A glimpse of The Good Life Personified…
by Wallace Wyss –
Figure it this way. The Bentley is one of the most exclusive luxury touring cars. And one of the most expensive. So there’s lots of cash to spend on the best photographers, settings, and art direction. The result is beyond what Detroit automakers achieve, though I believe some Karma car ads look as expensive as Bentley.
The Bentley official factory website has fantastic settings and detail shots. It shows, for example, the finish of the Continental dashboard–a triumph of choice of materials.
A little down further on the same page it shows the Blackline trim option showing that yes, having your chrome trim in black is still a trend, though I think it looks cheap compared to chrome. The copy is a little bit over the top on sell.
Says Bentley:
Designed to provide a striking and assertive look, the Blackline Specification replaces all of the exterior body brightware with black-painted trim except the Bentley wing badges and rear lettering. This finish gives the Continental range a more dramatic character while providing a high degree of visual differentiation.
Included in the Blackline Specification are black door handles, black radiator matrix grille and surround, black headlamp and tail lamp surrounds plus black exhaust pipes. The side window surrounds, wing vents and lower side sills are also painted black, and additional Black wheel options are available.
I love the use of Koa wood in the dash, an option, though if the environmentalists hear about it I am sure they will intone with tears the death of Koa trees. Says Bentley:
Koa tree is mostly found on the Hawaiian Islands and loves the volcanic ash slopes of the island volcanos. Koa is a blend of blonde wood with rich red overtones and dependant of its elevation changes the mix of red in the tree. Koa has been used by the Hawaiians for canoe and surf boards because of its relative strength to weight and is now prized in guitar manufacture as it is a tone wood and creates a warm tonal quality to acoustic guitars as well as looking beautiful.
Can your dog do tricks?
One of the features of the new Continental is a rotating display of gauges. One minute the dash looks one way and when you press a button a center section revolves and shows three old time style gauges. Says Bentley:
The Bentley Rotating Display. Sitting in the centre of the fascia, the optional Bentley Rotating Display allows you to tailor the car’s instrumentation according to your mood. When the engine roars into life, a flat, veneered section of the fascia physically rotates to reveal the 12.3” high-resolution touchscreen. If you prefer a more classic instrument style, a further rotation reveals another veneered panel, this one with three analogue dials: a compass, a temperature gauge and a chronograph timer. A final, reverse rotation takes place when the engine is turned off, restoring the display to its original, veneer-only position, for an uninterrupted flow of wood, right across the fascia.
Even when driving without the central touchscreen visible, all essential driver information is visible in the digital instrument panel behind the steering wheel. The instrument panel itself can be configured in numerous ways – between the rev counter and the navigation map, for example.
Yes all goes under: Can your dog do back flips? Same thing. Amaze the rubes.
Boy Racer
It’s hard to believe Bentley drivers want to recall race cars of yesteryear but hey, Continental owners, demographically are most likely ten years younger than the buyers of four door models. Hence they have a model with a No, 1 on the grille recalling some pre-WWII race car. Says Bentley :
The Grand Finale of our Centenary Trilogy. Taking open-air grand touring to exhilarating new heights, the third and final Limited Edition in our Centenary series is here. Inspired by the legendary 1929 No.1 Bentley Blower, this is a car that celebrates a century of intrepid racing endeavours and innovation.
The Continental GT Convertible Number 1 Edition by Mulliner also pays tribute to pioneering individuals such as the Hon. Dorothy Paget, who played an important part in the thrilling achievements of the No. 1 Bentley Blower.
The elevated performance and advanced technology of the new Continental GT Convertible have been combined with design features inspired by the No. 1 Blower, to create an exciting fusion of Bentley’s past, present and future.
Each car contains something truly priceless: a piece of a piston taken from the No. 1 Blower during its restoration. This has been exquisitely recast into the shape of a Bentley wheel spinner, much like those of the No.1 Blower. Displayed within the Bentley Rotating Display on the veneered fascia, this fascinating detail makes every one of these cars truly unique.
In sum, I found the Bentley Continental website informative and alluring. Missing were some factory Bentley videos. I know they’re out there but I can only spend a minimum time fantasizing in the high altitude Bentley life style site before I have to come back to earth…
Visit the Bentley Continental website here.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
YOUR AUTHOR: Wallace Wyss has written ad copy for several automakers. At present he is in the fine arts, doing paintings on commission.
All images compliments of Bentley.
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