Motoring in Spain - Bentley Continental
SPACE-AGE TOURING
Bentley Continental SPACE-AGE TOURING
CONTINENTAL FLIES OUT OF THE SHADOWS
BENTLEY LIKE TO CLAIM THAT THEIR CONTINENTAL FLYING SPUR IS THE WORLD’S FASTEST SALOON, JUST ONE OF THE REASONS WHY – AS MOTORING CORRESPONDENT CHARLIE FLINDT REVEALS − BENTLEY HAS BECOME THE MUST-HAVE LUXURY CAR FOR TODAY’S ELITE.
Back in July, Bentley Motors put out a quiet little press release. It was all about the company’s results for the first half of 2007. For the fourth year running, it said, Bentley Motors had recorded an increase in global sales volumes. Sales were up nearly 20 per cent on the same time last year, with over 2,600 customers taking delivery of a car. Turnover was up nearly a quarter, at €739 million, and operating profit was significantly higher at €85 million. March 2007, meanwhile, set a new record: the highest number of sales in any month for the marque – 1,200 cars delivered worldwide.
This would be an impressive press release for any company, but for a luxury car company that has spent much of the last 70 years tucked away in Rolls Royce’s shadow, it is financially fantastic.
So what has happened to Bentley in the last few years to establish it as the must-have car for today’s rich and powerful, from footballer to Russian multimillionaire, from pop star to Chinese entrepreneur?
The first significant factor is Bentley’s new owners, Volkswagen. I use "new" in the relative sense: VW bought Bentley off Rolls Royce in the late 1990s, but RR had owned the company since the 1930s, so in that sense VW are the "new" owners. VW brought with them two things: lots of cash and lots of existing technical knowledge that could easily be used in modern Bentleys. And, thankfully, and against the predications of those who doubted VW’s commitment to the brand, Bentley has received both cash and technical goodies in abundance.
The second factor in Bentley’s success is, of course, a direct result of the first: the cars themselves. Stroll nonchalantly into your local Bentley dealers, and you’ll be greeted by machines that reflect both the traditional image of the gentleman’s grand tourer and the thoroughly modern image of cutting-edge technology in a space-age body.
The more traditional Bentleys come in the Arnage-based range. They are mostly conventional four-door saloons, a real throwback to the pre-VW days. But being Bentleys, they come with staggering levels of performance from a set of 6,761 cc V8 engines. The "base" Arnage R puts out 336 kW, enough to reach 100 kph in 5.8 seconds. Mind you, if you think that this is good going for a 2.5 tonne car, step up to the Arnage T, and power goes up to 373 kW, and that 0 to 100 kph time drops to 5.5 seconds. (Probably best to skip over the fuel consumption figure of 19.5 litres/100 km.) There is also an RL version, which stretches the wheelbase by 25 centimetres, perfect if your status necessitates riding rather grandly in the back.
Perhaps being in the back is nothing to do with status. Perhaps it’s the Bentley interior that lights your fire, rather than facts and figures about engines. You might have a penchant for hand-stitched leather (17 hides per vehicle, selected from insect-free climes of northern Europe), much of it sown by hand (using two needles) around the steering wheel – a process that takes 15 hours (and then discreetly autographed on the back). Or perhaps you like the perfect veneers – over six square metres crafted for 60 hours, usually, but not always, of burr walnut. But it still seems a shame to miss out on the driving experience.
Two further variants of the Arnage are the Azure and the Brooklands. The Azure is the two door, soft-top version, and the Brooklands is the new two-door coupe, built in strictly limited numbers, inspired by the exploits of the "Bentley Boys" at the famous Brooklands racetrack in the 1920s. When I say "limited numbers", what I mean is that you’d better hurry up and order one if you want your son, and not your grandson, to take delivery. It seems criminal to devote such a brief paragraph to these machines, but I’ve got to crack on.
You see, we’ve got to look at the other "half" of the Bentley portfolio, the Continentals. These are somewhat less "traditional" but, despite that (or because of that?), I would suggest that they are responsible for Bentley’s huge recent successes. Not only are they less traditional, but they are also about a third cheaper than the Arnages. The least unconventional is the Flying Spur, a four-door coupe (if that’s not a contradiction in terms), whose exterior gives little clue as to the technology underneath. First, there’s the 6-litre W12 engine (two staggered V6s, themselves joined in a V) giving even more staggering performance levels. But now, instead of the joy or terror of all that power going through the rear axle (it all depends on your driving skill), the Continentals have permanent 4WD and air suspension. What you end up with is 2.5 tonnes of beauty hurtling round corners as if on rails.
Meanwhile, the Continental GT has the two-door coupe body that looks more in touch with the hi-tech underpinnings, and then there’s my favourite, the GTC − the soft-top Continental. Why is it my favourite? Because it combines gob-smacking speed and handling with drop-dead gorgeous drop-top looks with the all the usual Bentley interior attributes. But it also makes the most fabulous noise you ever heard coming out of an exhaust pipe. I’d need another two pages to write up my feelings about the GTC; I haven’t got two more pages, so I suggest that you go and visit www.h-magazine.com/bentleycontinentalgtc.htm and read the full test I did some months ago.
So it’s not hard to see why Bentley is doing so well, and why VW must be feeling very pleased with their investment over the last few years. I predict that there will be understated but triumphant press releases being put out by Bentley for many years to come.
