It’s an odd question, but one I’ve pondered since the Bentley Continental R appeared in 1991. Just how continental is a Continental? Really?
What would happen if you took a Continental and didn’t just go for a cruise on the Continent but set it a test so tough that it would either prove itself absolutely against the sternest measure we could devise, or be exposed as a Continental in name alone?
That was the thought that brought me to a Luxembourg hotel where I met former Bentley engineer and now PR man Mike Sayer, and Matt Marriott and Lee Taylor, two of the company’s finest car drivers and fettlers. The plan was short in description long in execution. Which was to get up very early the following morning and drive a new Continental GT to as many countries on the continent of Europe as we could reach in 24 hours. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It did to us, too, at least until it all started to go rather wrong.
But that’s all to come. The good news was that we weren’t all going to cuddle up in the GT. Instead, Matt and Lee would follow Mike and I in a V8 Bentley Bentayga. They’d driven both cars from Crewe, stopping on the way to buy the worst walkie-talkies I’ve ever used. So we had even more reason to stick close together.
But we had done our planning. We’d start at 5.00am local time (I tried not to think about it being 4.00am in my head) and plot a crafty course running south-east across Europe. We had no idea where we’d reach but had booked refundable flights back from Thessaloniki, not as a realistic objective as such, but more of an aiming point. That’s Thessaloniki, Greece.
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Trainspotting
Just reading this article and the replies for the first time.
In the absense of live football, our radio and TV sports programs are full of pub banter debate, who was the best manager to manage a British club etc. It started off innocently enough but as time goes on the pundits/experts have scrapped the bottom of the barrel so much they've worn thru and now there's no bottom left. I heard them talkng the ther night about who is the best foreign player to have played in the Premiership outside the top six big clubs? I'd rather spend my time trainspotting than listen to that crap.
And it's the same with this article. It's told me nothing apart from a Bentley can sit at 150mph on the autobahn and it's sat nav system is rubbish ( they went in the wrong direction in Belgium? ).
Even for a car journalist, sitting 24hr in a car for no purpose whatsoever sounds like the most boring task in the world.
Did the journo's see any nice trains on their travels?
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You don't need a Bentley to do this. Give me between 6 and 10k and access to the Autotrader website. I'll get a used VW Phaeton which on public roads adhering to speed limits is more than capable of doing this journey in similar comforrt and time.
good selection
well done me old fruit you picked a good apple out the barrel, might even save 5 gallons overall as well lol, and in fact, I think I might enjoy the comforts even more than the Bentley. Just those acres of trees to make the dash look so so so BENTLEY :0)))
Waste of fuel