I attended a little gathering at the Ferrari dealer in Scottsdale last evening. They had 2 Enzos on display, the new Bentley Continental GT, and the new Rolls Royce. Roger Penske dropped by to tour his new facilities as well.

Thoughts...
The Enzo looks much better in person than pics. Not to say it was ugly, just not as flowing as the 360 IMO. Photos bring out the funky angles that aren't nearly as harsh in the flesh. It was smaller than expected from the b-pillar forward, but it's draggin' a wagon out back. (Very, very long with huge gap aft of the motor reminiscent of the dead space in the nose of Camaros and Firebirds.) Although the only view that counts is the one from behind that kick-*** suede steering wheel with the shift lights. One of the cars even seemed to come with its personal security guard. All I kept thinking was he must be the owner's trunk monkey .

The Bentley was much smaller than expected. It has about as much leg room in back as a 996, which is not at all what I expected from that kind of touring coupe. The engine placement lacks creativity in that it seems to hang out too far forward of the front axle. The rest of it is what you would expect from Bentley. Although the waist line is really high (shoulder height on most people sitting inside), the smaller car really makes its clean lines flow well and give it an instant classic look.

The Rolls - good Lord. What a tank. It looks like someone converted a Mack truck into a lowrider. The grille looks 5 feet tall and the hood looks 8 feet long. The rest of the care looks like the plywood H2 in the soap box derby from the TV commercials. The interior redefines plush. It was Rolls Royce and then some. If I only had a meager $350k to spend on a luxo-sedan, I wouldn't stop to tie my shoe at the Rolls on my way to get a plain old Bentley.

The guest parking lot was as interesting as anything else, sporting lots of 348's, 355 Spyders, a 550 Barchetta, a new Viper, a Diablo, a Turbo Cab, and a new C4S with what sounded like PSE (yum!).

$0.02

 

I am really surprised that you thought the rear seat in the Bentley was the same size as in a 996. I looked at the one on display at the Monterey historics, and while they wouldn't let anyone sit in it we were allowed to lean inside (I am not making this up). It looked to me like there was plenty of rear seat/leg room, but like I said, they wouldn't let us sit in it so I couldn't be sure. But the car mags have raved about the 4-person seating comfort (eg Car and Driver's comments: "Even the rear seat is first-class, with no surface impinging on this 5-foot-11 scribe sitting behind a front seat adjusted to his driving position."

And saying that the engine placement lacks "creativity"? I think it is pretty creative to be able to put a 12 cylinder engine in a 4-passenger car with a 108 inch wheelbase. The other options to hanging it too far forward would be to have it extend into what is now the driver's lap (there goes the rear seat/leg room) or to stretch the whole car, both of which would have been a mistake, IMHO.

 

If the truck monkey was an option on the 997 model, I think the element of surprize would be taken away because of the trunk (bonnet - UK) being at the front.

 

On the Bentley... maybe the faux cowl made the engine look shoved too far forward than it really is. I didn't move the seats around and they could have been slid all the way back, but there appeared on be only a hair more space than a leg would occupy between the back of the front seat and the front of the back seat. Surely, it had well more hip, shoulder, and head room than a 996, but it looked really short on leg room to be comfortable for 4 adults. After all I read, I was shocked at the size all around - but not in a bad way. Yeah it appeared short on rear leg room, but its not the luxo-pig I expected to see.

At the end of the day, it takes a drive, preferably a weekend with a car to truly get to know it. Now if only Bentley would let have have a weekend with one....

 

The trunk monkey on the 996/7 would be just fine. I would give it faster access to the bloke in front of you. Better yet, just cruise around in an Escalade with a troop of umpa lumpas in a 'roid-rage.

 

I was formerly intertested in the Bentley GT, until I sat in one at the Geneva Motor Show. I agree that, with the front seat adjusted for me to be comfortable driving the car, the back seat was little more than perfunctory. Maybe a little more room than a 996, but not as much as a BMW E36 3-series cabriolet (which is insufferable).

I'm 6'4", but Bentley made a point of saying that the car was designed for a pro athelete and his spouse and 2 children to motor in style and comfort. They did just fine on head room, but the back seat would in no way be a comfortable "GT" ride for my 5'10" daughters with me in the driver's seat.