As a Youngster, the Jaguar E car was my dream. Our neighbor, the doctor, drove a sledge. A Convertible. Ice-blue. I couldn’t get enough of the shape of the British cars, I was entranced by chrome-plated spokes and exhaust pipes, red leather seats and burl wood. And only the speedo: Up to 300 km/h went. Madness!

A half-century later (and roughly a Million kilometers at the wheel of vehicles of the middle class) pilotiere I now finally have a car, the car with the dream of my Childhood is comparable to that of a brand new Bentley Continental GT Convertible, in the Nobel color of Windsor Blue. The car, it is said, is the current gold standard in the automotive luxury segment. Sports cars and classy body.

Unique interior

With the distinctive grille and the double round headlights, the new GT is the well-known Bentley-face. Although the car looks with its striking air vents and the larger wheels, more muscular, and a hint more aggressive than his predecessor, but he makes the primary timeless elegance. This is less a vehicle for little boys, or football stars, but for the well-heeled people with silver hair, Grand seigneurs.

Without any dislocation and without the belly in the way would be to take a seat in the Cockpit of the car. The finest leather, shiny wood inlays and chrome steel, everywhere you look. With what is used in mass – produced cars – even the upper price-class in the interior, has to do little to nothing. Instead of plastic, real wood and scented, quilted leather. Most of the hand-made. 310’000 stitches alone for the leather work. It is, above all, the attention to Detail that make a Bentley Special.

numerous technical features are Added: The seats are 20-way adjustable, also the degree of padding can be adjusted to individual requirements. A Highlight is the perfect behind the wood and chrome hidden rotating instrument Panel with a configurable 12.3-inch Touchscreen. For those who want to relax without Display and digital detox, chooses the beautifully crafted analog displays for time, temperature, and direction of travel.

On the push of a button, the 12-cylinder engine begins to purr. I begin with the everyday use of Bentley mode and switch, as I have mode left the city behind me, in the Comfort. Gently the GT glides road and across the country, the high-tech air suspension with electric damping control swallows all the bumps. The Motor is whisper quiet. Good-natured, the car can also be used in deep tour, move in numbers; to save fuel, in this driving mode, the half of the 12-cylinder break. I’m quite relaxed – even if to me entrusted to car costs almost a quarter of a million Swiss francs. Out of 18 speakers, the Overture of “Don Giovanni is heard”.

Brutal acceleration

Only good character in the Bentley Continental of course, if one is open-top on-the-go. In just 19 seconds, the fabric roof in the rear is gone. And even if the temperatures are fresh, there is a risk in the open To not get a cold. No wind ruffled the hair, a in the seat a hidden hair dryer fanning warm air around the neck. Heated the steering Wheel and the armrests are in addition to the Seats. A Bentley, wrote of the conceptual artist Dieter Meier, the perfect vehicle for the “well-tempered”. That certainly applies to the Bentley sedans of yore.

In the Continental GT, however, everything is under the hood as to be a sporty on-the-go. A 6.0-Liter W-12 engine with a maximum power of 635 HP and 900 Nm of torque. In Sport mode, the Bi sounds-Turbo as even at low Speeds very much more robust. This is not a Purr, but a threatening Hiss and Crack. When you Accelerate in 3.8 seconds to 100 km/h – will start to act as a brute force. All of a sudden you are pressed rudely into the cushion, a sinking feeling – at least for me – in the epigastric region wide. However, the four-wheel drive is extremely compact on the road, as if on rails, he moves in a higher speed through the curves. Up to 360 km/h the speedo goes 333 km/h are officially specified as the maximum speed, I tried neither.

of Course, in a vehicle such as the Bentley convertible plenty of curious looks. This might flatter the one or the other Ego. For me, this car is provoked, above all, a sorry Smile. There’s no question that A car with such a potent engine, almost three tonnes of weight and a consumption of at least 9.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometres (and a good 20 in the case of a sporty driving style) is a kind of cross in the landscape. A car from a time of unbridled automotive passion. A car of unreason. But also, the power joy. So sorry!

Andreas Heller drove the Bentley Continental GT Convertible, at the invitation of Bentley Motors from the 19. 21. February in Marbella, Spain. (editor-in-Tamedia)

Created: 20.03.2019, 21:24 PM