Must admit, I find myself strangely aroused by the bonkers new
Bentley Mulsanne Speed
. It's not just the headline figures of 530hp, 811lb ft, 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds and 190mph. It's more the fact that these figures are delivered by an engine that's basically the same antique 6.75-litre V8 that's been whiffling behind the flying 'B' grille badge for decades. How many cars boast a headline-grabbing powertrain from the last century?
Especially one that costs £252,200. But if that price tag seems a bit stiff, for under a tenth of that price, you can cosset your backside on the choicest Crewe leather and pummel your right foot into the plushest Wilton known to man in a turbocharged 6.75-litre Bentley.
£5-8K with no reserve? Now then...
Turbo the size of a truck
Ah yes, Bentley's notion of strapping a truck-derived Garrett turbocharger to its venerable V8 has been working the old magic ever since the 1982 Mulsanne Turbo. The Americanesque shape really doesn't do it for me, but bloomin' Nora, they're cheap these days. Coys have a natty
1994 Turbo R
coming up for auction in Ascot at an estimated £5,000 to £8,000, with no reserve.
But newer Bentley turbos don't cost that much more. For instance, at the Dorset Vintage & Classic Auctions sale on 16th October, this 2000 Arnage Red Label leaps out. With 420hp of turbo joy, it's only got 20,000 miles on the clock and the estimate is just £20,000.
Doing the Continental
Caddishly decadent though four-door Bentleys are, it's the two-door Continental R that really gets my old-money juices flowing. Even in its least turbo-nutter guise, it was good for 385hp, 553lb ft, 0-60mph in 6.1 seconds and 155mph. Despite grand proportions and a two-and-a-half tonne weight, the Conti R actually handles respectably well, kind of justifying the 'R' for 'Roadholding' in its title.
A bit newer, still great value though
Spunkier versions are pricier, such as the 400hp-plus Conti S and the Conti T with its short wheelbase, flared arches, acres of milled aluminium and 590lb ft of torque. I well remember driving a Conti T on a high-speed bowl and suffering what I thought was a power hiccup at 135mph - a distinct loss of power for around a quarter of a second. A Bentley engineer duly came out in the car with me and we both felt it. "Ah, that would be the car changing up a gear, sir," came the politest put-down I've ever heard.
£160K new - yours for...
The Conti R cost a monstrous £160,000 when it was new in 1991 - the most expensive British car ever made at that time - but the auction estimate for this 1995 example is just £20,000. It's barely run in at 55,800 miles, looks fab in Balmoral Green with green-piped cream leather and has a full dealer service history. That's great value, given that the cheapest one in the PH Classifieds is up for £21,950.
Now is a great time to buy a Conti R. They've surely bottomed out at £20K. The very nicest Continentals are now fetching considerably more than the increasingly common Conti GT (which is now languishing at around the £25K mark). Keep it old-school. Keep it V8. Keep it Turbo.