2000 Bentley Azure

Finished in Royal Blue Metallic with a blue cloth hood and a Cotswold and French Navy hide interior, ‘V855 GLM’ was first registered on the 6th of January 2000. 

Supplied by the Bentley dealership Straight Eight (New Forest) Ltd, the car was in the same hands between 2004 and 2011, at which point it was sold it to the previous owner. 

He kept it for a dozen years before our seller bought it July last year. He wasn’t looking to buy an Azure but this one reminded him of his first, and while he’s got also got a newer one in his small collection, he knew the chap who was selling it and recognised that this one as being a very special example of the breed.

He asked Harwoods to collect it with the instruction to “put everything right that needs it”. It did, while this incurred a £6,000+ bill, he’s a self-confessed perfectionist and can’t stand having any of his cars less than perfect.

Only for sale because he’s running out of space (does that sound familiar?),  this late-model example still shows just 16,461 miles on the odometer and comes with a long and advisory-free MoT.

Royal Blue Metallic must be the very best colour of them all for an Azure, surely? Understated, timeless, and effortlessly elegant, it says only good things about the people inside.

And yet, without careful curation the hue means nothing; after all, what use is an attractive colour if it hasn’t been cared for?

No worries here on that score though as it presents beautifully, and the seller tells us that both he and the previous owner kept the car inside when it wasn’t being used. 

The panels themselves run straight and true, and there is a marked absence of the sort of ripples and dinks that mark a careless owner. They still align well too, which isn’t always the case with handbuilt cars like this; clearly, Pininfarina brought its decades of experience into play when it assembled this one.

The blue cloth hood is similarly understated – and similarly well-curated. Free of rips, tears, and other damage it seals very well and gives almost the same degree of weatherproofing as the saloon it shares its chassis with. The hood gives the Azure a somewhat rakish profile when it is raised too, something the more staid Continental R could be said to lack.

As the video demonstrates, the roof folds down at the press of a button and tucks itself neatly away, further improving the Bentley’s staggering good looks. It’s a very clever design and one that is about as compromise-free as any soft-top you’re going to come across.

As for the 17-inch alloy wheels, they’re not only in fine fettle, they’re also fitted with a recent and matching set of high-performance 255/55R17 Avon Turbospeed tyres. All have good tread left on them, and, as we will never get tired of telling you, their presence is a sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. 

The badging, lamp lenses, and chromework – including the impressive and imposing honeycomb radiator grille - is all good too, but then you’re probably ahead of us on this, aren’t you?

Which means there isn’t much for you to do other than to ask your man to take a look at the roof stitching as some of the stitches have frayed. It doesn’t look to have comprised the integrity of the roof yet but a prudent buyer would have it looked at, just in case. 

Of course, while a coachbuilt Bentley convertible’s exterior is impressive in its own right, it’s the cabin that is the high point of the experience – and this one is very nicely finished indeed.

Comprising a mix of Cotswold and French Navy hides with French Navy piping to the seats, a Parchment cloth headlining, Dark Blue Wilton carpets (with lambswool over-rugs, natch)  and a shaded Sundym windscreen, the quality of construction is evident throughout.

Take a look at the pockets on the back of the front seats, for example. Where most manufacturers just ruck the material and rely on elastic to maintain their shape, Bentley puts in proper, symmetrical pleats. It might seem like a small thing but it’s reassuring to see this kind of attention to detail, isn’t it?

Not that it is just the small stuff that impresses. 

The one-armed headrests make a striking impression too, as do the vivid blue Wilton carpets whose colour is picked up on the lower edges of the door cards and the top of the dashboard. There is a full set of pillowy soft lambswool overmats too, whose depth of pile is more like a quilt than a rug.

Throw in cabinet-quality walnut trim, heavy chromed controls and handles, full-size seating for four adults and “ice-cold air-conditioning” and you’ll see that this is a very, very nice place to spend time.

The Alpine headunit comes with a remote control as well as the original Sound System Demonstration Disc CD too, which isn’t something you see every day.

The boot is very nicely presented and the fold-down panels behind the rear seats contains the Alpine amplifier, tool kit, warning triangle, and spare hydraulic fluid. The boot itself is as beautifully trimmed as the rest of the interior.

As for work to do, the headlining shows some marks and would benefit from being professionally cleaned. That’s it.

The recent £6,000 service in November 2023 we mentioned earlier included having all four brake calipers refurbished, new front brake pads, and repairing the headlining cable in addition to a new alarm system.

The final bill might have been £6,365 but ‘they look after me and this would have been £9,000 to anyone else”, which gives you an idea of how much work Harwoods put in.

And this builds on plenty of previous service work:

• 23.12.1999 – pre-delivery inspection by Straight Eight (New Forest) Ltd.
• 20.01.2003 and 6,102 miles – service by Bentley Hadley Green
• 26.01.2004 and 6,163 miles – service by Bentley Hadley Green
• 07.05.2004 and 6,194 miles – service by Bentley Hadley Green
• 05.11.2004 and 7,080 miles – service by Bentley Hadley Green
• 16.01.2007 and 8,499 miles – service by Bentley Hadley Green
• 20.08.2008 and 9,176 miles – service by South Coast Performance Car Service Ltd
• 28.08.2009 and 9,206 miles – service by South Coast Performance Car Service Ltd including fresh brake and suspension fluid, four new Avon tyres, and new front brake discs and pads at a cost of more than £4,000
• 12.09.2011 and 12,735 miles – service by unknown

The iconic 6.75-litre turbocharged V8 engine delivers its 400bhp with uncanny civility thanks to a beguiling combination fine British engineering and Zytek EMS3 digital engine management. Of course, it also starts well, idles almost silently, and revs like a dream. 

However, we do note a warning message on the dashboard saying that an alarm has occurred, and there is a dribble of oil on the inside edge of the offside front tyre.

The underside looks good and strong with only a light dusting of surface rust in the usual places. Certainly, no MoT tester has ever raised the issue of corrosion, which is reassuring.

The engine bay is clean. The underbonnet sound insulation is in good order, and the underbonnet lamp works, which might be another small thing but it’s the small things that go to the heart of how well (or not…) a car has been maintained, isn’t it?

Speaking of which, the Bentley’s MoT certificate is valid until July 2024 and it, like every single certificate bar two, was issued with no advisories.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and the history file includes the Bentley build record in addition to the stamped service history booklet, old invoices, and the V5 registration document.

NB: The Bentley now wears the registration number ‘V855 GLM’ and not the ‘4 SWG’ you see in the video and photos, which will be kept on retention.

There’s something about a Bentley, isn’t there? While it represents a hefty investment – then and now – driving one generally brings out the very best in folk; whereas a Ferrari or a Porsche often sparks jealousy, our sellers tell us that a convertible Bentley evokes nothing but positive comments.

This might sound counterintuitive but despite a showroom price of £230,000 when it was new, the Azure’s very Britishness seems to mitigate hostility – and that nigh-on quarter-of-a-million-pound price tag puts our estimate of somewhere between £70,000 and £80,000 into perspective, doesn’t it?

If you fancy a gloriously over-the-top hand-built British convertible capable of topping 150mph and showing a clean pair of heels to most hot-hatchbacks, then we’ve got just the car for you. 

Fully fettled and in need of nothing, this is a fine example of one of the firm’s final hurrahs before EU testing cycles and the sound of VW’s accountants sharpening their pencils drove the company into mediocrity…

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located with the vendor in Boston, Lincolnshire. Viewings are strictly by appointment.  To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.