Quite what the race-car and these road versions have in common is hard to fathom. In typical Bentley style, the interior sports the usual inch-deep lambswool rugs, a special chrome and leather gearknob operating the standard four-speed auto 'box, a dubious shade of green for the numerous dials, plus a plethora of Bentley crests scattered around the woodwork on the centre console and door caps. No fashionable carbonfibre in here then.

Things look better on the outside, this car getting the wider arches of the short- wheelbase Continental T, complete with the sports bumper package and two non-functioning cosmetic vents on the front wings. Tacky red brake callipers hide inside the colossal wheel rims (two callipers per wheel, incidentally), and at the back there are quad tailpipes. These last items are hardly discreet, and the deep, bass-heavy rumble they emit confirms that this is the special 420bhp version of the esteemed turbo V8.

Driving these cars is still an utterly unique experience, even though there's more to complain about than you might expect. If you're over 6ft tall the driving position is a little cramped for a start and the seats aren't particularly comfortable either, feeling as if they'd finally give in to your natural body-shape only after a few hundred years' use. The way the whole car seems to quiver, 4x4-style, as you thunder down the road takes getting used to as well, but if you're brave enough you'll find that huge liberties can be taken with this car.

Turn off the traction control and you soon realise there's a lengthy delay between sending the order to the engine room and the main action arriving at the rear wheels, so massive is the turbo lag. To compound matters there seems to be an equal amount of delay between depressing the brake pedal and feeling the stoppers deliver their colossal power. At a guess I'd say it's probably something to do with the 2470kg kerb weight, and it certainly discourages you from charging down your favourite B-road.
Make the most of the Conti's potential and you'll also have to contend with its dreadful fuel consumption - I was averaging around 12mpg. So despite a 100-litre fuel tank, the Bentley has a potentially limited range.

On the other hand there's nothing else quite like this car. Use 7/10ths of the performance and it's decorum itself. Rouse the full 420bhp and 650lb ft and it turns into an upper-class hooligan, as the colossal turbo blows a gale into the rumbling engine and the claimed 5.7sec to 60 starts to feel conservative.

Perhaps I was expecting a little more modernism to make its way from the race department through to the road division in this car, but maybe that's to miss the point. Even in 'Le Mans' trim, the Continental R seems to be more about making a convincing case for the analogue era rather than rushing forward into the new digital age beyond.