1992 Bentley Continental R

This Bentley Continental R was supplied by the famous Jack Barclay London dealership and was first registered on 1 September 1992. It has had seven registered keepers, seven plate changes and has covered 87k miles - which isn’t bad going for a 30 year old car built for making long journeys. Plus, as anyone who knows these cars well will tell you, a well serviced and regularly maintained car is a far more enjoyable and less costly car to own. 

The current owner, a member of the RREC and life long fan of the cars, always lusted after a Conti "R" when his friend, the GM of the Leicester dealer offered him a test drive in their demonstrator in the early 90's. It was only the £178,000 price tag that prevented him from placing an order at the time!

Now representing great value, and recently fully serviced by a renown Bentley specialist, it might be the time to buy. 

The exterior is finished in beautiful Ming Blue - a deep royal blue on the lighter side of navy. Its very reminiscent of the colours used on earlier Continentals and very rare on a Continental R. 

There are a few minor marks around the car in some of the more vulnerable places like the door mirror caps and panel edges and also a few stone chips on the nose, but these are small imperfections considering the age and mileage of the car.

By the nineties, too much chrome was seen as old-fashioned, so the brightwork is limited to the radiator grille slats, bumper and window trims, door handles, around the rear light clusters and the twin tail pipes. All looks to be shiny and clear of any obvious pitting or patina.

The Continental R sits on its original 16-inch alloy wheels - in a style also seen on the Turbo R. Such a small diameter for a big car means tall sidewalls and the ride comfort and handling that they bring. All five alloys (underslung spare included) were fully refurbished in 2016 - only a few thousand miles ago - and they still look in excellent condition.

All four road wheels were refitted with Avon Turbospeed tyres dated 2015 and they show in very good condition with more than adequate tread depth.

As beautiful to look at as the outside of the Continental R is, it is the interior where you’ll spend most of your time with the car, and this is where Bentley excels.

The interior is upholstered in black Connolly leather. Not just the extremely comfortable seats but across the dash, up the pillars and even the headlining. Aside from a little wear on the sports-style steering wheel and light creasing on the front seats - driver side in particular - there are no obvious signs of undue wear or damage to the hide.

Across the dash and centre console fascias, and along the door caps, a beautiful honey-coloured burr walnut veneer provides a classic contrast to the black leather. Usually in a modern classic, wood panelling tends to date a car but in this 30-year old Bentley it seems appropriate and elegantly modern.

This piece of British heritage is not without its technology. It was originally supplied with a “radio telephone”. That particular artefact has since been replaced with a more modern Parrot bluetooth setup but the original is retained with the car. Additionally, it has been fitted with a reversing camera which feeds to a screen integrated into a clip-on rear view mirror.

The centre console is stacked full of auxiliary instruments for temperatures, pressures and levels and it also houses the cassette radio and the controls for the air conditioning. We understand that everything works as it should.

Underfoot, the black carpets are clean and undamaged, although it is coming away slightly from the transmission tunnel in the passenger footwell. True to form in a Bentley, each footwell has the signature deep-pile lambswool rug to give you even more of a luxurious feel. If you’re worried about getting in with dirty shoes, there are rubber mats in the boot that can be swapped in.

Under the front-hinged bonnet, the engine bay looks clean and well looked after and the engine itself runs smoothly and sweetly with enough torque to rock the car when revved. 

The undersides of the car have a layer of road dirt across what is likely to be the original underseal and whilst there is the inevitable surface rust here and there - all looks fairly straight underneath - indeed nothing that caught the eye of the inspector at it's last MOT. More recently as part of the last big service, the spare wheel carrier was removed, refurbished and repainted, so that makes the rear appearance of the car much improved from the average example. 

The large boot is lined in a similar black Wilton carpet to the interior and it appears clean and intact. Under the floor panel is a hole giving access to release the spare wheel that is cradled underneath the car. A recess also houses the battery which was recently replaced. Under the rear scuttle the jack and wheel brace are stowed and you’ll find a toolkit and the audio amplifier behind a panel below.

The Bentley's last MOT was passed first time with no advisories, just as it has every year since 2014 and though currently SORNed it will be supplied with a new MoT. 

The extensive documented history file contains factory handbooks, a service book and past MoT reports and numerous garage invoices and correspondence related to maintenance from the past decade or so. 

Of particular note is the most recent invoice for £3,654 in August 2023 and for various works done around 2017-18 at 85,404 miles costing £4,000 and a year or so previously when £1,200 was spent.

In summary, the car was serviced by Bentley authorised dealerships up to 2009 at 65,881 miles and by known Marque specialists thereafter. 

The chronology of the extensive service history is as follows;

22/12/1992 at 3,495 miles

15/04/1993 at 5,490 miles

11/10/1993 at 9,035 miles

12/04/1994 at 14,773 miles

28/10/1994 at 18,258 miles

20/05/1995 at 21,075 miles

21/02/1996 at 26,131 miles

27/08/1996 at 28,929 miles

30/04/1997 at 32,876 miles

16/12/1997 at 36,981 miles

25/08/1998 at 43,139 miles

12/02/1999 at 45,001 miles

08/12/2000 at 48,107 miles

22/01/2002 at 48,507 miles

23/12/2002 at 50,770 miles

26/04/2004 at 54,687 miles

02/09/2005 at 60,060 miles

23/08/2006 at 63,167 miles

30/09/2008 at 65,070 miles

09/10/2009 at 65,881 miles

26/01/2012 at 74,704 miles

02/02/2013 at 77,509 miles

28/08/2023 at 87,583 miles 

The Continental R is a brutal but handsome coupe with a commanding road presence and a boat-load more class than the ubiquitous Conti GT that replaced it. Don’t be fooled by the plush luxury of the interior, this isn’t just a car to waft gently along in - flex your right ankle and you’ll unleash massive acceleration potential.

This well cared for example runs beautifully and drives very well. Although the Continental R was at one time the privilege of the rich and famous and the most expensive car in the world, right now they represent great value. We think this super example will sell between £25,000 and £30,000. 

Go on, you deserve it!

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller in Warwickshire, to arrange an appointment 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, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.