THE Bentley Continental GTC is ridiculously big. It’s heavy, fast, comfortable, luxurious and thirsty. I could sum up the car in those few words, but that would be unfair.
Bentley have put so much effort into this car that to do so would be doing the company a great disservice. Every detail of the car has been thought out in such a way to make it as comfortable and luxurious as possible. But paired with a massive engine so it absolutely flies.
Ettore Bugatti – the man behind the exotic sports car marque Bugatti – once apparently said that Bentley do not make sports cars, they make very fast lorries. And you can see what he meant. This is undisputedly a very big car.
You know the sensation you have after seeing the outside of a car and then, after sitting inside it, you get the sense that it is roomier than its outward dimensions would suggest? That it feels something like Doctor Who’s Tardis and is bigger on the inside than outside? Well, this is the opposite. Outside it looks absolutely enormous, like a turbo-powered Scania 18-wheeler, but inside it’s more like a 2+2-seater coupe, or cabriolet.
There isn’t a massive amount of rear legroom. However, the inside is beautifully put together, all stitched leather and wood, along with silver buttons on stalks that look like church-organ stops to open and close the dashboard air-vents. It’s just a very nice place to be.
CLASSIC CHOICE
On first getting in the car I had a scoot around the air-conditioning and sat-nav functions to see how everything works, and then looked for a radio station to play some music through the sumptuous sound system. Capital Radio. Jangy indie band. Nope, that wouldn’t do it. Radio 2.
Sensible, Coldplay’s latest single. Nope,not that either. Classic FM? But of course. Some gently violin-based classical noodling absolutely fitted with the car. Anything vaguely poppy or indie would seem out of place, as incongruous as the Arctic Monkeys playing raucously at an historic gentlemen’s club such as White’s.
This car is selling a lifestyle just as much as a Ford or Volkswagen; it’s for someone who likes to go fast occasionally – it is after all frighteningly quick – but wants to be supremely comfortable at the same time.
The gorgeous interior makes for as stress-free environment as is possible – when you’re not worried that the sheer width of the thing means you’re going to clip parked cars – and the wall of acceleration and magnificent brakes mean it goes and stops perfectly.
But I was struck with the thought they might be trying to get the best of both worlds at Bentley. One faction are engineers who want to make a fast car. Another faction merely wants to make the most luxurious and beautiful car ever, the combined automotive equivalent of a warm bath, a massage, champagne and a gourmet meal. With Angelina Jolie.
In the interests of keeping the peace, the company created the Continental GTC, a car that is every bit as quiet and smooth as it can be loud and terrifyingly fast, with a gorgeous, deep engine note when you bury the accelerator and watch the scenery fly past at speed. And the petrol gauge head equally rapidly towards empty; at one point the onboard computer was showing a little over 11mpg.
But then, if you have £130,000 to spend on a car, perhaps mere trifles such as fuel consumption are not really going to trouble you.