Classic Road

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• The Classic Road Collection Car
• Body Type: Coupe
• Dealer Location: Madrid
• Trans: Choose an item
• Fuel Type: Gas

As Managing Director of Rolls Royce Motor Cars in the early 1980′s, David Plastow could see the potential in the Bentley brand. It had been neglected for the previous 15 years and made up only a very small percentage of the company’s sales at that time, particularly outside the UK in important markets such as the USA. The first move was to turbo charge the standard Bentley 4 door saloon: the Bentley Mulsanne Turbo was launched in 1982. On the back of this the, Peter Ward, marketing director at the company, wanted to further enhance the distinctive sporting nature of the Bentley brand and move away from a Bentley that was merely a re-badged Rolls Royce. They appointed stylists John Heffernan and Ken Greenley to come up with ideas for a new, distinctive, Bentley coupé. The fibreglass mock up was displayed at the 1984 Geneva Motor Show in Rolls-Royce’s “Project 90″ concept of a future Bentley coupé. The concept was met with an enthusiastic reception, but the Project 90 design was largely shelved as the company began to work towards a replacement for the Rolls-Royce Corniche. During this process, Graham Hull, chief stylist in house at Rolls Royce, suggested the designs before the board for the Corniche, would suit a Bentley coupé better. From this point it was decided the Corniche could continue as it was, and efforts would once again be channelled into a new Bentley coupé. In 1986 Graham Hull produced a design rendering of a new Bentley coupé which became the Continental R. Based on the Bentley Turbo R platform, an aerodynamically shaped coupé body had been styled.

John Heffernan and Ken Greenley were officially retained to complete the design of the Continental R. They had run the Automotive Design School at the Royal College of Art and headed up their own consultancy, International Automotive Design, based in Worthing, Southern England. Greenley and Heffernan liaised constantly throughout the styling process with Graham Hull. The interior was entirely the work of Graham Hull and the small in house styling team at Rolls Royce. The shape of the car was very different from the somewhat slab sided four door SZ Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles of the time and offered a much improved 0.37 coefficient of drag. The Continental R also featured roof-cut door frames, a necessity to allow easier access into the car which had a lower roof line than its 4 door contemporaries. A subtle spoiler effect was also a feature of the rear. The finished car is widely acknowledged as a very cleverly styled vehicle, disguising its huge dimensions (The Continental R is around 4″ longer than a 2013 long wheelbase Mercedes S Class) and a very well proportioned, extremely attractive, car.

The “Continental” designation recalls the Bentley Continental of the post-war period. The “R” was meant to recall the R Type Bentleys from the 1950s as well as the Turbo R of the 1980s and 90′s where the “R” refers to “roadholding”.

The revival of the Bentley marque following the introduction of the Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, and then the Continental R, is widely acknowledged to have saved Rolls Royce Motor cars and formed the groundwork which lead to the buyout and parting of the Rolls Royce and Bentley brands in 1998. Bentley was once again capable of standing alone as a marque in its own right.

The Bentley Continental R was a large, ultra exclusive, luxury coupé made by Bentley from 1991 to 2003. It was the first Bentley to feature a body not shared with a Rolls-Royce model since the S3 Continental of 1965, the first to use the GM 4L80-E transmission, and the fastest, most expensive, and most powerful Bentley of its day. It was also the most expensive production car in the world at launch. A convertible derivative, the Bentley Azure, was launched in 1995.

The car we are showing is a derivative of the the top of the line Bentley Continental T

The Bentley Continental T had 590 lb·ft (800 N·m) and from 1997 650 lb·ft (881 N·m) positioned this car at the top. The Continental T was a 2+2 coupé developed from the Bentley Continental R with a more athletic outward appearance due to a 4-inch (10 cm) shorter wheelbase and extended front and rear wheel arches. The interior featured an engine-turned dash with chrome-finished instruments (as opposed to the wood finish in the Continental R). The Continental T’s engine responded to a separate push-button starter. Performance, due to 200 lb (91 kg) less weight, was slightly better than the Continental R cars with the same 420 engine.

The Continental SC Sedanca was a very limited and short production version of the Continental T of 73 units, with a Pininfarina designed lift-out glass sun roof over the front two seats. Produced in 1999/2000, owners for this model included boxer Mike Tyson. It is believed to have been the most expensive car of its time. The price back in 1999 was 245.000 Sterling Pounds (Approx $ 400.000)

This specific car is one of the very rare 48 LHD units and the most desirable and rare to find EU version, as most of the LHD cars were delivered to the USA market. It was new delivered to Spain and it comes with all stamps on its service book, all its original manuals, tools, etc… Never crashed or repainted and in absolutely mint conditions. History clear since day one. It comes in silver with an exceptional elegant light green interior.

 

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