Bentley limited edition honors 24 Hours of Le Mans legacy

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Most people know the high-end British brand Bentley. It's the quintessential symbol of upscale motoring via England.

What you may not know is that Bentley has a lot of history in France, specifically the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans. Bentley's history in that famous race goes back nearly a century when the big, powerful Bentleys dominated the race for years.

Almost as noteworthy as the cars themselves were the often flamboyant racers who drove them. They were given the nickname Bentley Boys.

Bentley returned to Le Mans as the 21st century dawned, garnering new victories and crowning a new generation of Bentley Boys.

Now, you can get a bit of that racing heritage in your own Bentley with the Le Mans limited edition package. Each edition is numbered and limited in production to 48 examples.

Special badges on the outside and even special embroidery on the headrests complement the color schemes for each driver. One honors Woolf Barnato, who won Le Mans in a Bentley three times back in the day.

There's a bit of raciness under the hood in the Continental GT Speed. Twelve cylinders produce over 600 horsepower. This car also stops as well as it goes, with massive racing-grade brakes.

The Continental GT Speed starts at $215,000. Add $5,500 for the Le Mans special edition package and you can see how this is a car for people of means -- the very same people who might want to accessorize themselves.

How about a 24 Hours of Le Mans Breitling watch, which is also limited production and created to celebrate Bentley's victorious return to Le Mans 10 years ago. As long as you're buying the car, what's another $11,000 for the watch?

Fast cars and expensive time pieces are part of high-end living and part of honoring the famous race that put Bentley on the map all those years ago.