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Who says you can’t have it all? Certainly not someone who’s driven the Bentley Continental GT. With the new GT you get the ultimate in luxury wrapped in a gorgeous coupe with a W-12 engine that’s almost ridiculously powerful. You can even carry two back seat passengers if they won’t have to be there too long. Talk about the perfect gift for the man who has everything. According to Graham Hill, president of Bentley St. Louis, the Continental GT is “Truly the finest car in the world. Because of its performance and styling, it’s attracting a much larger audience for Bentley. It’s very contemporary, very fast, and offers more performance than most drivers will ever utilize.” The Bentley Continental GT really is the best of both worlds; it’s a Bentley and a sports car. At the heart of the GT is its wonderful engine. A W-12 6.0 liter twinturbocharged monster good for 550 horsepower and 479 pound feet of torque distributed to all four wheels via a six-speed gearbox that can be driven in regular automatic mode, sport mode (where the next lowest gear is utilized to improve power), and a clutchless manual mode. The manual can be shifted by moving the center console mounted gearshift lever to the right and then pushing the lever forward for upshifts and back for downshifts, or you can use the shift paddles located right behind the steering wheel like in F1 cars to upshift using the right paddle, and downshift using the left. Combining all-wheel drive with all that power means that it all hits the pavement and no power is lost to wheel spin. Stomp on the go pedal and it takes off like a rocket. Entering Highway 40 from a downhill on ramp and keeping my foot on the pedal until the car got to what felt like a comfortable speed got me into triple digits without flinching. The sweet spot of the engine in 6th gear seems to be around 80. At 60 mph it feels like you’re standing still. The rear spoiler that deploys at 70 mph is going to be hard to explain to the local constable when you get stopped on a 60 mph highway. I’ll take Bentley’s word for its claimed 198 mph top speed. Standing starts feel like a rocket taking off and presses you into the back of the luxurious leather trimmed seats, well bolstered to hold you in place when the road throws you a curve. To say the power is overwhelming would be an understatement, and all the more remarkable considering the car’s 5000+ pound weight. With a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds, there are few cars that can outrun it. It will pass anything on the highway except a gas station. Gas mileage is pretty lousy, but if you’re driving a Bentley you really don’t care. Handling and braking are superb. It feels like a much lighter car that just begs to be thrown around. This car is so well engineered that below about 3500 rpm, the interior is as quiet as a church, thanks in part to double pane glass. Pass the 3500 mark, however, and butterflies in the exhaust system open up to emit a satisfying growl that lets you know you’re stepping on it. They really have thought of everything. Bentley also thought of everything when it comes to the interior. As expected in a Bentley, acres of rich leather cover almost every surface that isn’t covered with gorgeous wood trim. The gadgets do just about everything but brush your teeth. Amenities such as a heated steering wheel and four-zone automatic climate control pamper occupants to insure constant comfort. Heated front seats are extremely comfortable and adjustable in just about every direction, including adjustable thigh support. Rear seat passengers also get well-bolstered, comfortable seats with a wood and leather trimmed center armrest and their own air vents. Radio, ventilation, navigation, and all other functions work off of buttons that ring a video display in the center of the console. The system is easy to figure out and works well. Redundant controls on the steering wheel for the radio, phone and trip computer allow the driver to work the most often adjusted functions without removing his hands from the wheel. A myriad of accessories and options, 21 body colors, more than a dozen leather colors, six types of wood trim and several 19 inch wheel options insure that you won’t pull up to an identical continued from page 11 GT at the stoplight. You don’t buy a Bentley, you commission it. The most striking feature at first glance is the GT’s styling. Bentley got all the proportions and lines just right. It’s simply gorgeous. From the four round xenon headlamps and traditional Bentley matrix grille to the flowing lines of the front fenders, to the sharply raked windscreen, to the pillarless side windows, to the flared rear fenders and fastback styling, to the LED taillights, there isn’t a flaw in the design – and it looks great from any angle. It has a traditional boot (trunk for you Yanks) that is remarkably large and deep, but the opening is somewhat small due to the angle of the rear window. A passthrough in the rear seats allows the carrying of long objects such as skis. With all-wheel drive that almost makes sense. You can almost see James Bond driving up to some fancy Swiss ski resort in the GT, trailing an evil foe. In fact, Bond drove a Bentley in the original books, and the GT would be the perfect vehicle in which to return to the Bentley fold. As always, the gentlemen at Bentley St. Louis are a pleasure to deal with. They’re the type of people with whom people buying Bentleys would want to deal. When I told them how much I liked the GT and how I’d buy one if I had the money, they even offered to finance one for me. When I told them it would have to be about a 100-year loan, they politely demurred. If you’re a car nut and want to see some neat cars, take a trip to the Chesterfield valley and check out the Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Mercedes, Porsches and many Ferraris they have for sale. If you’re lucky enough to own one of these cars, their service department services them all as well. Of course the best never comes cheap, and with a base price around $160,000, the Continental GT is anything but inexpensive, but compared to the $225,000 Bentley sedan, and the $100,000+ Mercedes SL or similarly priced Ferrari coupe, it’s almost a bargain. Everything’s relative. Bottom line: if you can afford one, get one. It’s no wonder younger people with the means to buy one (rap stars and professional athletes) are gobbling them up. Robert W. Paster is also an attorney in private practice, concentrating in estate planning and probate. |
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