WHEN it comes to consideration for passengers and other road users, you’d think the Bentley would be right up there with the Jaguars and even the Rolls Royces of this world.

After all, any motor costing somewhere north of £100,000 must be the last word in luxury and performance.

On the face of it, the Bentley ticks both boxes. The driver is surrounded by leather and wood with seemingly limitless power on tap. All it needs is a butler to open the door for you and you can feel like a member of the gentry, or alternatively a WAG, as the Bentley seems to be the Premiership footballer’s vehicle of choice.

Sadly, on this particular day, Mrs Smith felt like neither despite her huband’s best attempts to treat her like a member of the nobility.

Having enjoyed a sumptuous lunch at the Randolph Hotel (where it was valet parked), I had whisked Mrs S in my borrowed Continental to Kiddington Hall to interview the then lady of the manor.

Her Indoors decided to wait in the car – after all, reclined in leather and armed with a copy of Hello! magazine, there was no reason to set foot on the gravelled driveway.

An hour later I returned, accompanied by my interviewee for the final pleasantries. I gazed at the Bentley in its plush surroundings as the afternoon sunshine glinted off the bonnet. All was well with the world.

Suddenly there was a thumping noise. I looked around but could see nothing amiss. Then I realised it was coming from inside the car. Sure enough, Mrs S was frantically banging on the window, not quite fitting the demure image I had so carefully cultivated.

I opened the door to find out what was wrong and the air turned blue. Amongst the volley of abuse I deciphered the words “trapped”, “suffocating” and “nightmare”.

Apparently, when I had walked away from the car with the key in my pocket, it had automatically locked. And no matter how hard she tried, it had been impossible to unlock from the inside. But when I returned within range of the automatic key, the door opened as normal.

And this from a car where the driver can adjust the damper settings electronically from the driver’s seat. Needless to say, we had to drive home with the windows open and my argument that there are worse places to be stuck than a Bentley fell on deaf ears.

It just goes to show that supposedly one of the most luxurious, hi-tech cars in the world can have a design flaw you wouldn’t expect in a Ford Fiesta.

  • Do you agree with Andrew Smith, or would you like to nominate a car you think really IS the worst car in the world? Email andrew.smith@oxfordmail.co.uk