First things first.
You need to know a few things about the vendor of this fabulous car – things that will leave you in no doubt of the car’s quality, provenance and condition.
What kind of person buys a 600bhp, pretty much 200mph, monstrously powerful car delivering tidal waves of torque with tarmac-shredding ferocity?
A footballer, a hedge fund broker, a petrol-head ‘influencer’, a TV ‘personality’, or the scion of some middle-eastern potentate?
Not necessarily.
What kind of person buys eight Bentley GTCs in a row, changing cars every year or so and always buying the best available on the open market?
No, we couldn’t answer that either.
Well, not until we met the vendor.
You see, the gentleman who owns this car (and owned the previous seven GTCs mentioned above), is an aesthete of the purest and most uncompromising ilk.
He is quite possibly the world’s foremost collector of (and dealer in) rare and valuable Lalique car mascots, metal car mascots, picnic sets for pre-War luxury vehicles, and other exquisite and coveted automotive arcana.
He cares absolutely nothing for vulgarities such as top speed, or acceleration, or horsepower, or torque curves.
He really doesn’t.
For him it’s all about the aesthetics: the jewel-like detailing on a knurled gear selector; the grace of a swooping swage line; the chiaroscuro of light and shadow on a sculpted flank.
He dispensed with the services of his penultimate GTC (a 2017 model) because, to his eye, the grille gave the car an aggressive ‘face’ that no longer tessellated with his innate aesthetic understanding of just what makes a Bentley GTC such a triumph of design and an automotive work of art.
The vendor is a man who prizes form way, way above function and who, by his own admission, has rarely embarked upon journeys of more than 20 miles in any of his Bentleys – and certainly never at speeds significantly in excess of about 50 mph.
This gorgeous car, registration B 1 TVW, is finished in Moonbeam Silver with Beluga Black leather and a black hood – a colour palette the vendor believes shows off the Bentley GTC form to optimal effect.
This unique Bentley GTC Speed Mulliner has an exhaustive list of optional extras that would have added over £25,000 to the purchase price.
It is equipped with the all-important Mulliner Driving Specification as well as the Premier Pack and many, many other extras, including the ‘Coming Home’ option, contrast stitching on the upholstery and steering wheel and, originally, 20” Speed wheels.
The vendor has made two cosmetic changes to the vehicle.
Firstly, he didn’t like the look of the ‘Artillery’ Speed wheels and changed them for a set of 20” Mulliner split-rim alloys.
Secondly, and unsurprisingly given his professional interests, he fitted a Bentley ‘Flying B’ bonnet mascot by Arden, an item that today would set you back around £2,600.
The mascot is legal, easily removable and the vendor will provide the next owner with the original Bentley badge should he or she wish to revert to the factory specification.
The vendor has owned the car since June 2022 and, in that time, has covered fewer than 1000 miles – which he considers to be quite a lot given his sparing use of his Bentleys.
The car’s total mileage is 27,000.
You’ll be forgiven for assuming that he is selling the car in order to make room for his ninth Bentley GTC.
Not so fast (an entirely appropriate phrase in this instance).
Having enjoyed this car, which to his eye is the ultimate aesthetic incarnation of the model that he could hope to own, he has now fully and permanently scratched his Bentley GTC itch.
In future he will be driving a Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousine, principally on the grounds that is it more capacious and accommodating for his friends.
So, there you have it.
