Roy Piscitello, 72, a retired restaurateur living in Chapel Hill, N.C., on his 2010 Bentley Continental GTC Speed, as told to A.J. Baime.
I opened Breadmen’s, a diner in Chapel Hill, in 1974. After a lot of eggs and hamburgers, we expanded into real estate. When I started thinking about getting out of the business a few years ago, I decided to look for a special car. I have been a car fan since my first one—a 1967 Mustang convertible—which my aunt Rita, who is still alive at 95, helped me buy.
I am 6-foot-7, and unfortunately, I don’t fit in a lot of cars. I don’t fit in a Porsche, or a Mercedes SL, or most BMWs. I visited an Aston Martin dealership; I could fit into the car, but I couldn’t get out of it. I went to a dealership in Charlotte and there was this Bentley on the lot. When I sat in this car, I knew it was the one, and I bought it in 2015. It was previously cared-for; I don’t use the word used, when it comes to Bentleys.
Bentley Motors makes cars at a factory in Crewe, England. Back in the 1920s, the so-called Bentley Boys used to drive their cars all over the place and they won a lot of races, putting this company on the map. Today it is owned by Volkswagen and there is a lot of German technology in the cars. Bentley makes more cars than they used to, but you still don’t see a lot of them. I think mine is the only one in my town.
The word Speed in the name Bentley uses to describe its higher-performance cars, like a Chevrolet Super Sport or Mercedes AMG. Mine has tremendous power—600 horsepower—and a unique W-12 engine, which is like two V-6s put together. The top speed is around 200 mph, though I have never taken it there. People seem to love the looks of it. If I am ever feeling down, I go gas up the car and inevitably someone will smile and say, “Hey, nice car!” I feel instantly better.
Years ago, my daughter bought me a toy Bentley, just for fun. I have two young grandsons, and when they saw this toy Bentley, sharing was out of the question. So we got another one. I found it amazing how much detail went into this toy. My Bentley has these special wheels, and the toy has wheels just like it. My car has unique diamond-shaped pleated stitching in the leather seats. The toy has that, too. The steering wheel in the toy looks like the one in the car.
Besides size, there is one other noticeable difference between the toy and the real thing. The toy has a button you can push and it plays “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” My car won’t do that.
Write to A.J. Baime at [email protected]
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