I'm a little envious of you enjoying the Bentley each day. I bought the LX570 for my DD and keep the BGT for treats. But then I've always been that way with an exotic for special occasions. One day I'll be rich enough to have two BGTs - one as a garage queen and the other for dirt road drivin'!

Some concours entrants trailer in their beauties, having spent the last 3 months getting every speck off the undercarriage. They weep at dust settling. I feel their pain

 

Well, i do miss my 2008 F250 Off-Road Superduty as there are times i could use a truck for hauling stuff and off course with the F250 it meant off roading on the mountain trails and mudding was possible. Not something i'd dare do in the CGT. Hmmm, with with the Blizzak tires and raising the ride height of the CGT it could be possible... no no NO! Don't even think it Steven!

Please drive the CGT more often. Was caught in a HUGE hour+ long downpour with deep puddles on the highways and the CGT does great with the Perelli P-Zero tyres. Must have hydroplaned at least five times while doing <cough> brisk <cough> speeds. The CGT is very stable and just keep your foot in it and the wheel pointed the way you want and all is fine. Smoothness of input and keeping the car dynamically/smoothly controlled in a balanced/gentle way is rewarded, just like when driving in deep snow or on iced over lakes. Let the sheer weight of the car combined with the suspension/computers work their magic

 

Since the world speed record on ice (205mph) was broken by a Bentley GT Speed, I guess I can get out more in inclement weather.

It's the cleaning up afterwards that bothers me.

 

I'm with Steven on this one... use the car. I use mine to transport stuff to and from the recycling centre, (grass, clippings, wood, general rubbish), I throw the mountain bike in the back and probably worst of all, let our two dog's in when taking them for long walks (they like rolling in duck poo).

I think there is nothing better than having one of these types of cars and using it everyday for what ever you need doing!

as for the cleaning up afterwards... I call that therapy, I like nothing more than spending a few hours just fettling the cars while the wife's out shopping, so getting them dirty is only an excuse to get them clean again!

I too have seen people cry off from events due to the chance of showers, the last italian car event I was at, as we were arriving in our maserati, most of the ferrari's were on their way home as the grass was just cut and blades of grass were sticking to their tires and it was likely to shower in the afternoon... wimps!

I've also recently done a car show and allowed people to get up close and personal with the car, it might be the only time that they get close to one, I even encouraged the nicer people to have a sit inside, and savour the moment, not something they were expecting as the Bentley owners club area was all fenced off so you couldn't get close.

so I say, use it, drive it, clean it, enjoy it. you only live once and there are too many people in the cemetery that probably wished they had done things differently

 

Rained hard on the way to work today.. Bentley ran like a champ..

Sadly going to have to wash it tomorrow..

 

Ok... i can see *someone* is going to have to post pics of their down n' dirty CGT. Give me a few more days as she is fairly dirty now, am sure i can find a way to make it worse

 

Well, we all have cars for different reasons, it's horses for courses. For me it's as much looking at supercars for enjoyment as driving them. But one thing has always been proven - on sales my own cars have always been snapped up at a premium, whether I sell them privately or trade them in... no-one has ever found fault with them.

The guy who bought my SL600 privately took one glance at it in my garage and said he wouldn't even look under the bonnet or take a test drive, he would buy it on the spot. I insisted that he did inspect, but of course it made no difference, he still bought it at a premium price and raved over its condition. He said it looked like a new car, and it was a 2003, driven often and briskly. I even got my first major speeding ticket in 20 years in this one!

All I did at the purchase was spend some time on the bodywork to get all swirls and scratches out, have a couple of wheels brought back to factory finish, buy a few mats, apply some cleaning skill and you could step back in time 7 years. I bought it at a dealer, and got the same price back privately nearly 3 years later with light mileage.

Same with my Bentley Continental GT. The first and only previous owner and his family gave it a hard life, but after my trusty top-class dent and leather guys worked on it you can not tell it from new. I gave it my bodywork clean and there are absolutely no faults anywhere. And in 5 years it will look the same and will sell like a shot at market price.

That's why I treat my exotics this way, not to mention the delightful feeling of stepping into a pristine car that looks like new. And I've also saved myself a hundred thousand dollars in new car depreciation as a side benefit.

My rain car, recycle tip car and daily driver, the LX570, is a different story. I keep it outside so I can resist the temptation to make it pristine and therefore never use it. But it is still in better condition than most others of its type. (Just kidding about the tip... I have a gardener/handyman so I never go near a landfill. Those days are well over, and I've never missed the smell and the mess

The other side to the cleaning is a management thing. As a business owner, my time is worth a lot and it is more economic to farm out the detailing on our 3 cars (used to be 5). But apart from the fact I enjoy the process and am good at it, there's no-one in my city who can get the same result. In fact, most detailers here will make the car worse, and that goes against my theory of getting the most $ for the car on exit.

So one answer is to limit usage to fair weather to reduce the cleaning, and that's what I do.

 

As I mention in my last post, it's probably a time thing. It could be business owners like me, or execs who don't have a lot of discretionary time and don't want to waste it on stuff they won't get paid for.

Though it's likely that these guys get their cars done by specialist detailers who charge $100/hour or more, and nobody like seeing grass removal costing that much again

 

This quote basically explains my exotic car ownership..

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
― Hunter S. Thompson

 

Didn't he also say “The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong done them by man, beast or fate. The only thing that keeps them in line is their fear of death, jail and lawsuits.”

 

Since i'm at the track this weekend...

We have a (joking yet...) saying too: "I want to go out of the world the same way i came into it... bloody and screaming." You racers know what i mean

 

I am going to add my 2 cents here, I was with Steven a few weeks ago at the Northeast Exotic Car show. He is showing me around the car and offers/tells me to jump in. Now mind you he had a couple of signs for the patrons "please look but don't touch" and the look on these 2 teenagers faces when I jumped in was priceless. It had rained pretty good the night before & the grass was soaked so I kept my feet on the grass not wanting to get the car dirty. In his "dad voice" he says "I believe I told you to get in". So I was like "ok" and put my feet in.

Damm that is a sweet car. Guy's like me whose salary is <40% of the cost of that car new appreciate when the more fortunate are as welcoming as Steven was.

I was talking to my dad on the ride home, I told him "you need to find where to get that same leather and make a recliner out of it because you will be in hog heaven watching your golf on the big screen!".

 

That's a nice story..

 

Kenny, sorry to bring up an old thread but I am pretty much doing the same on my 2004 continental GT. She is at the best Panel Beater in Melbourne at the moment having some door dings and a couple of minor scrapes and scratches repaired. Next I want to tidy up the leather but not sure how it can be done.
For Instance the stitching on the drivers seat where you slide in has worn off and their are various wear marks from people squeezing into the back seat etc.
What type of leather person did you use ? What did you get them to do ?
Not sure we have leather people over here.
Anything else you did to the Bentley to restore her to like new ?

Thanks
Digger.

 

Well, you would be wrong about me pal.
All of my cars look great, but as many of you have learned, I am an emotional basket case.

I do agree about caring for an automobile. To some it is not a chore, but a privilege, especially when caring for your Bentley.