Bentley

Bentley Azure

I drove a $330,000 Bentley Azure and it was magnificent. If I have to use a metaphor I’d equate the experience to spooning with Heidi Klum.

There are two kinds of cars. Those that make you forget that you’re driving and those that make the driving experience exciting. A Lexus is a wonderful car. It’s luxurious and pleasing, but like a visit to the hypnotist, a snap of the fingers and the whole experience is forgotten. In other words a Lexus is the perfect place to have a coma.

A Porsche is exciting and involving. There’s engine noise, snug seats, dark cockpits, throttle response and thick-rimmed steering wheels. It’s masculine and electrifying.Coincidentally, the average Lexus owner is 59 while the average Porsche owner is a 40-year-old male college graduate with an income of over $200,000.

The Bentley Azure is the first car I’ve ever driven that amazingly straddles both categories. From the exterior the Big B is large, nearly 18 feet long, but inconspicuous, and attracts attention only from those that know cars. With a pull, the solid door swings open to reveal a feast for the eyes. My pupils fall first to a wide door sill and then to the thick, blue-pile carpet, emblazoned with the flying B emblem. The calming cream-colored leather and mirrored wood invites me in. From the driver’s seat, it’s an overwhelming dazzle of sparkles and leather and lusciousness everywhere. The deeply chrome-plated buttons and switches pop like paparazzi bulbs and every millimeter of surface area is covered in something sumptuous. From the leather headliner to the natural wood dash, it is all top-shelf. I think the first words out of my mouth were “Wow, there’s so much to look at.”

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