Convertible cars are always designed to look beautiful with the top down, whilst their roofs consume 90 per cent of the vehicles’ boot space. Our glorious and ever-shifting climate ensures that most of the time that we venture outdoors the roof must up, turning a sleek and carefully crafted luxury motor into a frightfully frumpy little monstrosity and leaving the driver and passengers feeling like the pilot of a supercharged tent.

You may have guessed, but I am not the convertible car’s biggest fan. I find them brazen and ostentatious, and in this country, pointless. However, this is Lusso Magazine, and I can accept the need for at least one convertible in your stable of 20 other real-roof, one-piece, all-metal vehicles.

Which brings me to the Bentley Continental GTC. I always thought the original Continental GT was a fantastic car, one you would buy for your wife - yet steal every weekend – the GTC is no different.

Bentley’s superior design abilities and build quality has ensured the roof is an attractive yet robust piece of engineering, whilst blending perfectly into the car’s lines. The Bentley’s premier achievement is the interior. From inside the comfortable, well crafted cabin there is simply no way of telling you in a convertible. The inside of the roof is flawlessly lined and solid to the touch, the only giveaway is a discreetly positioned button that retracts the roof and reveals the heavens in under 25 seconds.

I received the car after a 50 minute private jet flight from Saranac to JFK and an 8 hour EOS flight from JFK to London Stanstead, so expectations were high and I was already tired of travelling.

The Continental GTC did not disappoint. With a squeeze of the key fob the boot opens gracefully and swallows a weeks worth of luggage with plenty of room to spare, by which time the keys are now deep within my jacket pocket - I’m all too familiar with Bentley’s keyless operation. Contact with the inside of the door handle whilst the key is in range unlocks all the doors, a firm press on the start/stop button kicks the six litre W12 engine into life.

After the initial flutter of the colossal engine, the car settles and becomes quiet and refined - if this car didn’t weigh nearly two and a half tonnes the 552bhp engine might be a bit of a handful but at slow speeds the car glides graciously, manoeuvring with the greatest ease. From a standstill the GTC will reach 60mph in an outstanding 4.8 seconds - but this car has a card nestled up its sleeve; its capabilities once you’re on the go.

The engine produces a mind-altering 480lbft of torque at only 1600rpm so will leap into action at any moment, thrusting you towards the horizon at speeds up to 195 miles per hour (but emptying your fuel tank just as fast). As you drift down the motorway with the superb stereo overthrowing the tiny whisper of road noise seeping through the thick carpets, you cannot help but exercise the ability to out-accelerate any car you spot.

The cabin is flawlessly put together, with fine woods and hand-stitched leather adorning everything in sight. All the systems function well together and despite the copious amounts of gadgetry on offer, my all-time favourite Bentley touch remains the air control, a small but unique push-pull key (something you would expect to find on a trumpet) reminds you the car is not something pieced together from other components, but crafted by gentlemen in the middle of England.

Before I leave you pondering as to whether £130,500 is a suitable price for this all-English, all-weather machine I feel that I really must reiterate just how fast this car is. The Aston Martin DB9 has the same size engine yet remains 100bhp short of the GTC. Not only can it out accelerate the DB9, it has a higher top speed, whilst maintaining a kinder fuel consumption and bigger boot space. It’s a marvellous piece of equipment.

The Continental GTC’s biggest victory is to turn travelling into a complete delight. It transcends boundaries set by most car-categories. It has the power, speed and handling of a super car, the capacity as an open-air summer cruiser and the comfort and luxury to serve as a true motorway behemoth. Is there anything it will not do? Well, unless you’re transporting four adults the answer is no. But as I said before, this is Lusso – isn’t that why you bought your Phantom?