Misjudgement lands Bentley in deep water

A Bentley logo.

A Bentley logo.

Published Jan 4, 2013

Share

London -

It was a gamble too far even for a £5 million lottery winner.

When Robert Johnson encountered a flood as he rushed to a business meeting in his £100 000 Bentley, he hoped the luxury car’s six-litre engine would be enough to see it through the metre-deep water.

But the engine stalled and as water began to enter the Continental GT’s leather-lined cabin, Johnson was forced to abandon the car he had bought with some of his 2008 Lotto jackpot.

On Thursday, he was putting a brave face on his bad luck and revealed he has already splashed out on a new Mercedes to replace the three-year-old Bentley, which he has written off.

“I don’t know what all the fuss is about, it’s just a flooded Bentley,” he said. “I’ve gone out and got a new car. Job done.”

The 65-year-old management consultant added: “The Bentley’s f***ed. The Mercedes is to replace it. I’m not going to try and get it repaired.”

Three-times divorced Johnson, who is understood to share his cottage in Ocle Pychard, near Hereford, with a girlfriend 30 years his junior, drove into flood water in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, on Wednesday.

An AA patrolman was unable to attach a tow rope to the 198mph car and Johnson was forced to leave it floating by the road side. Bernard Robinson, a former colleague, said: “He’s driven down that road, even when it was flooded, hundreds of times before but obviously misjudged how deep it was.” - Daily Mail

Related Topics: