The Bentley GT coupe is surely one of the great exotic cars in recent years. Despite its size, it will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds and reach a maximum speed of more than 180 mph.

It has a new, paddle-operated 6-speed automatic gearbox delivered to the road via all-wheel drive — a first in Bentley’s history.

Bentley says all-wheel drive was considered essential not only for safety but to enhance the car’s everyday usability.

The car can be seen everywhere from metropolitan highways to ski resorts all over the world.

Electronic Stability Control is also included. Suspension is made up of a multilink rear axle with double wishbones in the front and the latest in electronic damping control.

Bentley GT Specifications:
* Make and Model: Bentley GT Coupe
* Year: 2003
* Engine Type: 6 liter Twin-Turbo W12
* Torque: 675lb-ft@6500rpm
* Acceleration 0-60: 4.6 s
* Suspension: Double Wishbones w/Air Springs
* List Price: $145,000
* Horsepower: 550bhp@6000rpm
* Top Speed: 200 mph
* Brakes: 4-wheel vent. disc
* Transmission: 6-Speed Automatic
* Weight: 5257 lbs

As exotic cars go, the Bentley GT coupe has got to be one of the best,

Jay Leno, is a fan of hydrogen cars. The American comedian and chat-show host thinks they are the shape of motoring in the future.

The BMW Hydrogen 7 which costs a cool £5m ($10m)

Leno comments, “For the past few days I have been driving BMW’s latest 7-series hydrogen car. There is some terrific technology there. It makes plenty of power for its size; the only thing that has limited it is the choice of fuel. This is a flex-fuel vehicle. It runs on either hydrogen or petrol. If you run out of hydrogen you press a button and it goes to petrol.”

Model BMW Hydrogen 7
Engine 5972cc, 12 cylinders
Power 260bhp @ 5100rpm
Torque 287 lb ft @ 4300rpm
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Fuel 19.2mpg (hydrogen) / 20mpg (petrol)
CO2 5.2g/km (hydrogen) / 325g/km (petrol)
Performance 0-62mph: 9.5sec. Top speed: 143mph
Range 125 miles (hydrogen) 310 miles (petrol)
Price £5m (but not on sale)

Jay Leno helped BMW to introduce the hydrogen car seven or eight years ago. “We did a rather dramatic demonstration where I drove the car up onto a platform. I let it run and put an empty glass under the exhaust pipe. I spoke for about half an hour and when I finished I shut off the car and drank the water that was in the glass. It wasn’t the best-tasting water I’d ever had but it certainly wasn’t bad for me.”

The main disadvantage, he says, “is that there is always a certain amount of hydrogen bleed-off as the liquid turns to gas. That means that if you let the car sit for an extended period of time, eventually the hydrogen would run out because it escapes. It’s deliberate. The hydrogen, as it escapes, keeps everything cold.”

It seems you cannot tell the difference moving from gas (petrol) to hydrogen. “It’s viable but it’s expensive. I think you’ll see it in the years ahead. There’s no hydrogen infrastructure right now. It’s got to be one of those things like when John Kennedy said we’re going to the moon, long before 1969. Everybody works on it and gets it done.”

Is the age of hydrogen nearly upon us?

Everyone knows that great GT racer of the sixties, the Ford GT40. But does anyone remember the car that made it possible, the Lola Mk VI, or GT as it was more commonly named?

In the early years of that decade, makers of GT racers were slow to follow Formula 1 in designing mid-engined cars and Eric Broadley, founder of Lola Cars, decided to give it a try. The result was the Lola GT, the car that caught everyone by surprise in 1963. It was so good-looking and promised great performance too.

Lola entered it late for Le Mans that year and their rushed preparation meant that it failed to make the distance, although it was running amongst the leaders when it broke. The potential was obvious and we looked forward to the car challenging and perhaps beating the dominant Ferraris.

But it was not to be. Ford wanted to have a go at Le Mans and were working on a mid-engined design; but, when they saw the Lola, they dropped everything, bought the car and the services of its designer. Out of that deal came the Ford GT Mk I, a car that owed much to Broadley’s Lola GT. And the Mk I evolved into the GT40, of course.

So we never found out how good a racer the Lola would turn out to be. But it remains one of the prettiest cars ever to see the light of day!

Clive Allen

If I were asked which car I particularly fancy from today’s line-up, I would have to pick the Audi S3.

Not exactly today’s version, as I think they have spoiled its looks with the new grille, but one from five or six years ago.

It may seem a strangely conservative choice but my time of hungering after supercars is long gone; these days I think about cost and practicality as well as performance.

The thing about the Audi, apart from the reliability and solid build we have come to expect from the marque, is that it is so perfectly proportioned. To me, most modern designs look misshapen and more concerned with clever detail than overall impression, but the S3 is all of a piece, unfussy, thoroughly Germanic and well balanced.

It is no slouch in the performance stakes as well and everything adds up to a perfectly designed and sensible car. What more could one ask for?

And there is one more salient fact about the S3 that needs to be stated clearly and unashamedly: it looks absolutely fantastic in yellow!

By Clive Allen