I took my kids to school in it, partly because I needed to test drive it immediately afterwards but partly because I wanted to gauge the reaction. Inside there was unqualified approval from the back seat.

My daughters are only four and seven but I’m proud to say they know a bit of quality engineering when they see, hear and feel it. Take it from me, as forces threatening the retention of your driving licence go, the blend of a 552bhp W12 engine up front and a chorus of “Faster, Daddy, faster” from behind takes some beating. Outside, however, things were different.

I parked it among the usual gathering of Range Rovers, Discoverys and X5s so at least it wasn’t dwarfing all around it, and waited for a reaction. But there was none. Parents and children alike just walked straight past it. I then spent hours driving it down country roads and through town centres, and again it was barely noticed.

Perhaps it was because it was a grey car on a grey day, or perhaps there is something else going on here. Could it be that seeing a new Bentley is no longer an event worthy of even the turn of a head, a point of the finger or the hoist of an eyebrow? There have been so many new Bentleys of late. Time was when you could watch your children grow up between Bentley product cycles. The Crewe factory is flat out, order books are full and Bentleys are being churned out faster than ever before. So far, so good.

Except I hope it stops now. When you’ve struggled to sell cars for as long as Bentley did before VW revived the marque, the temptation to sell as many as you can make is entirely understandable. But the moment they stop being exclusive, you remove a large part of the reason for people wanting one in the first place. The balance between short-term profit and long-term damage is always precarious for brands like this and I’d hate Bentley to fall the wrong side of it, not least because in all the cars it’s produced of late there’s not been a duffer among them.

The GTC is no different and may, indeed, be the best-engineered convertible ever created. The butch looks of the coupé have survived the conversion process intact, and while the result looks more imposing than elegant, it’s still a handsome car, if no Aston DB9 Volante.

Structurally it is extraordinarily stiff so it avoids almost entirely the shakes that so affect many lesser convertibles on bumpy roads. The fabric roof is so well crafted and installed that there are no conditions any sane person will find on any UK road where cabin refinement does not fully live up to the expectations of any Bentley, open or closed.

It is, it should be said, not exactly in its element on wet Welsh roads in the middle of November but should you be silly enough to want to put the roof down, it has the design and the features to save you from yourself. So long as the windows are up, the wind is so well managed by the airflow that the combination of a powerful heater and weapons-grade bum-warmers means you can drive in great comfort in fairly horrid weather.

Moreover it rides well and is extremely comfortable thanks to some of the best seats you’ll ever sit in. Unlike almost any other manufacturer, Bentley still makes its own seats.

I’d have liked to have seen how it coped with being driven at 190mph with the roof down, but even restricting myself to less than criminal velocities I was struck not only by its prodigious pace but how capably it ate up twisting, streaming mountain roads, defying the limitations inherent in both its convertible design and the fact that it weighs in at just 5kg under 2.5 tonnes. I found myself wondering how much better even than this it would have been had Bentley chosen to build it from aluminium instead of steel.

As it is, the GTC is an impressive car. I like the way it feels so over-engineered, for it was the same blend of huge power, massive strength and effortless performance that made Bentley great back in the 1920s. It’s a shame that many will see it as an ostentatious statement of wealth, and a greater shame still that many will buy it precisely for that reason: the car deserves more.

In fact it’s probably the best Bentley of the modern era — whether many of those who drive it will ever actually realise or care about this is another matter.

Vital statistics

Model Bentley Continental GTC
Engine type 5998cc, 12 cylinders
Power/Torque 552bhp @ 6100rpm / 479 lb ft @ 1600rpm
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Fuel/CO2 16.5mpg (combined) / 410g/km
Performance 0-60mph: 4.8sec / Top speed: 195mph Price £130,500
Verdict Better than many owners will ever know
Rating four stars

The opposition

Model Aston Martin DB9 Volante £112,000
For Best-looking drop-top on the road, fabulous engine
Against Not as quick as you’d think, shakes on rough roads

Model Ferrari F430 Spider £127,000
For Amazingly good to drive for a convertible, quick
Against Doesn’t look as good as the hard-top

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