Bentley is now entering the SUV field. Kinda late, but I’m sure they’re not looking for volume sales since the estimated price tag is around $250k.
Bentley is one of those vehicles I’ve always dreamed of owning…but unless I win the lottery It’ll never come true. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/bentley-exp-9-f-just-everyday-600-hp-192914734.html
I doubt if my imagination is unrestrained enough to envision what that interior must be like.
Still wouldn’t buy one even if I DID win the lottery.
Service would be a nightmare out here in the middle of ‘‘nowhere’’ and ‘‘where the heck is that’’.
’'No We don’t have an air filter for a …snicker, snicker…Bentley ?? “”
To this day when I phone out for parts to be shipped in, people will ask me ''is that in the United States ? ?
The top 1% is immune from practicality. Do you think Bentley or any car manufacturer really cares about the practicality of their vehicles in the hands of anyone willing to fork over that much money ? As long as they sell, they keep building them…
No thanks. I’ll take a Mulsanne or a Brooklands.
The tax system in England seems to discourage owning large automobiles and only the very exclusive brands that command extremely high prices would offer a Suburban size vehicle. In Mississippi a new Suburban tag 10 years ago was over $1,000. Today that that 10 year old Suburban’s tag would be less than $75 because the tax is based on value. In Europe the engine displacement and exhaust would push the annual taxes over $1,000. There is little market for used SUVs since the working class is unwilling and/or unable to afford such an annual cost when added to the $5.50 gasoline price and insurance.
it looks more like a Bently station wagon than an SUV
A Bentley SUV seems even more ridiculous to me than a Cadillac Escalade SUV or a Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck.
ken green
I have a friend and customer that has a 1 year old bentley and a 2 year old rolls royce. We live 175 miles from chicago where he bought them. If he needs anything they deliver it overnight personally. They also come in the fall and take them back to chicago for winter storage and yearly servicing. Money is a wonderful thing.
Do these very limited production high-dollar vehicles have to go through a crash testing program and be certified for safety and emissions before they can be sold in the United States…?? Or are they granted an exemption because of their low production numbers…
People would pay good money to see a new Bently hit the barrier at 60 mph…
Just think of it as a very fancy VW. The engine traces back to the VR6 in the old Corrado.
Suv’s aren’t slowing down, their tires are just getting taller and fatter.
I’ll take 3 fully-loaded Grand Cherokees, a 4WD pickup, and a really nice Vette or Mustang with the rest of the change instead, thank you very much. Or maybe just a decent house and two very nice used vehicles.
Some sheik will probably order a dozen, one for each of his wives. They’ll be parked next to their Veyrons, Silver Ghosts, and extended-length bespoke limo fleet.
We here cannot hope to understand the motivations of the target market.
Like you, mountainbike, I can only guess. But it wouldn’t surprise me if they had requests for an SUV. If enough people ask for it, they can have it. And what says “I can afford to waste the Earth’s precious natural resources” like a very large SUV? If they decide to build it, I’m sure that there will be buyers. NBA and NFL stars could easily afford it. Oh, and don’t forget all those investment bankers paying themselves huge bonuses again.
Well stated, JT.
I’d think it was appalling if I wasn’t so jealous.
Well, Porsche’s making most of their money selling SUVs, so it’s really not a surprise that others want in on the $$$$.
According to one of my college roommates someone in the rich suburbs of Chicago had a Mercedes customized into a station wagon in the '70’s and it created such a buzz that the company came out with a s.w. version.
The MB purists though this was the end of polite society, of course.
“The MB purists though this was the end of polite society, of course.”
This is America. What’s this polite society stuff?
I, like many people, had the fantasy of a Rolls or Bentley. I posted on this board, and asked what they were like to own. The general idea was they are junk, and are broke more than they are running.
Many of the problems were electrical, as UK is famous for.
Also, a tail light lens costs like $1000.
Now, since someone owned them for a while, perhaps they fixed those problems. But, my fantasy is gone. I had assumed it was such a great car you could drive it across US; Canada, and clear to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean.
Apparently, for that, you need a Toyota Sienna, which I already own. So, if I win the lottery, it will be a new Sienna, not a Rolls. Or, maybe even completely renovate my used Sienna to avoid attracting attention of the Zetas when I drive through Tamaulipas.