Autoblog

Stealing jewelry in suits and Bentleys? Sounds like something out of blockbuster fiction like The Thomas Crown Affair, but life appears to have imitated art imitating life in London, where thieves pulled an armed heist Hollywood style.

The BBC reports indicate that two men, posing as wealthy tourists, arrived at the west London jewelry store dressed to the proverbial nines, as if potential customers, before pulling out firearms and taking millions in pricey bling and escaping in a waiting Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

Scotland Yard are undoubtedly investigating the robbery, but no details have been released beyond the initial report. If you're thinking thieves with Bentleys wouldn't need to steal, the Bentley was reportedly rented. That can't be a common occurrence, even in London. (Are you listening, inspectors?)

[Source: Motor Authority]

We just brought you news of the upcoming facelift for the Bentley Continental GT yesterday, and already spy shots have surfaced showing a couple of cold-weather test mules sitting at the pumps. (Those six-liter W12s can drink a lot of fossils.)

As predicted, the updates will extend across the Continental range, which we can see from the facelifted Continental Flying Spur sitting in front of the revised Continental GT. We can expect changes to the exterior to be minor: the spy shots show a front bumper with a widened center air intake, but little done to mitigate the burnt-off-eyebrow look. The easiest thing to change on a facelifted car is always the wheels, but these test mules seem to be wearing the same rims as the models they'll replace. Reported modifications to the interior should be nice, though, as Bentley cabins rank among the nicest places in the worldto be.

Click through to our friends at WCF to get a better look at the spy shots.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Related post:
Bentley planning Continental updates

The Bentley Boys aren't sitting around, resting on their plush leather laurels. Having just released the new Brooklands land-yacht coupe, it's on to the next project at Crewe, with the hot-selling Continental GT receiving a planned update..

The successful W12-powered coupe is scheduled for a complete overhaul in early 2010, but to hold sales strong until then, Bentley is planning to release a facelifted version of the current model by the end of this year. The updated Conti will get a few extra horses out of it's 6-liter W12 engine, bringing output up to 560hp, as well as some cosmetic changes to keep it looking fresh, including a revised front fascia and some new rims.

Although the surfacing reports say the facelift is due for the Continental GT coupe, we can expect the new features to carry over to its siblings, the already sold-out GTC cabrio and the Flying Spur sedan. Which, of course, means all those Fort Lauderdale yachtsmen, Hollywood movie stars and British footballers will have to be trading up.

[Source: AutoTelegraaf via Motor Authority]