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"It&amp;#039;s an endless debate that agitates car enthusiasts the world over. List the most beautiful cars ever designed and built. It can be narrowed down by defining specific periods so, let&amp;#039;s say, post 1950. It&amp;#039;s an arbitrary date, but midway through the last century, with the dark days of war receding, the motor industry gradually regaining its confidence and a new wave of styling emerging, it&amp;#039;s as good a starting point as any.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    Straight into my top ten is the car pictured here, Bentley&amp;#039;s R-Type Continental. Its deceptively simple, elegant lines were penned by John Blatchley, who had worked for coachbuilders Gurney-Nutting before the war, and then went to Mulliners where he created this graceful 2-door 4-seater coupe.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    I spent a day tailing this car in its modern successor, a W-12 powered Continental GT, on my way to the Mille Miglia and never tired of having it in view.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    In contemporary design terms it looks pinched and high when seen from the front and rear but I still prefer that tall fluted grille to the squatter, mesh one used in current Bentleys.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    This particular 1954 model was sold to a Swiss customer, hence the chrome `CH&amp;#039; on the boot lid; he then shipped it to Australia. Bentley acquired it in 2002 and have done very little restoration work since, hence the odd panel gap that isn&amp;#039;t quite true and the occasional paint blemish, whilst inside the Burgundy leather is scuffed and the veneer wears half a century&amp;#039;s patina.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    The 4.5-liter straight-6 with twin SU carburetors develops, by contemporary standards, a meager 160 bhp, but still sufficient for a 120-mph top speed and the ability to cruise effortlessly at 70-80 mph on motorways.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    My Own Time at the Wheel   Initially the large steering wheel and shapeless looking seats didn&amp;#039;t auger well for my drive over the Oberpass (6700 ft) and Lukmanier (6300 ft) passes between Switzerland and Italy and on to Brescia, whilst the biggest challenge with the right-hand gearshift was not to impale my trouser leg on it as I clambered aboard.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    Like any car from a previous period you need to acclimatize yourself to the slow steering with its ponderous turning circle, the recalcitrant drum brakes and the wheezing carbs. The manual `box has synchro only on second, third and fourth so there&amp;#039;s plenty of opportunity to hone one&amp;#039;s double declutching skills, a driving skill that is, sadly, on the wane.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    But put it all into context and the R-Type burbled its way across the Alpine foothills with an elegant gait. You need to pre-judge braking and turning, and don&amp;#039;t expect it to react with the surefootedness of its contemporary namesake. Allow for all that and you find yourself relaxing into a car that dispenses with the miles in a surprisingly relaxed and rather sedate manner combined with a smooth flowing ride, slowing you down to a pace where driver and passenger can enjoy the scenery.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    It was only as we started gaining altitude that the engine began to suffer: you could hear the asthmatic SU carbs gasping for the thinning air, whilst the steering made the tight S bends a muscle-building exercise as I hauled on the steering wheel. Even so, there was sufficient low-down torque for the engine to pull us up to the passes without resorting to first gear. Progress was slow compared to the rest of the convoy&amp;#039;s, but never did I once think we weren&amp;#039;t going to succeed.        1954 Bentley R-Type Continental    There&amp;#039;s surprisingly good leg and headroom in the cabin, the latter aided by a scalloped roof lining for a few extra fractions of space. The long wheelbase helps to deliver a far better ride than anticipated, although the traditional cross-ply tires had a tendency to tramline on the granular motorways of northern Italy and truck drafts could noticeably disturb the car&amp;#039;s otherwise excellent composure.   It will come, then, as no surprise to read that I handed the keys of JAS 949 back at the end of the day with more than a tad of regret. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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