REVIEW: Bentley Continental GT

Since I spent the last month driving around in a pick-up, I feel I have done the ‘man of the people’ thing sufficiently for a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, the VW Amarok is a perfectly admirable machine, ideal for dropping off a brace of pigs at the great boarding school in the sky.

But I believe a chap who looks as good in well-cut tweed as I do deserves to drive something a little smarter.

As luck would have it, my friends at Bentley were able to deliver one of their new Continental GTs to me before the whole horny-handed son of the soil thing got the better of me.

A lot of people I have shot with have Bentleys in their garages, so whether or not this new car cuts the mustard will be of interest to quite a few readers – even if the chaps at Bentley bizarrely declined my request to put their four-wheel-drive system to the test by fitting mud and snow tyres to their press car.

First impressions are good.

The looks of the car have evolved sufficiently that you can tell it’s new, but not so much that the residuals of the old one will be hurt.

The inside is even better, with Bentley’s unparalleled use of traditional and modern materials incorporating a much-needed new infotainment system.

The 2011 Bentley Continental GT features a luxurious interior.

And that’s just the sort of thing that Bentley has just got so right with this car: whatever you want it to do, it does it perfectly…

To read the full review, including the latest news from inside the motoring industry, pick up the December 2011 issue of Shooting Gazette, on sale now!

To see a video of the 2011 Bently Continental GT in action, click here.

Ben Samuelson is the managing director of PR and events agency Samuelson Wylie Associates. Follow him on Twitter.

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