1978 Bentley T2

This splendid ‘Walnut’ T2 with ‘Beige’ upholstery piped ‘Dark Brown’ is a stunning example of both the model and the marque. 

Delivered new in March 1979 to Henry Boys & Son Ltd, a firm of Walsall brickmakers and charitable benefactors established in the Victorian era, the car has had just four owners from new and has an exceptionally low indicated mileage of just 16,312 under its various belts.

It was ordered new from the factory with a number of special options, including: the rev counter moved from the left-hand side of the clock to the right-hand side; the top roll, dashboard roll, knee roll and radio surround trimmed in ‘Dark Brown’ hide; shaded Sundym glass windscreen; and all door shuts and other painted areas to be polished.

The vendor, who has an impressive collection of cars himself, has owned the car since 2021 and tells us that he has very much enjoyed his time with it.

We’re not surprised.

We have driven this time-warp vehicle and can safely state that it drives like a virtually new car. 

It is powerful, smooth, refined, near silent and feels mechanically tight, sound and strong in every respect. 

 

The bodywork is very straight and true, and there are no dimples, dinks or dents of any note anywhere that we can see.

The panel gaps and shut-lines are equally impressive, and the doors close with a good deal of weight and precision.

The metallic ‘Walnut’ paint really pops and sings in the sunshine, giving the car an almost gilded look.

The chrome is beyond reproach pretty much everywhere you look, as are the wheels.

The matching Avon Turbosteel tyres look to have plenty of life left in them.

Always garaged and a stranger to inclement weather, the car’s external condition is far more a reflection of its paltry mileage and conscientious curation than its age.

Even standard stone chips and light scratches are more notable for their absence than their presence and, where they do present themselves, they are to be found in the entirely usual and standard places – the forward-facing aspects of the front wings, around the grille and front light clusters, and on the chin spoiler.

There are a few thin cracks to the paint at the base of both ‘A’ pillars.

The lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings are pretty much immaculate and there’s virtually nothing anywhere on this car to suggest that it left the factory in 1978.

It really is in quite exceptional condition.

The interior is following exactly the same script in terms of quality, originality, preservation and condition.

You might reasonably expect to find a good deal of ingrained patina inside a car that’s now 46 years old.

That’s really not the case here. Far from it.

Aside from a few light creases on the driver’s seat squab, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it left a showroom in the last year or so.

The leather upholstery, front and back, is in very fine order and the seats are comfortable, supportive and functional.

The wood veneers on the dashboard, door cappings and elsewhere have avoided the fate met by so many of their contemporaries – namely, cracking and lifting.

Wherever you look, the wood is richly glossy and a perfect aesthetic complement to the variously brown hues of the interior.

The ‘Fawn Cirrus’ headlining is taut and unmarked. The carpets (‘Dark Brown’ piped ‘Beige’) are fine, as are the carpets and, in the rear, the luxuriously thick lambswool over-rugs.

The door cards, front and back, are free of any marks or blemishes of note.

All the little things that tend to stop working in cars of this age - glove compartment light, interior lights, door lights, clock – are all still going strong and doing what they were designed and built to do.

The vendor tells us that, as far as he’s aware, all dials, knobs, switches, levers and instruments are fully functional.

The boot, with its unmarked brown carpets, is as good as the rest of it.

As with the exterior, the interior is just exceptional.

The engine bay looks as clean, dry and correct as you’d hope and expect to find on a car with fewer than 16,500 miles on the clock.

Again, it’s the details that tell the story.

When did you see under-bonnet sound-deadening insulation on a car of this age that wasn’t hanging in tatters?

Well, the insulation under this bonnet looks as squeaky clean and minty fresh as the rest of this extraordinary, time-defying car.

Needless to say, the car’s undersides appear to be possessed of plenty of structural integrity and everything looks solid and sound from what we can see.

We know from the impressively stamped-up service book that the car was in Vienna in 2015, at which time it was recorded as having fewer than 14,000 miles on the odometer. We know from a number of Austrian MoT certificate equivalents, that it was still there in 2021.

It next appears in the service book in November 2021, where it is back in the UK for a 15,288 miles service and reacquainting itself with the legendary marque experts at P&A Wood.

So, this is a car that covered no more than about 3,000 miles between 2014 and 2021 and appears to have done very little waltzing around the streets of Vienna.

Why? Because the car had been bought by a major Austrian collector for his significant collection.

The car comes with a great deal of paperwork, including original specification and build sheets, construction and test records, the original warranty and purchase invoices, a full set of books and a service history that, aside from its largely inactive Vienna years, is well documented and nearly all with main dealers or P&A Wood.

In 2022 the car was given a thorough check-over, service and fettling by P&A Wood, who addressed all and any outstanding issues.

In 2023 the entire braking system was overhauled and refurbished, again by P&A Wood.

This rare car is nothing short of a revelation.

It has survived the passage of time without sacrificing its mechanical, dynamic or aesthetic integrity, and its overall condition is truly impressive even for its low mileage, never mind its age.

Comfortably cossetted within private collections for at least the last 10 years and always maintained, serviced and fettled by the likes of P&A Wood, we’re struggling to imagine how there could be a better low-mileage example than this anywhere outside of a museum.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £45,000 - £55,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am- 12pm or 2pm-4pm. 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’.