Bentley Continental (1991 - 2003)
By Andy Enright
CONTINENTAL CRUISING The big Bentley Continental was most notable for being the first Bentley for over forty years that diverged markedly from Rolls-Royce in terms of body shape and kick-started a trend for ever more sporting Bentley models. Just starting to pique the interest of speculators who see the car as a key link between Bentleys past and present, the Continental coupe, in its various guises, has been criminally undervalued. Now is the time to buy to beat the market.
The Continental still has a panache and presence that even the later Continental GT coupe can only hope for. The exterior is massive, measuring fully 210 inches from nose to tail which means that parking the thing can be problematic in city streets. Its a job best left to the valet, The interior is surprisingly tight in the back, especially for headroom, but the two seats up front have plenty of room to sprawl out. The fixtures and fittings used inside tend to be a rather curious mix of high quality hides and wood finishes combined with some rather brittle plastics that jar somewhat by todays standards.
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Baseline for an early Bentley Continental R is £37,500 which will net you a car showing 70-80,000 miles on a 1991 plate. The older the Continental you pick, the flatter the depreciation curve will be and if you play your cards right, it might even be possible to pick one to coincide with the inevitable market upswing. Later models are going to hit you very hard in the pocket with a 2000 V plated car costing around £62,000 with values currently enjoying a £500 haircut every month in this price bracket. Opt for a Continental T and £56,000 will buy a very well looked after 99S plater.
To avoid potential problems, try and buy from a Rolls Royce and Bentley official dealer. Otherwise get a detailed expert inspection carried out. Insist on a full Rolls Royce-approved service before you buy because running costs are huge.
(based on an M-reg Continental R approx ex-Vat) A full exhaust system (excluding catalyst) is around £1,200 and an exchange gearbox around £1,500. Front and rear brake pads are around £113 and £74 per set respectively. A starter motor is around £480, a radiator (exchange) around £268, an alternator around £675 and a front headlamp lens around £67.
Under the bonnet, you'll find a 6.75 litre V8 engine in normally aspirated and turbocharged forms, depending on your model choice. Despite the prodigious body weight, this unit still manages to shift this huge Gentlemans Conveyance at a surprisingly rapid pace. Its rather undignified to drive the car like this of course but for raising eyebrows amongst your fellow road users, you cant beat it.
Most of the time, youll be content to glide from county to county, much as the standard four-speed automatic gearbox slides imperceptibly from ratio to ratio. You can hear the engine all right, but it sounds a bit like a thunderstorm happening fifty miles away. Handling is a little soft, even on the Mulliner equipped Continental T. Rapid changes of direction are manoeuvres the Bentley gently frowns upon and its worth bearing in mind that when you fling 2,422kg of car from lock to lock that this car was built before the development of stability control!
The Bentley Continental offers a lot of car for a modest amount of money. If youre not planning on putting huge mileages on it, an early Conti R can work out cheaper to run than something like a new Citroen C6, which is quite something when you pause to think about it. I know what Id rather be driving and its not French.
