1990 Bentley Mulsanne S

First registered on the Isle of Man, it stayed in the first owner’s care for a total of 22 years until he sadly died. Barely used but maintained regardless of cost over those two decades, it passed first to a family member and then a friend of the family in 2012 before being sold to the vendor in 2017.

In his care now for the past three years, this lovely Bentley Mulsanne S has covered fewer than 30,000 miles in its entire life - and it’s clearly been a gentle life too as we can’t find much to criticize: it has a perfect maintenance and repair history; some of the straightest coachwork we’ve ever seen; and the sort of interior that makes you want to dash across entire continents just to spend time in it.

With just three owners in total, it is a hard car to describe because there is so little wrong with it. This makes for a boring listing to read, but should reassure those of you out there who, like us, have always promised ourselves that we’d have a modern classic Bentley at some point in our lives.

Only for sale because the owner fancies adding another to his select Rolls-Royce and Bentley collection, you simply don’t see cars of this quality come up for sale on the open market.

Bentleys of this era were still essentially handbuilt, which gave the craftsmen and women the opportunity to show off a little by making sure that every edge, gap and line was perfect. Of course, indifferent owners and a dodgy past can undermine this, but we are delighted to be able to report that this Mulsanne still stands as a fitting testament to the skills of the folk who built it all those years ago.

That huge – and expensive – chrome radiator grille is in fine fettle, being as straight and clean as it is imposing and magnificent. The bumper below it is straight and perfectly aligned too, which isn’t always the case with these cars as they age. The chrome and rubber trim pieces on it are in great shape too, as are the lights. The lower lip of the front air dam is free of damage and scuffs too, and the winged ‘B’ is present and correct. This is a front-end that almost certainly doesn’t have an interesting episode in its past.

The rest of the coachwork is just as good. The Balmoral Green paintwork, possibly our favourite colour for the model, is nigh-on perfect thanks to a recent machine polish by marque expert Chris Moroney in February 2020.

There might be the odd minor stonechip but what there are are both minor and few and far between; even the usual bi-metallic corrosion which is ubiquitous and widespread on even the most carefully curated examples is all but absent; we’ve found a small area near the nearside front door handle but that’s all. Note that the wheelarches are also looking strong, smooth and bubble-free.

The car has clearly been pampered throughout its life and it shows in the way the doors all open and close with a satisfying precision, and still line up with the bodyshell perfectly. The chrome trim around them is also perfectly aligned and bright. In fact, the whole of the chromework really is very good indeed.

The lightweight alloy wheels are in great shape, too. Purposeful and functional, their comparative lack of unsprung weight contributes greatly to the Mulsanne’s sprightly personality. They’re shod with matching Avon Turbosteel tyres too, all of which have plenty of tread and a natty white sidewall.

As we will never tyre of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but do give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Oh, and the owner has bought a genuine new OE chrome petrol filler cap even though it’s hidden behind a door and is rarely seen. It’s utterly beautiful and symbolic of the love he has lavished on his Mulsanne.

The magnolia leather interior is in a stunning condition; with fewer than 30,000 miles on the clock that might be expected, but it’s still in fabulous condition even taking its ultra-low mileage into account. The front seats, which are piped in Spruce Green to match the coachwork, are still as firm and supportive as the day they left the factory in Crewe. Wearing only the very lightest of creases, they are as cosseting to sit in as they are beautiful to look at.

The rear seats look to be almost unused, which seems a shame given how lovely it is back there. After all, when was the last time you saw matching vanity mirrors set into the C-pillars and framed by exquisitely matched wood?

The carpets, dark green and trimmed in magnolia leather, are thicker than anything we’ve ever put in our homes - and the glove box is bigger than most central London flats, too…

The heating and air-conditioning system – re-gassed in August 2019 - is as easy to operate as it is unobtrusive in operation. Oh, and the control for the fan is simply marked ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’ rather than having anything as vulgar as numbers to indicate its speed.

The wooden trim is staggeringly complex and impeccably installed. Workmanship like this is all but extinct now, so cars of this era are probably your last chance to gets your hands on a car where the wood looks and feels like a natural material rather than a synthetic alternative. It’s all in great shape too, being free of cracks, bubbles and other damage.

The interior chromework is another highlight; you simply don’t get quality like this now, no matter how much you spend. A modern Bentley might still be an impressive motorcar but it’s a mish-mash assembled from parts withdrawn from crates stamped ‘VW’.

