California native Tony Aneian is known for having amazing race cars, but his latest ride is on a different level. Instead of building another Camaro, Tony decided a 2012 Bentley Continental GT would be his new weapon of choice. Tony’s immaculate Bentley Continental GT is the perfect representation of luxury on a set of Mickey Thompson radials.
The original plan for Tony was to in fact build another first-generation Camaro, but that changed when Tony and Patrick Barnhill of PTP Racing started talking about doing something different.
“We came across this Bentley and thought it would make a super cool race car. There have been some other Bentley drag cars in other countries, but this would be the first one in the United States. It has been really cool to be a part of this project, that’s for sure,” Patrick says.
So, did Tony happen to find a wrecked Bentley Continental GT at Copart that would need a ton of bodywork? Nope, Tony went full gangster and purchased a running Bentley and had it gutted so it could become a radial tire monster. Lyons Custom Motorsports was selected to helm the project and turn the Bentley into the ultimate luxury car you see today. The Lamborghini Orange paint was laid down by The Kandy Shop.
The engine that powers the Bentley is unique and took over two years to design and develop. BES Racing Engines and Visner Engine Development worked together to create the 5.3” bore space short deck big block Chevy mill. The 640 cubic-inch rat motor wears a PSI C-rotor supercharger that supplies all the boost. Patrick Barnhill and Jason Lee will be tuning the Haltech EFI system that controls the engine.
Backing the big block is a Liberty five-speed transmission that works with a M&M Transmission torque converter and Ty-Drive unit. Outback, you’ll find a Mark Williams Enterprises rearend. Menscer Motorsports shocks are at each corner of the Bentley.
“People are surprised when we tell them the car’s wheelbase is about 108 inches. So, it sits very similar to a newer generation Camaro. It won’t be hard to get this car set up at all, it should be pretty fast,” Barnhill says.
Tony plans on running the Bentley in Pro 275 and PDRA’s Pro Street class in 2025. It should be easy to find the Bentley in the staging lanes at any event, just look for the big crowd of people with their jaws on the pavement…