My apologies to the folks at Bentley who are obviously trying very hard to make the EXP 9 F Concept work, but as the idiom goes ‘You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’ and I can’t help but feel the challenge is beyond them.

The EXP 9 F Concept was on show at last weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed to gauge customer and public reaction to the idea of a Bentley SUV, but I suspects the opposition comes not from the conceptual idea but more from the aesthetic reality of the EXP 9 F’s design.

Bentley’s controversial new concept made its first appearance at the Geneva motor show earlier this year and will next appear at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California in August.

Bentley say they’ve received more than 2,000 expressions of interest, which just goes to show how uniquely personal the needs of customers can be. If it does reach production, then clearly there are elements of its design that will have to change, but perhaps what makes the EXP 9 F ‘stand out’ is precisely what appeals to people who’d like to be noticed.

Gallery

bentley concept concours EXP 9 F goodwood motor show SUV