M Bugatti’s jibe about Mr Bentley making the fastest lorries in the world may turn out about right. A Bentley SUV, and a diesel to boot, says Autocar, is a foregone conclusion. Nothing wrong with that. They should have done it years ago. The Bentley Countryman was a sort of estate car, built by Harold Radford on Mark VIs in the 1950s, with a back that opened up for picnics or carrying Labradors. Now it will be the EXP 9F based on the next generation Audi Q7, and it will share underpinnings with the Porsche Cayenne. It is likely to be built on bodies made in Germany and then finished in Crewe. The result will be a splendid posh estate car, something Bentley owners coveted for years, since days when they built huge formal saloons on 3 Litres and 4½ Litres to WO's chagrin. He thought he was making sports cars and was so put out at the stuffy bodywork his customers were imposing on them, that he brought out the 8 Litre to compensate. Which led, in turn, to M Bugatti’s taunt about “Le camions plus vite du monde.” It is a long way from EXP 2.
I agree with you about there being nothing inherently wrong with a Bentley SUV - as long as it doesn't resemble the monstrosity that was the initial EXP 9 F concept. I see Autocar are also reporting that Bentley has 3 different design proposals on the go and that it probably won't be the one we saw at Geneva, which is a relief. Rarely have I felt strongly enough about automotive design to write a letter to the company, but I did when I saw the EXP 9 F.
ReplyDeleteBy the bye, wasn't EB's quote more in reference to Bentley's sturdy and reliable engineering compared to Bugatti's more fragile designs, rather than a swipe at the Crewe cars' size and weight?
Yes, I guess Bugatti was subtler than he is usually given credit for, although when you see Bentley chassis frames braced with wiry bits you can but wonder...
Delete