I admit that I’ve a soft spot for this car. Before I had a chance to drive cars like these I went for a trip round the local Bentley factory in Crewe and saw the first few Continental open tops roll off the production line on their way to owners around the world. The amount of work and craftsmanship put into each car was staggering and the resulting line of cars, sparkling in the immaculate factory left a big impression on me.
I have to admit that reading through the car mags the Bentley Flying Spur, despite its tag as ‘the fastest production car on earth’ always, to my mind, looked a fairly uninspiring car. A Continental with a boot, and a badly shaped boot at that.
So, I have to admit I was prepared to be mildly disappointed when the £120k car swept into the drive. The wife took one look at it and said ‘It’s like a big Ford with an oversized boot’ before whizzing off on important ‘non boys toys’ business. Now she’s not read AutoCar from cover to cover at any point in her life so it was a bit of a damning confirmation of my preconceived view.