If you want to wake an entire Cotswold village at 6am then go buy a Bentley. Yes, if only it was that simple… A £138,000 alarm clock is way beyond the reach of most people but I can assure you, there’s no finer way to blow the cobwebs off daybreak.

I’ve just reluctantly handed the keys of the GTC back to the Bentley driver. And no, his job isn’t as great as it sounds because the car is ferried back to company HQ in Crewe on the back of a 13 ton lorry. At least he gets to drive it up the ramp…

Over the last few days I’ve been using the ‘sport’ setting, firmer up the suspension and seeing just what a two ton missile can do with 500+bhp under the bonnet. The GTC is not a sports car to be thrown around country lanes, it’s just too large for that. But for out and out performance, wow!

When you have a budget this large to spend, Ferrari, Porsche and all the rest of the super car marques come in to play. However, if you want something quintessentially British (OK, I know Bentley is now quintessentially German owned too!) the Continental is the only carriage you will ever need. Now, home James and don’t spare the horse…