Our magazine (B’fine) has long been all about networked mobility concepts and multimodal routes in urban centres. Between pedelecs, car sharing and climate awareness, the car is losing its significance as a status symbol – at least for younger urban people. For them, it is primarily being replaced by the use of the latest digital gadgets, including mobility apps. You realise how old you are, and also how cars age, when you admire the models of your youth – and remember the idols of that time. How much one situation or another evokes very specific memories. The car is changing, just as the world is changing. What keeps the enthusiasm for it alive are the many memories associated with it: As a milestone in individual biographies – or as a reminder of top sporting achievements. More on this later.
I’ll tell you straight away that I love driving Bentleys. It doesn’t always have to be the latest model, I’m a big fan of consistency. Sports car as a substitute for sport? Always travelling in a Bentley? Not really. But then came the offer: a Bentley Continental GT. Pretty big, pretty blue, pretty good. So off we go, with photographer Maximilian Balázs at my side. The sky is cloudy and the streets are full of rush-hour traffic. A few laps of the city. Just for a few hours. A tankful of escapade.
A sports car from Zuffenhausen actually parks in front of me and I give the driver a friendly nod. In the supersport year of 2024, the battle of the premium manufacturers for the world championship will not be decided on the lawn of the Allianz Arena or within sight of the Eiffel Tower, but on the streets of our cities. Nevertheless, the current season is becoming more and more entertaining and Bentley in particular is well equipped for possible overtaking manoeuvres. So it’s going to be exciting! And us? We take the same sporty approach and whizz through Munich city centre in a sporty automotive icon.
People who move the world love exercise and challenges and are often enthusiastic about sport and, in particular, sporty cars. Being able to afford something comes from performance.
It’s a sensitive topic, but for creators and multipliers – active or consuming – this is an elementary part of their lifestyle. As an essential part of our value and performance society, as an experience in the field of tension between performance and reward. When premium brands, and in particular dynamic premium cars such as Bentley, so vehemently seek a connection to performance, it is only logical. With all the reservations that this entails, if we are allowed to approach the subject in a sporty and tongue-in-cheek manner here in SELECTION. In a conversation with a sprinter, he said that you have to stalk the car in front without losing sight of those in pursuit. And Bentley is stalking very well at the moment: The new model of the Continental is already in the starting blocks, while the current model, here as the blue GT, is still rushing from victory to victory.
One of the most common forms of hypocrisy in connection with a sports car like a Bentley Continental is the following: You really want one, but you don’t want to admit it. And not because there are ideological reasons against it. Do you know that? And yes, the city is not just about sportiness, but also about sustainability. A contradiction where talk and action don’t go together. Or because otherwise you would be considered anti-progress? We think so: No, not at all. Sport in particular provides a lot of impetus. On the one hand, team spirit, winning mentality, dealing with defeats. In the automotive sector, above all, ideas and innovations that have made it into series production. And only innovations such as the latest technologies will take us where society wants to go: efficiency, minimising consumption, lightweight construction. Biofuels, hybrids, electric cars and, in the future, fuel cells. In exceptional cases, the reasons given here may even have to stand up to my own self. Really: you can’t miss out on a drive in a Bentley, even my friends, to whom I keep trying to explain my inner turmoil, will admit that.
After travelling the same routes over and over again to take photos, I discovered the real quality of the Bentley for myself: cruising! Far removed from any thoughts of performance, I was attracted by the relaxed, easy gliding along. Me! Just driving through the city, floating along confidently in traffic – the laid-back feel-good songs on my playlist in my ears and in my heart. The future of our automotive industry may lie not only in its transformation into a provider of networked mobility, mobility apps, karaoke toys or integrated data suppliers. Above all, it lies in producing cars that you can still somehow remember, that you want to go through life in. Sorry: want to drive.
I take one last quick detour in the blue Continental. It brings me back to the topic, to sportiness, to sustainability and to all the laps we did in Munich. I turn up the music and drive through the city again. Just be in the moment.
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GOHM SPORTWAGEN GMBH | BENTLEY STUTTGART
Graf-Zeppelin-Platz 1
D – 71034 Böblingen
