Lest we conveniently forget…this is what Bentley used to be, and in fact, it wasn’t that long ago. If you think it’s as remarkable to you as it is to me that it’s been 22 years since the Continental GT rolled out of the then-VW Group’s recently acquired Crewe factory, consider this . The Continental R you see here was also manufactured in the same year, i.e. 2003. . It feels like a completely different era.
Is that a good thing? Hmm. Well, it’s totally charming, in a different way than the Conti GT, at least so far. But it is also deeply, and sometimes comically, flawed in other ways. Of course, I fell in love with the car and ended up driving it much longer than I should have on the day I was supposed to test out the latest bespoke offering from Bentley’s Mulliner division.
The Continental R was the last in the line of powerful and luxurious saloons that Rolls-Royce-owned Bentley specialized in. Emerging from the Silver Shadow-based T-Series, Bentley gave new life to the pioneering (albeit crude by modern standards) turbocharged long-life 6.75-liter overhead-valve V-8 engine. Have the words “world’s fastest drawing room” ever been used to describe a car? Maybe — but never more often than with the Mulsanne Turbo and the Turbo R, which preceded the Continental R. There is no such thing. I’m sure I did the same thing myself in the mid-1990s, even though I had little idea what a drawing room actually looked like.
Next up was the Continental, the first Bentley in more than 20 years to not share body style with Rolls-Royce. The Continental R was a more civilized and less sporty version of the Turbo R, but it still packed the hefty clout of its venerable V-8 engine, with 355 horsepower giving it a 0-60 mph acceleration of 6.6 seconds, and achieved a top speed of 152 miles per hour. . In 1998, power was increased to 420 horsepower, reducing 0-60 mph to 6.0 seconds and increasing top speed to nearly 170 mph.
The last Continental R Final Series sitting here is a reminder of the great strides luxury has come in recent years. There’s no question this car is luxurious, with its wide diamond-quilted leather seats, deep carpets, and black lacquered woodwork, but the clunky black plastic switchgear and ugly airbag steering wheel It’s a jarring contrast to the luxury of cars from the 1950s. Perfect interior with 60’s and modern sophistication.
But once you know where the starter button is, I actually like it. The number of gauges and switches is as exciting as the way schoolboys peer through condensed door windows at speedometers that dare to promise more than 100 miles per hour. Oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature, ammeter, clock… it’s all there, littered with ridiculously illogical switches and controls.
Why is the ignition switch on the right side of the steering column (right-hand drive), but the chrome-plated unmarked starter button is far to the left?These 7 What accessory catalog did the electric window and seat heater switches come from? And did the electric seat controls require you to sit so awkwardly? And why are the chrome Is the plated rotary wiper switch on the left side of the steering wheel, barely visible from the driver’s seat? Still, at least the light switch on the other side of the pillar is of the same style and similarly difficult to find at first. is.
None of this is new to classic car enthusiasts, until we remind you (again) that this ’03 is a car with 1990s origins. So I turned the key and pressed the starter, anxious and concerned that I had remembered the Bentley’s era incorrectly.
Of course, there was no need to worry. I’m not sure who first applied the word “woofle” to a big V-8 engine, but it woofles, albeit quietly. With a sophisticated but powerful sound, when you put the heavy gear lever into Drive and press down on its heavy machined aluminum accelerator pedal, the Continental R glides along with more noise, far less delicate than the regular engine. The gears move smoothly without any problems. Although it’s a modern car, it’s smooth enough and feels suitably dignified.
The steering can be a shock to anyone who grew up with only modern power assist. It’s incredibly light, but has enough feel to know what’s going on. It doesn’t take long to notice that there’s also quite a bit of roll from the suspension. When I looked back at my notes, I initially wrote that it was “wobbly” in the ride and handling section, but it was actually smooth. Forget about today’s wheels larger than 20 inches or low-profile wheels. This is how luxury cars deal with bumpy roads.
The brakes are also terrifying for people who have only driven the latest models, but with a little force they work fine. It doesn’t take long for progress to become even more rapid, but on this day it’s only hindered by the old-fashioned windshield wipers, which are clearly struggling to clear the downpour. It’s so comfortable and so much more responsive than I originally expected, it’s easy to imagine spending a day just driving around in this interpretation of old-fashioned luxury. I could easily leave my car in the crew, drive straight home in the Continental R, and avoid desperately thinking about how much money I’ll end up making by filling up the tank on the way. It’s done.
There was a time, not too long ago, when Bentley had a screaming, overweight, cigar-smoking chairman of the board. But what about now? Now it feels like a classic car and offers a great experience. Bentleys from the VW era have come a long way, but they’ve always been on the back of cars like this.
