So having written about what it’s like to drive, fuel and fix the Bentley over the past few months, I’m going to address an issue that some of you might feel has no place in a serious car website; some people buy a car like this because they like being looked at, while other who could easily afford a Bentley don’t buy one for exactly the same reason. But I suspect that most owners just take pleasure from the fact that other people seem to take pleasure in seeing your car. Reactions vary, of course. My dear old Dad was ten minutes into a lift to the airport before he finally noticed the lacquer and leather cabin he was being conveyed in and said ‘ooh, is this your new car, dear? A super cerebral Harvard Academic friend appeared not to notice at all in the two hours he spent in the passenger seat going to and from a restaurant. And your constant mild concern about other people’s reactions can make you do odd things.
At a wedding, I’d parked the Bentley in an outlaying car park about 100 yards from the hotel entrance. If I’d been driving a Ford Focus I wouldn’t thought twice about driving the car up to the front door in full view of the other guests when we checked out the next morning in light drizzle with a tone of luggage. In the Bentley, you worry that people will think you are doing it for effect. I do not expect you to feel sorry for me.
