GT Speed

[Bluebottle911]

stain said:

It does make me laugh at people who talk so convincingly about cars they have never sat in or driven.

How true! PH forums are littered with forthright opinions on a variety of "aspirational" cars of all ages given with apparent authority by owners of secondhand Corsas and Fiestas. This forum less than most, however, I think.

stain said:

I have a Turbo RL and a Flying Spur. I agree that the new car has less charm than the old one, but that is true of many cars these days. I prefer my W124 E Class estate to any modern Merc for the way it makes you feel.

Yes, I agree with that one, too. I run a W210, but from time to time use my old W124, because when I traded it in for the 210, my garage kept my 124 as a loan car. It is nice to go back to the 124 occasionally, but I wouldn't want to have to make the swap permanent (I'd miss the V8 apart from anything else)

stain said:

The important bit for me is that you can't play spot the switchgear in the Spur.

Are you sure? I would bow to your superior knowledge as I don't have either a Spur or a Conti in my garage, but I have driven both and I could have sworn that some of the switchgear looked familiar (VW Phaeton or Audi A8).

stain said:

It is sprinkled with enough 'Bentley dust' for me.

That's for sure - those who claim that a Spur is a Phaeton in a smart suit are usually Phaeton owners who can't afford a Bentley.

stain said:

I had a new Skoda 2 years ago and that car also maintained enough of its' brand values to remain what it is.

I was lent a Skoda a few times by Bentely Westcountry when my Turbo R was in for service and I was quite impressed (by the Skoda, not by BWC, who could have lent me something a bit more upmarket, but they're a bunch of cheapskates. I now take my Bentley to PMC - Stuart lent me his Range Rover) but then I have never driven a "real" Skoda, so am unable to make the comparison (I once had a gardener who drove a pre-VW Skoda and it looked as though a few bits had fallen off). I was once told that they used to build Hispano-Suizas under licence in the Skoda factory, which does rather undermine their reputation for making rubbish, but it is amazing what you find has been made in one factory or another - I have a fairly ordianry aluminium coffee pot which is clearly marked with the H-S trade mark on the bottom!

[stain]

When I bought the Spur, the salesman told me that the switchgear is made by VWs suppliers but is bespoke for the car. Car salesmen never lie do they?

[Bluebottle911]

stain said:

Car salesmen never lie do they?

Of course not! When I took a test drive in a Conti shortly after they came out (and I was very impressed, I may add), I was told by the salesman that the spoiler had been designed to lift at 70 m.p.h. until someone realised that would be like advertising "I have exceeded the speed limit" and so they changed it to 50 m.p.h. He was only a young lad, obviously new to his job and very pleased with his patter, so I hadn't the heart to tell him that the same story was told about my 911, built around 15 years earlier!

[stain]

Bluebottle911 said:

stain said:

It does make me laugh at people who talk so convincingly about cars they have never sat in or driven.

How true! PH forums are littered with forthright opinions on a variety of "aspirational" cars of all ages given with apparent authority by owners of secondhand Corsas and Fiestas. This forum less than most, however, I think.

stain said:

I have a Turbo RL and a Flying Spur. I agree that the new car has less charm than the old one, but that is true of many cars these days. I prefer my W124 E Class estate to any modern Merc for the way it makes you feel.

Yes, I agree with that one, too. I run a W210, but from time to time use my old W124, because when I traded it in for the 210, my garage kept my 124 as a loan car. It is nice to go back to the 124 occasionally, but I wouldn't want to have to make the swap permanent (I'd miss the V8 apart from anything else)

stain said:

The important bit for me is that you can't play spot the switchgear in the Spur.

Are you sure? I would bow to your superior knowledge as I don't have either a Spur or a Conti in my garage, but I have driven both and I could have sworn that some of the switchgear looked familiar (VW Phaeton or Audi A8).

stain said:

It is sprinkled with enough 'Bentley dust' for me.

That's for sure - those who claim that a Spur is a Phaeton in a smart suit are usually Phaeton owners who can't afford a Bentley.

stain said:

I had a new Skoda 2 years ago and that car also maintained enough of its' brand values to remain what it is.

I was lent a Skoda a few times by Bentely Westcountry when my Turbo R was in for service and I was quite impressed (by the Skoda, not by BWC, who could have lent me something a bit more upmarket, but they're a bunch of cheapskates. I now take my Bentley to PMC - Stuart lent me his Range Rover) but then I have never driven a "real" Skoda, so am unable to make the comparison (I once had a gardener who drove a pre-VW Skoda and it looked as though a few bits had fallen off). I was once told that they used to build Hispano-Suizas under licence in the Skoda factory, which does rather undermine their reputation for making rubbish, but it is amazing what you find has been made in one factory or another - I have a fairly ordianry aluminium coffee pot which is clearly marked with the H-S trade mark on the bottom!

My RL went in to Bentley Pangbourne and I had a new VW Toerag 4x4 as a loaner which was nice but I got fed up with the evil looks. A nice thing about JB (where I bought the Spur) is that I get a like for like loan car. That is essential for a chauffeur business and something Merc don't offer with the S Class.

[G4HKS]

And the original question back in May was "how many GT Speeds have been made so far?" Anyone know? And why are you asking Jan? Do you fancy one of those too?

I agree the GT Speed is a outrageously fast machine and handles in a way a big car shouldn't have the right to. It's a massive improvement over the original CGT and is probably what the car should have been when first introduced. I had one on loan for 4 days whilst Broughtons tried to convince me I no longer needed my CGT Mulliner. The crunch came when they wanted £60k to upgrade. Ouch.....

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 28th August 23:37

[shoebag]

G4HKS said:

And the original question back in May was "how many GT Speeds have been made so far?" Anyone know? And why are you asking Jan? Do you fancy one of those too?

I agree the GT Speed is a outrageously fast machine and handles in a way a big car shouldn't have the right to. It's a massive improvement over the original CGT and is probably what the car should have been when first introduced. I had one on loan for 4 days whilst Broughtons tried to convince me I no longer needed my CGT Mulliner. The crunch came when they wanted £60k to upgrade. Ouch.....

Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 28th August 23:37

Hi Martin.
Yes I was thinking of buying one to transport my dog but he has died so I bought the Superleggera as a daily runabout instead. My brother has a GT Speed. I still don`t know how many Speeds they have produced.

[Balmoral Green]

How about a quick telephone call to Bentley customer services? Probably have all the figures for all the models at their fingertips. I have asked some most obscure questions of them over the years, they always come back to you with an answer.

[G4HKS]

Okay Jan and sorry to hear of your dogs passing; however I think you were being just a tad mean offering a GT Speed to ferry him around when you should have thought of a Phantom. At the very least. Woof woof.