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Hard-to-get Bentley
Continental GT coupe dazzles with its sexy style, poise, agility.
TROY -- At a time when most automakers are luring buyers into showrooms with rebates and other hefty incentives, Matthew P. Vazana is turning away customers who are offering $50,000 over the sticker price to get into a 2005 Bentley Continental GT. Vazana is the sales manager at Bentley Troy, which opened last spring in time for the launch of the stunning new $162,285 Bentley coupe. "We have people walking in here all the time offering $50,000 over sticker," Vazana said. "We tell them we don't do it. It wouldn't be fair to the people who have been waiting months for the car." So unattainable is the new Continental GT that Bentley Troy is sold out through September, and has only 15 order slots left for the remainder of 2005. Most Michigan buyers wait seven months to get into what is certainly the hottest car of the 2005 model year. Around the country, the waiting list stretches up to a year. We felt fortunate that Vazana was willing to give us the keys to a Neptune blue 2005 Continental GT outfitted with the optional $8,490 Mulliner driving specification package -- but only for an hour. The 2005 model has already seen two price hikes -- a $6,000 increase to compensate for the U.S. dollar's decline against the euro last fall and a second $4,000 increase in January. Our reaction to the glamorous Continental GT: It is hands-down the sexiest car on the planet, from its massive metal grille and sculpted flanks to its elongated oval exhaust tips. The Continental GT is a Roman candle on the highway with its 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder engine that makes 552 horsepower, all-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic transmission that can be shifted manually with your fingertips via small paddles mounted just behind the steering wheel. The Continental GT accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and can reach nearly 200 miles an hour. Although the car weighs more than 5,000 pounds, it accelerates like a nitro-fueled dragster. On Michigan's wintry roads, we never came anywhere close to testing this vehicle's claimed top speed, but were sufficiently dazzled by the Continental GT's absolute poise and agility. To borrow a sports metaphor, picture a 320-pound linebacker with the speed and grace of a world-class running back and you begin to get an idea of the car's presence and dynamic capability. And the piano black veneer in the cabin is so shiny that you can use it to apply your lipstick. While Bentley classifies the car as a 2+2, for all practical purposes it's a two-seater. Our 2005 Continental GT test car had a whopping sticker price of $170,775. That included a $2,595 destination charge, a $3,700 gas-guzzler tax and the Mulliner package, which adds ritzy touches like diamond quilted hide to seat facings, doors and rear quarter panels, as well as seven-spoke alloy sports wheels and knurled chrome-and-hide shift lever. So pricey is the Continental that even the optional valet key adds an extra $200 to the bottom line. It's no wonder that the ranks of buyers include such celebrities as Detroit Pistons Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton. Vazana said Bentley Troy buyers -- mostly male "business entrepreneurs" who have ranged in age from 35 to 84 -- typically make $500,000 to $600,000 a year and have about $2 million in assets. The Continental GT shares its basic architecture, including its all-wheel-drive configuration, with the Volkswagen Phaeton and the Audi A8 L sedans. Major suspension components include double wishbones in front and a multilink rear, with air springs and electronic dampers at both ends. What that translates to in the real world is a car with a ride quality that gives you the perfect blend of sportiness and comfort. As you would expect in a vehicle that competes with such $150,000+ products as the Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG and Lamborghini Gallardo, there is a full complement of standard safety equipment on the Continental GT. It includes electronic stability with traction control, antilock brakes, side air bags and front and rear side curtain air bags that protect all four passengers. As writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said, "The rich are different from you and me." Nowhere is that more clear than with the window sticker itself on the Continental GT. For most people, that piece of paper ends up crumpled and shoved inside the glove compartment. But when you buy the Continental GT from Bentley Troy, the dealer puts the window sticker in a burled wood frame and presents it to you, along with a Bentley heritage book. The presentation gives it the weight and gravity of a college diploma. If you've got the money and can put up with the long wait for your Continental GT, you truly will be graduating to a whole new level of conspicuous consumption with the purchase of this striking Bentley.
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