The steering wheel, sans airbag of course, is surprisingly delicate; the Bentley is a car you steer with your fingertips, making tiny corrections with the pads of your fingers rather than a clenched fist.

The stereo is a high-power Alpine unit, as fitted as optional extra to Bentley & Rolls-Royce at the time, connected to an Alpine amplifier and uprated speakers. The owner is something of an audiophile and tells us that the sound quality is better than that of any modern car he has listened to; we’re guessing that that is down to a winning combination of a rock-solid interior and high-end equipment.

The rest is equally impressive, but rather than wade through more superlatives and gushing praise, why not make an appointment to come and see it in person? We promise you won’t be disappointed.

Given Bentley’s reputation for engineering integrity and the engine’s longevity, it comes as no surprise to see that the Mulsanne’s engine bay is wonderfully retro and beautifully detailed. Clean too, which is how you want your Bentley’s engine bay; a mucky engine on a Ford Focus might hint that it hasn’t been tarted up for a quick sale but on a car of this pedigree and mileage we’d expect to be able to eat our dinner off of it – and you could.

With as fulsome a service and maintenance history as you could ever hope for, we were especially pleased to see that it has been fettled by Chris Moroney, an independent Rolls-Royce and Bentley expert. One of our number has had extensive experience of owning, running and repairing cars of this era and describes Chris’s work as “brilliant”.

Chris was chosen to recommission the car when the vendor first bought it in 2017. The work set him back more than £5,000 but it was comprehensive. Too detailed to list here, the invoice is attached but, in brief, it comprised ball joints, servicing the offside front hub, new spark plugs, HT leads, rotor arms and refurbishing the distributor, new drive belts, coolant hoses, a brake accumulator, valve body, and hoses plus new front and rear brake pads, four new Avon Turbosteel whitewall tyres, a refurbished alternator, and a 12,000-mile service.

Chris also carried out a 6,000-mile service in 2019. The latter cost the owner £2,400 but the work included a new radiator, fuel accumulator and another two Avon tyres in addition to the usual oil change. An exchange starter motor, ignition coils, and some exhaust fettling in June 2019 led to another nigh-on four-figure bill, too.

No expense has been spared and having driven it (of course we have!) we can confirm that it’s as tight and responsive as you’d expect of a car with this provenance, mileage and heritage.

The underside is solid and protected by a good coat of new underseal; the owner had Chris clean the car underneath before applying liberal coats of both black and clear Waxoyl as part of the car’s recommissioning when he first bought it. This means that everything looks ship-shaped underneath and should remain that way for a long time.

The Bentley has a full MOT certificate, gained without a single advisory point, too. Not that that’s unusual; the car hasn’t had an advisory point since 2013…

Nor does the online MOT history show anything of concern. It also confirms the car’s low mileage, a fact backed up by the huge pile of old MOT certificates in its history file.

The car comes with a number of expired tax discs, some old invoices and bills to confirm the recent work that has been done to it plus a stamped service history booklet. It also has the owner’s manual and padded Bentley wallet.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to the very highest standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please contact the owner to arrange an appointment.

Buying an old Bentley usually needs caution; a bad example could bankrupt even the most robust of wallets, and even a middling one has the capacity to inflict untold pain and anguish on even the most cautious of buyers.

So, the trick is to wait until a car like this comes along – and then pounce. In almost ‘as new’ condition, it has led a pampered and charmed life in the hands of a series of unusually sympathetic owners. Beautifully spec’d too, with a perfect combination of Balmoral Green coachwork and magnolia leather interior, all backed up with lashings of wooden trim and chrome brightwork.

A car of this vintage offers all the advantages of a classic car allied to modern engineering for increased reliability, making this a Bentley Mulsanne you can buy with your head AND your heart.

The downside is that while you can pick these up now for four-figures, a car of this quality is going to set you back between £16,000 and £22,000, or between two and three times what it would cost you to buy an old dog that would ruin you, both financially and spiritually.

And please remember the true cost of ownership can only be calculated after you’ve sold the car; a cheap car might have an attractively low entry price but it could end up costing you a small fortune over its life with you. A car like this, on the other hand, might cost a little more up front, but if that leads to a stronger residual value and lower running costs, then it should prove to be the canny choice in the long-term.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near 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: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.