We’ve come to the end of our time with the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, and I will be sad when it goes. Still, I’ve done pretty well out of it.
[Not a valid template]My other half has gotten very used to being chauffeured around in style and turns up her nose when a colleague has the car and she has to use her old Golf. Valets at hotels think I’m super-rich and are extra nice to me. My friends ask for lifts more often. Actually, that’s not a good point.
But anyway. The point is, that the Bentley makes me feel like I’ve arrived, like I’m a bit of class, something special. Even though I’m actually a slightly overweight scribbler who couldn’t get a Proper Job. I’ve been able to swank it around the place in top nightspots, get prime parking and generally live like a lord.
Which is why I felt a bit out of place not too long ago when I was taking part in the 12 Hours of Dubai kart race at the Dubai Kartdrome. Spending the best part of a day in a concrete pit garage meant my team had decided to spruce it up a bit, and so the Flying Spur Speed ended up being filled with two old carpets, a laundry rack and all sorts of bits and bobs designed to keep four tired racers comfortable well into the night.
Thankfully, being a machine of luxury and class, there’s loads of space in the back of the Bentley, which was useful as I don’t think our new McLaren would be able to swallow the rugs. Seats designed to accommodate well-heeled posteriors coped admirably with Ikea’s finest. Although the boot is pretty large as well, easily big enough to cope with a cool box, helmet, race suit and suitcase.
The race itself passed off without incident, save for us missing out on a podium position by 19 seconds after 12 hours of racing. By the time it was all over, I was left to pack everything back into the car, safe in the knowledge that it was the classiest ride in the car park. Even if I did look a little strange, covered in sweat and in full race gear, chauffeuring two Ikea rugs and a laundry rack across town in a Bentley at two in the morning.
It might not have had the most fitting end to our time with what’s been the most exclusive car we’ve ever hosted at crankandpiston, but it at least had a link to the thrill of driving. And that sums up the car beautifully. It’s a large, luxury cruiser, but it’s more than happy to accommodate a born-racer and all his paraphernalia. Or a slightly overweight scribbler.
