Walkaround:

A shapely character line sweeps up, over and rearward from the front wheels, fading into the door panels, and another similar sweep picks up ahead of the rear wheels and leads to a tapered rear-end evoking the boat-tail silhouette of years gone by. Mercurial exterior chrome is limited to trim items and sleek lips at each corner, yet one easily senses the hands of practiced polishing.

The Flying Spur is formal and most upright, the large rear doors suggesting a cramped driver's compartment of a limousine and spacious accommodation for the master; fortunately the latter is true while the former condition is not. Tapered body or otherwise, the trunk is capacious and ordering the refrigerator compromises volume only slightly.

The GT coupes are the most sporting of the Bentley Continentals, and are among the best Grand Touring cars available today. The long, low, sleek proportions provide visual stimulation without the low seating position that makes traffic terrifying; every detail is subtle, best illustrated by the spoiler that appears merely as an added seam in bodywork between trunk and rear glass.

While it looks good with the top up (and matches the coupe's aerodynamic drag), the GTC convertible takes on an elegance all its own with the top down, the classic profile as elegantly flowing and simple as a Herreshoff sailing yacht. A mechanical symphony stows the top neatly under a leather-trimmed tonneau, faired in to the rear seats, leaving a single strip of chrome surrounding the opening from windshield to trunk.

Attention to detail is reflected in the four round light housings that incorporate headlights, sidelights, and turn signals, LED rear lamps, chrome strips in the door handle recesses so the paintwork won't be scratched by fingernails or rings, the center brake light seamlessly integrated within the chrome roof strip on the GTC, and painted mirror housings surrounding chrome-ringed mirror glass.

The Continentals are big cars, larger than the average luxury ride but not so much so they require a garage extension or special parking space, though some say they deserve it. They also gravitate to the heavy end of the scale, this year's reengineering of some suspension parts taking only a small fraction off the 2.5-ton-plus weight.

Bentley is owned by Volkswagen, which also owns Audi. Consequently, much of the Bentley's structure and design can be traced to Audi's A8 flagship, a much lighter car because it is constructed primarily of aluminum alloys. Despite any negative feelings you have about badge engineering they should not be applied here, as there are no negatives to this fusion of German precision and British stateliness.