Bentley Continental GTC (2006) CAR review

Ah, a convertible version of the Continental GT coupe. Hollywood housewives and the French riveria will be delighted.

Yup, it's the open top Continental, the GTC. A Crewe cut was always part of the GT model family, even if the cabrio has required some thorough engineering to create. Losing the coupe's roof required additional strengthening to sills, cross-braces for the front and rear suspension, and beefed-up A-pillars to stop the body from flexing. And the rear suspension had to be completely redesigned to lower the shock absorber mounts by 210mm. The penalty is a 110kg weight gain, over the already lardy GT coupe. And there's been no upgrade to the engine, not that the twin-turbo W12 was lacking urge.

Okay, it's well engineered. How's it look?

Perhaps the GT coupe is a little too familiar on our roads or it could be the footballer associations, but the GTC definitely has an added touch of class. How long that will last when it becomes the WAG's default choice of flash car remains to be seen. However, there's no doubting the GTC is a handsome car, with real presence. It’s a simple three-box shape and the rear end looks far happier than the coupe's over-heavy rump. As for the roof, it looks good when it's up, and it folds away in a laconic, unflustered fashion. Bentley says it could have made the roof fold away quicker, but that would have been ungainly and there's nothing wrong with it taking 25 seconds instead of 20. It also works at speeds up to 20mph, so there’s no need to do anything as gauche as stop if the rain begins to fall.