I’ve always been a bit of a Bentley man. Since Quentin Willson outlined just how inexpensive a Turbo R can be on Top Gear when I was seven , I have made it my ambition to one day own one of these cars. No mere Royce would do, it would have to be a Turbo R or RT. The immense power of these cars coupled to their girth and their splendour is, to me, an utterly irresistable package. Things are much the same when it comes to the Spirit/Turbo replacement, the Seraph and Arnage. I’ve always seen the Read more [...]

What you see above is a genuine image of the new Bentley. I was wrong on some matters, yet not far off on others. The name, for instance, I got wrong. I suggested in this blog, twelve days ago, that the new car would be called the Eight. I was wrong; another moniker from Bentley's past is to be resurrected; Mulsanne. However, I was right about the technical aspects; it will use the Bentley V8 and sit on a currently bespoke platform; which, it is speculated, will be shared with a future four door Read more [...]

The new big Bentley is due to be unveiled next week, at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California. Above is my less-than-perfect artist's impression of how I believe the car will look. Speculation is growing as to the new car's name - but Eight seems the most likely given current evidence. Mechanically I can't see it differing too far from the Arnage, and it shares it's platform with a new Bugatti saloon due in the next few years. The interior should be similar to the Continental and the Read more [...]

Last week, I wrote about the new XJ. I am sad to say that my last paragraph seemed awfully prophetic. I stated that it could well suffer the same fate as the Mark Ten; it could end up being too big, too vulgar, and too brash for Britain. It could also have suffered the same problem as it's ancestor; that of employing styling motifs not suited to a car of it's size. I was only too right. The front end is superb, sublime, and lots of other things beginning with S. However, I refuse to believe that Read more [...]

I write this, uncertain as to the fate of one of my favourite names in the history of motoring. Since 1969, Daimler has been effectively a trim level denoting the very best XJ-series Jaguar one could buy. Yet I don't see how this can continue. The next XJ is, by all accounts, a swoopy and low saloon - an XF taken to further extremes. To me, a Daimler is an upright, upmarket, wood-and-leather fest. I can't really see this working on the new XJ. So, as I see it, there are 3 options open to Daimler. Read more [...]