1996 Bentley Turbo R

This 52,000 miles Bentley Turbo R with full service history is in magnificent condition and is offered to you now at a fraction of its cost to the current owner.

The aforementioned gent didn’t hurry in his search for a Bentley Turbo R, which was just as well because he found, to his dismay, that many of the cars he went to look at sported the most horrible alloy corrosion, a blight that manifests itself as spider web-like cracks under the paint. His patience was rewarded when he came across this example which is almost free of these problems and is, he tells us, in a better body condition than 99% of its contemporaries.

And that now goes for the mechanicals, too; he asked Stewart Walker Ltd., his local Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist, to go through the car from stem to stern looking for trouble. Plenty of the regular Bentley issues were found, and fixed, by the chaps there and you’ll see the ensuing two bills - with a combined value of more than £12,000 - in the documents section of the listing…

He’s now running out of space and finds himself - almost by accident, apparently - with more classic cars than one man could ever drive in a lifetime. So, if you’ve ever hankered after a Bentley Turbo R (and who hasn’t?), this is exactly the sort of example you should be buying.

The Wildberry coachwork is in very good condition, having gathered only the very lightest of stonechips on the front and the odd small mark elsewhere. We’d add that the car is ‘good for its age’, but we really don’t need to because it is utterly lovely and very nearly as good as the day it left the factory. The doors still open and close with a reassuring thud, and the panel gaps are as good as you’ll see on any car, regardless of price. These Royces and Bentleys tend to regularly suffer around the wheelarches – this example has a few initial signs of imperfection, but none of the shocking corrosion, and bodges, often seen.

It is free of the rot, rust and the nasties that plague the sort of cheap Bentleys that live their lives under the railway arches. Recently valeted, it gleams and glistens in the sun in a way that other, lesser, cars just don’t and needs no work, other than an appreciative glance every now and then.

The alloy wheels are also close to immaculate, with only one showing any signs of alloy corrosion. None are, obviously, kerbed. They are shod with high-quality, matching directional tyres, all of which still have good tread. We know you are probably getting sick of us going on about the importance of buying a car with matching tyres, but the fact that owner has gone to the trouble of fitting and maintaining them speaks volumes for this car’s sympathetic approach to car maintenance.

The interior leather has recently been the subject of an extensive deep clean and feed using professional leather-treatment products. This, combined with the fact that the interior started off every bit as clean and well-preserved as the exterior, means that it is half-a-day away from being a potential concours winner.

The leather seats, for example, bear only the lightest of patinas. The carpets, still protected by the matching clean lambs’ wool rugs and featuring footrests in the rear, are perfect and almost ankle deep. The wooden veneer on the dashboard and door cappings, as carefully matched as you’d expect in a car that Bentley was still building up to a quality rather than down to a price, is completely free of cracks, blemishes and chips. And the chromed controls, designed by engineers rather than accountants, still operate with the sort of crispness you get biting into a freshly plucked apple on a cold autumn morning.

That everything still works perfectly will come as no surprise to anyone who’s made it this far; that the owner is a perfectionist is the greatest understatement I’ve written this year.

The only problems we could find are some rubbings marks on the cream door rubbers/sealing strip and a tiny (and we do mean tiny) bit of rubbing on the piping on the driver’s seat offside bolster.

The owner exhibits mild OCD when it comes to his cars, which is bad news for his bank balance but extraordinarily good news for potential bidders because he simply can’t bear the thought of his classics being anything but perfect.

In the case of the oily bits on this Bentley Turbo R, this manifests itself in two ways:

a) The oily bits are no longer oily after a major valet.

b) Point a) has also come about because he invested more than twelve thousand pounds in servicing a 20 year old car. Where you or I would shrug and let the next owner deal with the inoperative headlamp washer, he spent nearly £500 getting the guys at Stewart Walker Ltd. to repair it.

I could go on, but it might get embarrassing for us all, so I’ll just tell you that the car drives like a dream; the owner has driven more than a few examples over the years and assures us that this is one of the very best performing Turbo Rs out there. (As well it might be considering the amount it has had lavished on it in the past six months.)

You should also make yourself a cup of tea and go through the bills (new springs x4/spring pans/engine mounts/A/C compressor/ABS rings & sensor/brake calipers/water pump/thermostat/etc etc), line by line. Then you should pick up the phone and arrange to go and check the car for yourself. The owner’s a lovely chap, and he’s more than happy to talk you through the work he’s had carried out.

The online MOT history check shows none of the usual Bentley horrors having gained a clean sweep since 2007 until 2014, when it failed on - a front lamp not working…

Since then, it has gathered a couple of advisories, which have all been sorted as part of the car’s recent £12,000+ recommissioning. The MOT itself is brand new, running to October 2019, and a thick wad of expired MOT certificates form part of the car’s extensive service history.

How extensive? Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find old invoices and bills along with a variety of other bits of paperwork - including a fully stamped service history book - to support our claim that this car has been maintained without any regard as to the cost.

It goes without saying that the car also comes with its original owner’s manual, complete with its own slipcover.

If you’re going to buy an old Bentley Turbo R, then it’s a good idea to let someone else do all the heavy lifting; this is such a car and, with a following wind, you could enjoy this car for a few years with nothing more than routine servicing before selling it on for a small profit. That makes it a very cheap car.

How cheap? Well, we think it’ll sell for around £16-20,000 (there are plenty of similar mileage cars, with lesser service records, retailing well into the £20 - £30k bracket at the moment). Yep, that’s right; it could sell for as little as 50% more than it has had spent on it in the past six months. Add in a thriving market for the very best examples and this might just be the most cost-effective expensive car you’ve ever owned.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at Patina HQ in Abingdon; 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’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.