Road Tests
Read the road tests that have appeared in Local Cars magazine
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Bentley Mulliner
There are not many chances for a humble motoring scribe to road test one of the most desirable, luxurious and powerful cars around, not to mention one of the most expensive, but thanks to friends at Reays Coaches of Wigton, I was let loose in one of the two Bentley Continental Flying Spurs they use for weddings for the day and I came back with a grin as big as Gateshead!
A Mulliner model, the Bentley is one of the most breathtaking highperformance saloon (coupe) in the world, yet I also found it to one of the most nimble bearing in mind its huge size and weight.
It had the uncanny knack of shrinking itself into Mini size when I threaded it round some of the more twisty roads of the Lake District, and its pin-sharp steering meant I hit every apex for maximum progress with unerring accuracy.
But fi rst the looks! It has street cred and presence in spades and in black was even more so which had passersby looking in awe, and when I rolled up at the swish Greeenhill Hotel and the home of Lord Inglewood, Hutton-in-the-Forest to take photographs, I am sure people must have felt I was some sort of millionaire even though I only had 97p in my pocket at the time!
It would be daft to describe the interior as anything else other than a sumptuously luxurious, leatherbound, deep-piled carpeted and paneled drawing room with oodles of space including comfort/ entertainment wizardry in every nook and cranny.
Among the myriad of touches, the one that really stood out for me was the clock on the dash which was a Breitling, itself worth £4k I am guess!
An automatic with added paddle shift for sporty driving, the Bentley can be a big pussy car for wandering around town when one was tempted to give a Royal wave to passers by, but as I was given the golden opportunity to test its performance, I slipped into Sports mode and fl oored it!
To be a hooligan in such a valuable car was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and I was not disappointed!
Lurking silently beneath the bonnet lies a 552 bhp, V8 engine of 5998 cc which has such oomph it will deceptively head to the horizon in a 0 – 62mph time of 4.9 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 194 mph, though Cumbria Constabulary please note I didn’t!
However, because of the very subdued growl of the V, and superb handling, the only sensation one got was an enormous thrust in the back like the England Lion’s front row pushing me relentlessly forward, with only the large speedo stopping me from losing my licence.
To be frank, I was overwhelmed by the Bentley. I have been privileged to experience a vintage Bentley thanks to George Hadfi eld, the clock expert in my village who owns a glorious 4.5 1926 version which is fantastically quick for an 80 year-old car but the newest version provides cutting edge technology alongside unrivalled craftsmanship and comfort – a heady mix of power and panache – sophistication and sexy chic – and that’s not out of the brochure!.
Price you ask? Well as is customary to say, if you have to ask you can’t aff ord it buy it, but as I was given the privilege of testing the Bentley, any bride who wants to get to the church on time in sheer luxury, I invite them to ring Reays of Wigton on 016973 49999 - or email at info@reays.co.uk |
