A thing of beauty...

Writing this in the reception area of Bentley HQ in Crewe, where I’ve been driving the new V8 versions of the Continental GT and GTC. There are worse ways of spending the first sunny Monday of the summer! Never failed to be impressed by the head-turning ability of the GT, even on the roads in this part of the world where it’s a relatively common sight. However, a genuine rarity in the Bentley world is the car pictured above, the centrepiece of the firm’s heritage display for the summer. It’s a one-of-a-kind 4.25-litre Bentley Embiricos Coupe from 1938 and is about as rare as Bentleys come. The firm has been trying for years to get hold of it, as it’s in private ownership in America but has been in Europe to compete in some historic race events. Andre Embiricos was a wealthy Greek racing driver who commissioned new aerodynamic bodywork for his standard car. The result was a huge success and the car finished sixth at Le Mans in 1949. My Bentley guide didn’t know its value – it’s virtually priceless – but admitted the firm’s annual contents insurance policy had shot up by more than £9,000 just to have it standing on this piece of carpet until September.