Bentley Brooklands review

Mag-bleeding-nificence personified. The Bentley Brooklands first emerged in 2008 (the car pictured was the last one ever built, in January 2010) but in character it’s something from a different epoch, long before Bentley’s German takeover. Yes, the switchgear and even the fonts on the screen inside show mid-2000s Volkswagen influence, but in character this enormous slab of old England is a purely British Bentley.

Somehow it slathers the spirit of a pre-WWII special coachbuilt for aristocracy into an austerity-era run-out special. A car seemingly snuck out the door while the Volkswagen Group board was busy frowning at the balance sheets. Meanwhile, the Bentley boys and girls had one of their very finest hours.

But seriously, what is a Brooklands? Besides an old banked racetrack!

An Azure cabriolet with a svelte hard-top welded onto its backside. An 18-foot-long coupe with seats for four to lounge in, a cliff-face veneer of dashboard peppered with dials and shrouded switchgear, and in the front, the torquiest engine this side of a Bugatti’s W16. Bentley didn’t need to build this car. It already had the Continental GT coupe in the showroom. But it thought ‘what the heck?’ and created something wonderful.

What’s the engine?

The six-and-three-quarter-litre V8 warhorse that traces its family tree back to 1959 knew it was not long for this EU/California emissions-regulated world, and went ungently into that good night churning out a monstrous 774lb ft of torque without ever bothering to rev past 4,600rpm. It rumbles malevolently, somewhere in a distant county, like a gathering storm.

Is it fast?

For a car, it’s quite brisk. For a member’s only club, it’s ballistic. Bentley’s official stats claim 0-62mph in 5.3 seconds, and a top speed of 183mph. So a Honda Civic Type R will dust it. But if ever a car transcended numbers, it’s this. And anyway, for 2,725kg it’s a bullet.

Why is the Brooklands so special?

Besides being gorgeous and hugely powerful, it’s also rare. Much rarer than a Conti GT.

Bentley planned to build no more than 550, but it’s rumoured in collector circles that only 426 ever left the Crewe factory gates. That’s what you get for launching a £230,000 mega-coupe in the middle of the worst recession for a century.

This one is extra-special, because it’s the very last example, destined to be retained by the company for preservation. Its stony grey coachwork is lavishly offset by honeycomb biscuit leather and smells like the sort of gentleman’s club where distant borders used to be drawn, over cigars, brandy and a game of bridge. If it wasn’t for the flying B emblem you’d presume the bonnet ended somewhere beyond the horizon.

You have to love the Brooklands, because it’s a throwback to cars that aren’t really allowed to be made anymore. It even felt like that when it was new. Because its name is so evocative – a tribute to the banked track where Bentleys made their name in the early 20th Century.

We love it, because it’s so eminently, proudly British… even if it does feature some suspiciously German buttons, and its endless, flowing haunches were styled by a man called Dirk van Braeckel. It’s more stately than a royal wave from Buckingham Palace. But also deeply cool.

And it’s a unicorn because it’s so reclusive. When was the last time you saw one glide by? It’s an under the counter car for those who know. And possibly a Bentley we’ll never see the like of again.