This is not the sort of car that anybody is going to need to buy. Like a luxury yacht, it will be bought by the super-rich as an indulgent plaything - indeed Bentley reckons that Azure customers will already own at least five other cars. And for this rarefied group of customers, the Azure's massive pricetag won't matter.
Nor, probably, the fact that it is clearly inferior in most ways to its own sister, the Continental-based GT-C. The Azure's styling is clearly similar to that of the Arnage saloon, sharing its sister's slightly convoluted front end and massive proportions. To get a real impression of the car's massive 5.4 metre length you need to view it from the rear three quarters and over the huge bootlid.
Yet despite being enormous on the outside it's less than spacious within. Front seat occupants enjoy a reasonable amount of space, but rear legroom feels very limited considering the vast external dimensions. The cabin is finished to a very high standard with what feels like acres of wood trim and a couple of milking sheds-worth of leather.
Performance comes from an effortlessly understressed 6.75 litre V8 engine, which pits its prodigious output against the Azure's vast bulk to produce impressive acceleration - although the power-to-weight ratio is barely that of a modern hot hatch. Steering is far less vague than that of previous Bentley coupes and handling is responsive enough, but the very old-fashioned automatic gearbox only has four ratios.
And as for running costs? Well, if you need to ask, then you undoubtedly won't be able to afford them.
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