), here are a few highlights: