A balance of narrative and factual information
[1]
[2]
[1] The new Continental has undergone a major powertrain change from a W12 engine to a V8 + plug-in hybrid. [2] The GranCabrio has also been reborn using a newly developed platform.
This time, I read an article comparing two convertibles, the Bentley Continental GTC Speed and the Maserati GranCabrio Trofeo. It was written by Ben Barry, who writes for Car magazine and other publications. In the previous article, I introduced Andrew Frankel’s article, which was written in an emotional and literary tone throughout. Barry’s article, on the other hand, was impressive for its good balance of incorporating narrative-style scene descriptions in parts, while also including information about the cars, such as specs and driving impressions.
The introduction is a scene description that makes extensive use of metaphors
Sentences that begin with metaphors seem to have the effect of drawing the reader into the “story.”
In this article, two ultra-luxurious convertibles are test driven in the English Lake District, famous for its idyllic scenery. The article begins with a rich metaphorical description of the day’s climate, weather, and scenery. The article begins in a narrative style:
“This isn’t Beatrix Potter’s Cumbria of woodland paths, chatty rabbits and tourist coaches grinding by like plate tectonics.”
“This is not Cumbria with Beatrix Potter wooded lanes, chatty rabbits and seismically slow tourist buses.”
Beatrix Potter was the picture book author who created “Peter Rabbit,” and lived in the naturally rich Cumbria region in northern England. As the test drive route is close to the setting of the story, Barry uses the expression “woodland paths, chatty rabbits,” evoking the image of the quiet paths through the woods where Peter Rabbit and his friends adventure. Starting the test drive report with a landscape description using the story from the picture book strikes me as a uniquely British style.
Maserati’s platform starts from a blank slate
Maserati developed the new platform from a clean sheet of paper.
From the middle of the article, the structure and writing style of a test drive report changes to focus on factual information such as specifications and driving impressions. It explains that Maserati prepared an entirely new platform for the GranCabrio development as follows:
“Design might again be distinctly evolutionary, but that rather underplays the fact Maserati has invested in a clean-sheet approach for its Granturismo coupe and GranCabrio twins – …”
“While the design appears to be an evolution (from the previous model) at first glance, Maserati invested in a clean-sheet approach for the GranTurismo Coupe and GranCabrio,” the statement reads. The term “clean-sheet” refers to the fact that the car was designed and developed from scratch without reusing any existing components. A completely new platform was developed from scratch, with the assumption that it would be shared between the electric and ICE versions.
Bentley’s power accelerates the Earth’s rotation
Bentley says its new power unit “makes the world rotate more swiftly,” meaning it will make the Earth rotate faster than it does now.
As for Bentley, they were impressed by the power it delivered, describing the change in powertrain from the previous model’s W12 engine to a V8 with a plug-in hybrid system as “power that makes the Earth spin faster.”
“… this is tidal, gravitational performance of such magnitude I’d swear it makes the world rotate more swiftly.”
A literal translation would be, “This is a performance like the tides of the ocean, like gravity. The scale is such that it would make the world (= Earth) rotate faster than it does now.” The use of the adjective “gravitational,” which describes the Earth’s gravity, expresses the overwhelming presence of the new power unit. My own paraphrase of Barry’s impression would be, “It has the ferocity of the tides and the irresistible power of gravity. The scale feels like it would even accelerate the Earth’s rotation.”
I felt that Barry’s writing, which I introduced this time, was distinctive in that it went beyond simply providing driving impressions, and also placed importance on the narrative that was conveyed through the car.
PHOTO/Maserati, Bentley Motors
MAGAZINE/ GENROQ June 2025 issue
