Iconic car brand Bentley uses Banburyshire as the chosen location for its 2025 promotion

Nine of these beautiful cars – admired around the globe - were transported from the Cheshire works to beautiful Aynho Park – former home of the Cartright family, bought by event promoter James Perkins and now home to the American furniture brand RH (formerly Restoration Hardware).

The 17th century house, designed by Thomas Archer and embellished by Sir John Soane, is becoming a sought-after luxury venue with its Orangery restaurant, juicery, open air restaurant, wine lounge and tea salon.

Bentley chose this fascinating venue as the location for its Pure Escapism week in which journalists, Bentley owners and luxury car lovers were invited to inspect and test these superb vehicles.

It’s not an everyday occurrence to be asked if you would like to drive a Bentley and I was happy to accept the invitation.

The company’s test drivers, former racing drivers, were our companions on the excursions from Aynho to the equally iconic Stowe Park. The route gave us a chance to experience and enjoy motoring at an extraordinary level of mechanical and design and luxury.

For someone who drives a very ordinary family saloon, this was indeed a treat. Choose which model you want to try, choose whether you want an engine noise and how loud while the otherwise silent electric engine takes you to the speed threshold for the motor to kick in.

I drove the Bentley Flying Spur on our outward journey and the Bentley Continental GT on the return trip. The Spur’s sport function is terrific – lane assistance is fascinating and even the choice of revolving dashboard displays makes this a remarkable car - even before you look at the long list of features.

It has a glut of driver assistance features including predictive adaptive cruise assist with lane guidance, lane departure warning, remote park assist and 3D surround view. Its safety features include advanced emergency braking, swerve assist and turn assist.

The specifications of the Continental GT are mind boggling – it has a 4-0 litre twin-turbo charged V8 engine with 140kW electric engine and reaches 100mph in 7.2 seconds with a top speed of 177mph. The combined fuel consumption is 202 mpg and a driving range of 520 miles.

The sound system has an 18-speaker with two kinaesthetic shakers Naim option with eight DSP sound modes and active base.

The technical specifications of these two cars are worth a look!

These cars have everything you could want and they are not for the faint hearted, or the hard-up. One of these magnificent motors will set you back some £200,000 – £250,000. It will be finished to your personal specifications.

While I shall never own such a vehicle, it was fascinating to experience driving not one, but two models. One Bentley owner at the event has two in his garages, plus two Aston Martins and other iconic cars. I never found out whether he had been tempted to buy a third Bentley at this fascinating presentation.