Dealmaker § Getaway Car

While the GTC’S top speed is 195 (or, Bentley notes, 190 with the top down), we were attracting far too many police “escorts” to get near it.

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Getaway Car

Could the luxurious new Bentley Continental GTC help an Atlanta-based Citigroup V.P. escape from a big weekend — and big allergies — in the big city? By Marty Padgett

May/June 2007 , Page 110

Atlanta, the financial capital of the South, is full of money movers. And those who conduct their business here know spring to be the region’s finest season — the perfect time to pilot, say, a $190,000 luxury convertible to the countryside in search of a sybaritic resort and well-mixed mimosas.

And so it was, on a Saturday morning, that I turned the key on the ice-blue 2007 Bentley Continental GTC I had procured for a test drive and went in search of Margie Archer, a vice president at Citi.

The plan, in fact, was Margie’s. When I had contacted her — a lifelong car enthusiast — she had suggested a unique value prospect: speeding 75 miles east from Atlanta to enjoy the brunch at the five-diamond Ritz-Carlton at Lake Oconee. It seemed a capital idea.

As if further inducements to fleeing the city were needed, the first weekend of April had brought several others: The Final Four and its crushing human traffic had descended upon the Georgia Dome. Across the street, an earlier convention had packed in some 23,000 dentists, many of whom were still hanging around, all eager to get their hands in our mouths.

And then there was the presence of thousands of particles of tree pollen per cubic meter of air — the third-highest pollen day on record. It wasn’t just a good idea to escape the city; it was a health hazard to stay.

Thus, early Saturday, before our day-tripping could be roadblocked by multi-car pileups or hordes of wheezing dentists, I gathered Margie, who jumped in the passenger seat and tossed her BlackBerry in the back, and we headed to the home of her pal Lori. As a family law attorney — and a former criminal-defense lawyer — Lori, Margie figured, could extricate us from whatever trouble we might find.

Before we could set to the highway, though, I tapped the button to lower the Bentley’s upholstered top under its hard tonneau cover. Initially, I was surprised there was no hardtop to fold and stow, as trends are dictating at other super-luxury brands. But Bentley says it chose the soft top for its visual appeal — and it has gone to great lengths to make sure it performs equally well.

The top is formed from five layers of cloth, stores itself in 25 seconds and even allows the driver to open or close it at speeds up to 25 mph.

The drive to the Ritz-Carlton is a relatively charmless affair — a straight shot east on interstates. Regardless, the Bentley began working its charms on our trio immediately. As we soon learned, it collects speed almost silently but most assuredly; the massive twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder engine underneath its British bonnet, all-wheel drive and six-speed paddle-shifted automatic all conspire to vault the big convertible to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds.

While the GTC’s top speed is 195 mph (or, Bentley notes, 190 with the top down), we found ourselves attracting far too many stares and police “escorts” to get anywhere near those high notes. Patrol cars zoomed by, then slowed to look. And the car-crazed locals clearly knew what we had in hand — NFL Falcons, Atlanta-based rappers and other Hotlanta glitterati have helped make Bentley a brand on the rise again, and Continentals are far from rare in these parts.

As we settled in, luxuriating in the GTC’s opulent finishes — maple, wool, chrome — we took to parlor-gaming which luxury cars are, in fact, the best value. “There are few cars that are investments per se,” Margie said, admitting that, as with most enthusiasts, her car purchases are emotional. She drives a Porsche 911, her fourth Carrera. And, perhaps because she preaches value in investments, she usually buys them two years old. (For practicality, she also owns a Lexus RX and a 1965 Mustang in storage — “red, of course.”)