COUPE DE GRACE
In many ways the new Bentley Continental GT is the perfect ‘value family car’. It offers eight airbags, four decent seats, allwheel drive and is £67,500 cheaper than its closest rival. That’s quite a saving.
With a little haggling you could buy a Porsche Cayenne Turbo or half a dozen decent spec VW Polos with the change. Add in 552bhp, two V6s in one ‘W12’ engine, 0-62 in 4.8 seconds and a top speed just shy of 200mph and you’ve got a veritable bargain. The ‘bargain’ may still cost £110,000 and the rival in question manifest itself as the £177,500 four-seater Ferrari 612 Scaglietti F1A, but the point is still valid. The Bentley Continental GT is a lot of car for the cash. It’s no old man’s car either. Unlike some previous Bentleys this is a car for the daddies not granddaddies. Its beautiful shape is unashamedly modern and it doesn’t feel flash like a Ferrari either. Impressive, yes, flash, no.
As soon as you get behind the wheel your senses are alive to its class – from the touch of the knurled chrome switches and ‘organ stop’-style controls, to the smell of the quality leather seats and the fantastic thrum of the twin-turbo engine. I’d lay bets on bits of the interior even tasting |
This review from FQ MAGAZINE
July 2004 >> Read more
good – although in the interests of good taste I didn’t try. Put your foot down and let the fully auto six-speed gearbox do the work and it’s impossible not to break into a grin. Grown men in lesser cars become childlike admirers and even Aston owners on the motorway show deference as you pass.
On the downside, the rear seat headroom might not suit taller types over long distances, some of the interior design is common with the top end VW Phaeton and the key is the same one used by the whole VW range. But these are petty gripes. As I said before, this is |
a family car. Young kids and small adults will be perfectly comfortable on ‘grand tours’, the 355 litre boot’s a great size for upscale prams and luggage and no-one’s bought the oversized Passat-alike VW Phaeton anyway – so the centre console similarity can be our little secret.
Life doesn’t get much better than driving the GT. If you can afford one, put your name down on the already long list now. After all, what’s the point of spending another £70k on being flash when you could be classier for less.
Bentley Continental GT
Price: £110,000
Engine: 552bhp W12
Top Speed: 199mph
0-60: 4.8sec
>> Read More
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