Bentley Continental GT

What's more, the Bentley Continental GT is simply the most beautiful coupe in the world. It is also amazingly fast. It isn't just me that thinks it's truly beautiful; an international jury recently gave it the award of the Most Beautiful Car in the World 2003. Despite its graceful looks, it can out-perform all but the fastest supercars, and some fantasy cars. Bentley claims a maximum speed of 198 mph, but in independent tests it has been timed at 206 mph! Not bad for a four-seater with a good-sized trunk.

World's best Grand Tourer?
Still, the Continental GT has hardly anything in common with the Le Mans cars, except the top speed which is almost in the same league. If you doubt it, don't forget that the Porsche Carrera GT is modelled on a car designed for Le Mans, and has a top speed of 206 mph, just a little faster than the Bentley.

It is in long distance touring that the Continental GT comes into its own.It is surely the Grand Tourer that tops them all. Most supercars are not practical to drive regularly. They have very low seating positions, small doors, usually with awkward access, and almost no luggage space. The Continental GT is different - a car with space and power.

Equally at home at 150 mph or cornering fast
Bentley has produced a car that is equally at home driving at 150 mph down the German autobahn; being thrown around hairpin bends in the Italian Alps; cruising round the byways of America; arriving for a special event at The Ritz Hotel; or driving to a plush golf and country club.

The car is similar in shape to the Bentley Continental of years gone by, but has an up-to-date look, and is more compact. The elegant lines hide the fact that this is a full four-seater with a large trunk and a 552 bhp engine. That fantastic power unit is based on the latest technology from VW and Audi - which now owns Bentley Motors - and so the car shares many components with the most expensive Audi A8 models.

W-12, 550 bhp twin turbo engine
Bentley has always used big, powerful engines, and the Continental GT follows this tradition with a 6.0 litre W-12 engine with twin turbochargers. The remarkable thing about this very compact engine is not just that it develops 552 bhp at 6,100 rpm - that's one huge amount of power - but that the maximum torque of 480 lb ft is developed from 1,600 to 6,000 rpm. This gives the car masses of pulling power at any speed.

Not surprisingly, Bentley has opted for four-wheel drive, available to the engineers from the VW Group, and already in use in the Audi A8. This gives much better control than rear-wheel drive, but you can't hang the tail out or have so much fun. Bentley drivers don't usually go in for that sort of thing - except at Le Mans - preferring plenty of cornering power, safety and stability. So that's OK.

Plenty of electronics
As with most expensive cars these days, the Continental GT has plenty of electronics to improve control and performance. For example, the shock absorbers are adjusted automatically according to the conditions. Naturally, the car has the other electronic systems found on expensive cars such as ABS and electronic stability program (ESP), which helps the driver keep control if he goes into a corner too fast.

Since the Continental GT is so large - 189 inches long - it really needs an aluminum body/frame like the Audi A8 and latest Ferraris, to keep weight down. But that would require a completely new body shop, and Bentley Motors stopped short at spending all that money, partly because their other cars are steel. So it has a steel body like the other Bentleys.

As a result, the car weighs no less than 5,250 lb, which is over 2.3 tons, and a lot to carry around with you, and will result in bad gas mileage. Still, with its beautiful body and all this technology, it still has a fantastic performance allied with grace and comfort. You won't find that anywhere else at any price, and at around $200,000 it doesn't sound a bad deal.