Move up to the bumper, baby
ALLOW me to introduce the brandnew Bentley Continental GT. One of the most beautiful visions ever to be imagined in the history of modern motoring. ‘What was at the forefront of your mind when you came up with this spectacular new shape, especially that audaciously bold rear end?’ I asked John Paul Gregory, Bentley’s head of exterior design. ‘Was it anything to do with the outgoing GT or more to do with the legendary 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage?’ He laughed. ‘All great classic British sports cars both past and present, of course!’
From the moment the ‘Noughties’ Bentley Continental GT came on the scene in 2003, I could not understand how anyone found it in the least bit attractive. I thought it was hideous back then and I still think it’s hideous now, with its pug nose, stressed out shoulders and sawnoff back end. I tried to like it, really I did. I even tried to buy one on several occasions but whenever it came to signing on the dotted line, I would always have one last look and run away screaming. Well I’m not screaming any more. Instead I am crying tears of joy – at what is both a revelation and a revolution. A masterpiece of aesthetics and aerodynamics that is longer, lower, wider and sleeker, with a waistline to die for.
But it’s the new rear end that steals the limelight. The bum is the most difficult bit of any car to get right, potentially career-ending for those who get it wrong. So to have the chutzpah to declare it the star of the show takes some serious cojones. Everyone who approached this beauty from behind could not take their eyes off her revamped rear, a work of celestial magnificence. I’m not sure they even noticed half of what else was going on: the gigantic wheels, the huge brake discs and the wing mirrors that probably cost more than the GDP of Albania to develop. Everything about this car is just so damn gorgeous.
As for my reference, above, to the early Aston Martin V8s, check out that flip tail and raked rear windscreen and tell me Picasso was lying when he said ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’.
No company in the world kits out its cars like Bentley. It’s all there, the most stroke-able leather steering wheel of all time, the weightiest of control stalks and door pulls, the crown jewels of switchgear.
‘I think if I had to pick one standout feature that epitomises this car’s philosophy,’ enthuses JP, ‘it has to be the revolving central dash section.’ I couldn’t agree more. What he’s referring to is the stateof-the-art 12.3in infotainment touch screen which rotates into view the moment the ignition is turned on. After which, at the touch of a button, you can rotate it a second time to reveal a walnut-framed trio of analogue dials consisting of a compass, a temperature gauge and a chronometer. Now that’s classy, an on-board digital detox to be enjoyed from the deepest, most luscious upholstered sports-style front seats in the known universe.
These also double as life savers, automatically swelling up to cocoon the driver and his mate from all sides should the auto emergency braking system kick in. (I know this because it happened to me when I was driving). Both front seats also come with seven massage programmes. The car is also now a genuine 2+2 as you can fit two small people in the back.
So how could this new package possibly live up to its stunning looks and luxury when it came to performance? With my family on board, I was reluctant to smack the ponies too hard. Once they had alighted, however, I felt the caress of an invisible arm beckoning me back behind the wheel. ‘You go in darling, I’m just nipping back out for a few minutes.’ An hour later, I was still out. ‘Are you alright?’ asked Tash as I answered the phone. Was I alright? I couldn’t remember being that alright for, oh... let me think... for forever!
At first I selected B (for Bentley mode), swiftly followed by S (for Sport mode), in both modes experiencing nothing short of what I can only describe as a transcendental driving experience. Never before have I felt like a car is physically changing so dramatically around me, while perhaps having also jettisoned half a ton of lard somewhere back down the road.
The transformation was incredible, such alchemy apparently achieved via the Bentayga-inspired three-chamber air spring suspension system, combined with the 48v roll control set-up, which together facilitate the huge breadth between comfort and sport settings.
Moving the front wheels forward by 110mm has also helped improve things dynamically, along with a hefty boost in torque (900Nm) and power (626bhp).
‘This might be the greatest car ever made,’ I said to my eldest the next day. ‘But Dad, what about the McLaren F1, the Ferrari 250 GTO, all Series Land Rovers and the Series 1 E Type?’
‘Alright, apart from those four, but this is definitely the greatest car made in the last 20 years.’
So, it’s hats off to Bentley.
IT MIGHT BE THE GREATEST CAR EVER MADE