Bentleys

Looking at the classic cqr mags the cost of a good Bentley 1984 to 94 (ish) looks good value. With a full service history a Mulsanne Turbo or a Turbo R with a reasonably high mileage are coming in at around the £13k mark.

Out of interest what would be the model to go for if one had (say) 15k to spend?

Buying it is one thing - running it is another. It gets mighty expensive if it breaks which it can do with interesting regularity judging by the experiences of some acquaintances of mine.
And........will it fit the garage. They are big cars!
I'd spend the money somewhere else!
Tony Hodson

A mate of mine had a mid-Eighties era Bentley turbo, it was a bit of a garage queen but did look the business. I seem to recall the one bit of buying advice he gave was to buy one with fuel injection rather than a carb.

Post 1990 with active ride (and floor shift I think) is the one to go for, though they do command a bit of a premium.

I'm not sure reliability is any worse than anything else 15 to 20 years old. Fundamentally it's a very simple car, but it's one that you should take time and care over choosing. Has to be a good one with full history, at a known specialist if not a dealer, and it needs a professional inspection to verify condition - problems with suspension and air-con in particular can lead to very scary bills indeed.

I love Bentleys though. Will definitely have one myself one day - possibly when the Arnage Red Label is down to the 15k mark!

What's the difference between red and green label?

The early Arnage had a BMW engine (the 4.4 V8 I think), but that led to an outcry from the purists, so they reinstated the trusty old 6.75 Buick lump that has served RR & Bentley since the stone age.

From that point, the Green Label had the BMW engine, the Red Label had the proper one.

Since then, having move into VAG owership, the Green Label was dropped and the old 6.75 developed further still for the Arnage R and Arnage T. I'm guessing that unit will finally be dropped for the VAG W12 when the Arnage is replaced.

so they reinstated the trusty old 6.75 Buick lump that has served RR & Bentley since the stone age.

I don't think the Rolls-Royce engineers who designed that engine would be very flattered by your reference to Buick! They probably wouldn't be too happy about being confused with Rover......

Peter - I know a few people who have them - they all love them - but the repair bills are even more scary than the fuel bills - all the electronic thingies burn out and cost the earth to replace - if you can find them - do you need a tank for your next project ?

I've been having fun this summer with a 1988 Mulsanne S. I can honestly say it is an exquisite thing to drive, albeit desparately thirsty. It's tauter than you might expect of such a large machine, but the weight ultimately dictates the limits of the handling. There comes a point when suspension and tyres cannot physically cope with a corner that any other car could be "chucked" at.

Not that you'd want to chuck a big Bentley, of course. It's for cruising along in your own personal armchair, confident in the knowledge that if you do want to increase the pace, a Mulsanne Turbo will do 0-60 in less than 8 seconds and the S not much more than that. It's a strange experience - it doesn't so much accelerate as drag the horizon towards you.

From the service history I've been browsing, this one with 145,000 miles on the clock, still has not had anything more than routine servicing applied to it in the last two years, and apart from one central locking solenoid on a rear door, none of the gizmos and gadgets has caused any trouble.

It's worth remembering that rust is no respecter of handmade coachwork. Rear arches and the lip behind the leading edge of the back bumper will start to go first. The front of the door sill is vulnerable too.

I'd certainly buy one and at under £10k they do make an awfully tempting proposition. Be prepared for stares from other road users, and accept that you will suddenly become very very paranoid about where you leave it at night.

I don't think the Rolls-Royce engineers who designed that engine would be very flattered by your reference to Buick! They probably wouldn't be too happy about being confused with Rover......
Ah! Oops!

Wasn't it sourced from a Buick originally though? Or at least some block or other from across the pond?!

Always thought it was... :bleh:

Ah! Oops!

Wasn't it sourced from a Buick originally though? Or at least some block or other from across the pond?!

Always thought it was... :bleh:

No, definitely all their own work, although I think they sourced auto transmissions from the States.

I've never really desired a Royce, but the early 90's Bentley Turbo R things with round headlights and colour coded grille looked ok. Not very quick and no good for spirited driving, and lots of wind noise at speed. I think the Merc S500 is a better quality car, but it doesn't carry the same presence. Still, I may be tempted to buy one for a laugh when I next live in the UK, cos over here they are very expensive.

No, definitely all their own work, although I think they sourced auto transmissions from the States.
All their own work, but influenced by Packard if I remember correctly.

At some point in the early-mid 70's they introduced the GM TH400 auto.

At some point in the early-mid 70's they introduced the GM TH400 auto.

The 'Rolls-Royce' auto box introduced in the 1950s was a licence-built GM Hydramatic; the origin of the design was never publicised by R-R as 'the best car in the world' couldn't be seen to be using American expertise!