Reluctant Writer Tests Bentley, Considers Lifestyle Change
"Us writers are all the same when it comes down to it. Okay, some of us like to give the impression that we have lived the life we write about, but mostly we just sit in a little room somewhere and make it all up, or nick it from someone else of course."
I couldn't resist throwing in that delightful quote by Sunday Times writer Charlie Higson, for it certainly applies to automobile journalists. Our world is a dream world in which we play out our fantasies by driving a new car every week and when said car is a luxury model, pretending we're wealthy. My neighbours know better, of course.
Charlie Higson was given a Bentley Continental GT to test. But did he let forth cheers of joy and head flat-out for the Med? No. "Even though I've played a car salesman on TV and am writing a series of James Bond novels I'm not really a car person. I didn't even take my test until I was well into my thirties. I drive a Ford Focus." (The Bentley Continental GT is a seriously fast and seriously expensive sports coupe.)
Higson's reference to James Bond is there because both the author Ian Fleming and the fictional 007 drove Bentleys. Yes, I know all about the Aston Martin but Bond's regular ride was a Mk II Bentley Continental, which you can glimpse in From Russia with Love. The reluctant Charlie Higson was eventually won over, admitting that "To my horror I found myself actually thinking of getting one. I would have to make a few lifestyle changes, of course, but that was a small sacrifice to make." Go ahead. Take a chance. Ride along with Charlie as he discovers that rich really is more fun.
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