It’s always amazing to see a new casting with some Matchbox heritage, and we’ve been getting spoiled lately with the modernized versions of classic castings being released left and right. The new Porsche Cayenne casting is so great it was my 2022 model of the year, the Karma GS-6 seemed to rise from the dead to rejoin the Matchbox lineup, and now we have an updated version of the first Bentley ever made by Matchbox. Meet the Moving Parts Bentley Continental.
Oddly enough, while the old Matchbox Bentley Continental is specified as a 2006 model year, the new Moving Parts casting does not specify a year (the Matchbox Fandom page simply denotes it as “new”). From the design, this is clearly the third generation Continental, which debuted in 2018.
I love the look of the bigger, more aggressive grill and the LED headlights that are so distinctly “Bentley”. The graphics are very crisp and accurately applied, just as we’ve come to expect from Matchbox. I’m also quite impressed with the casting detail of the lower valence – the mesh is very well done. Unlike many of the Moving Parts castings, the paint match on the doors is very good and they fit well enough to not distract from the bodylines of the car (though as usual, I would still prefer not to have the opening doors to begin with).
At the back of the Continental, the impressive detailing continues with the Bentley logo and tail lights, as well as a license plate and trim piece that are perfectly placed. However, the highlight is these exhaust tips. Despite being part of the body rather than the base, these exhaust tips actually stick out from the bumper…not a lot, but just enough to sell the illusion. Tampo printing for the chrome tips completes the look. From the fact that it has quad exhausts, we can discern that this is the V8 Continental rather than the W12, as the W12 version gets larger oval exhausts. Based on that, I’m going to assume this is a 2019 model year, since that’s when the GT V8 came out.
Returning to heritage for a moment: the debut look for both Continentals features a brown interior and split 10-spoke wheels. I love when castings are all matchy-matchy.
The 2019 Bentley Continental is one of the most compelling castings added to the Moving Parts lineup so far. While I’m not the biggest fan of Bentley’s in general, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the original 2006 Bentley casting, and this 2019 refresh is an incredibly solid update. Bentley seems to be having a moment with Matchbox lately – the Bentayga has already seen 3 color schemes – so I hope we see a lot more of this Continental…preferably in some more adventurous colors. My fingers are crossed for British Racing Green!
Diecast Leno 
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