Road test: 2009 Bentley Brooklands

The 2009 Bentley Brooklands.

It's a renaissance time for the two-door hardtop, although ultra-luxury marque Bentley has long offered sport-luxury coupes, or should I use the more formal term coupé with the accent on the é. Prior to the new Continental GT, Bentley coupes were all dubbed Continental, if not just named Two-Door Coupé, but now that the Continental line exists in two-door hardtop, convertible and four-door sedan configurations, Bentley had to come up with another name for its Arnage-based two-door. Hence Brooklands pays homage to the brand's glorious past by making reference to the first custom-built high-banked oval ever constructed, opened on June 17, 1907, a track that Tim Birkin, the man behind the famed Bentley "Birkin Blowers," was victorious on.
As a Brooklands (the car) backgrounder, the Rolls-Royce-based Continental was built between 1991 and 2002, in R, S, T, and SC trim (the latter featuring T-tops integrated into a massive glass sunroof), with additional versions featuring Le Mans and Mulliner nameplates. The 2009 Bentley Brooklands that I was fortunate enough to drive during a sojourn to Pebble Beach last August is based on that same Rolls-Royce architecture, now heavily revised, but it's far from merely a reworked Continental T. Every body panel has been reshaped, including a completely new roofline, new shoulder lines and new front and rear fascias. From side profile, it's easily recognizable as a totally new car, while the interior has been thoroughly modernized.

Well, maybe not thoroughly. After all, the Brooklands, like the Arnage, is a literal blast from the past. While it features most of the latest gadgets, such as satellite navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, and what might be the best car stereo to every grace the roads, designed by the British boutique electronic artisans, Naim Audio, specifically for each new Bentley model and boasting 1,100 watts of ultra-pure power, the only new for 2009 feature offered, the Brookland's multifunction steering wheel doesn't even feature tilt and telescoping capability, so ergonomics might be less than ideal for some drivers. I certainly had no problem getting comfortable behind the wheel.

Certainly the diamond-quilted seats are supportive enough to while away hours at a time, whether front or back they're powered, and the engine-turned trim befits such a modern-day classic. No, this isn't a feast for the eyes... its perfection in detail and overall indulgence is visual gluttony. Yes, it takes quite a car to get noticed in Carmel during Pebble Beach weekend, but the Brooklands turned heads with the magnetism of Sophia Loren in a two-piece and sarong. Yes, like Sophia you'd never guess the Brookland's age by looking at it, and grace under pressure? It proved to be a cooker ready to explode!

Explode in a good way, mind you, as I turned off of the lazy Carmel Valley Road onto my favourite local tarmac haunt, Laureles Grade, a twisting romp up a steep slope followed by an equally intoxicating drop down to Salinas Highway, right next to the entrance of Laguna Seca raceway. The big Bentley's 20" rims shod in 255/40R20 front and 255/35R20 rear rubber bite into pavement with shocking fervor, the front rubber locked into place even at outrageous speeds and through the most delectably nasty hairpins. The Brookland's tail is set up for fun, in that it loves to release during excessive provocation. Don't worry, if you're not up to living life on the edge, especially the edge of a cliff in a $374,990 car, keep the traction and stability control on and enjoy the ride, but if you've already committed, ease off the throttle smoothly and it's sport-tuned suspension will sort itself out nicely. Yet push it beyond the comfort zone and the massive machine responds like an overgrown Lotus Elise, nudging its rear end outwards in seemingly effortless drift, totally and completely controlled from one corner to the next.

In case you were wondering how anything so large and substantial (it measures 5,410 mm / 213 inches from nose to tail and weighs in at... ahem... 2,655 kilos / 5,853.3 lbs) gets up and going, the Brooklands benefits from Bentley's well-proven six and three quarter litre V8, which doles out 530hp and an otherworldly 774 lb-ft of torque! Yes, staggering doesn't quite do it justice, nor is it possible to appreciate the silky smoothness of this now classic powerplant, or the raw power when unleashed on its way to 100 km/h in a mere 5.3 seconds, from 80 to 120 km/h in 3.1 seconds, all the way up to its top speed of 296 km/h (184 mph)... yes, I'll have to take Bentley's word on that. Its six-speed automatic is engaging, shifting quickly yet without commotion, a manual shift mode allowing a little DIY soul stirring when the roadway gets racy. And when things need to be brought down to reality in seconds, gratitude goes out to a fabulous standard braking system, or if you option it out, an even more impressive carbon ceramic setup.

There are other options, like a retractable mascot and custom matched paint to name two, and with a seemingly endless list of bespoke possibilities I doubt any two Brooklands will be built exactly alike. Truly, the odds are completely against it, being that over the course of its lifetime only 550 examples will be produced. That's an entirely new level of exclusivity that can only be matched by the likes of ultra-exotic brand Bugatti, and a handful of others.

It makes perfect sense; because driving a Brooklands is unlike any other experience you can have in a car.