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The DB5 is indeed gorgeous. I tend not to aspire to one, because people accuse you of having James Bond pretentions.
I mean, they'd be right, but let's not make it easy for them!
Actually, having re-read my posting, an awful omission has just surfaced.
DB3S
I mean, how could I have forgotten it?
Now, the Bentley is something else entirely. The four-and-a-half is the car I dream of. In many ways, Aston Martin took up the role after the war that the Bentley had before. It was Ettore Bugatti who first accused WO Bentley of "making the fastest lorries in the world."
The early ones, the 3-litres, were good for 92mph. Any more than that, and you would snap the crankshaft. This is in 1924, remember. The 4.5 will top 110mph, and with a supercharger, will do more like 125 in standard trim.
The Speed Six, a car built up to 1930, possesses a performance curve not dissimilar to a V-12 Jag.
And all this from a car weighing a ton and a half, with the aerodynamics of a lightly streamlined office block, and with brakes that - frankly - didn't.
If you've never seen vintage Bentley racing, the club has its annual raceday at Silverstone on the first Saturday of September. The Bentley drivers are a sporting lot, and they send out invitations to the Aston Martin, AC and Morgan clubs to bring their best and compete with them.
It's a day's racing like no other.
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