1994 Bentley Continental R 6.7 turbo

Summary:

Brilliant for those who want this

Faults:

Memory pack of passenger seat is rather unreliable. Sub-frame bushes front right were damaged and replaced by dealer without further cost.

Leather is incredibly beautiful, but needed careful conditioning after long term storage, the specialist where I bought it could not simply match my expectations so I had it done myself.

Speakers were dried and needed replacement, which is a real pain because of the almost perfect original interior panel fit. Matching those standards is difficult even for a professional trimmer or experienced amateur.

Buying one is a pain, most have had vandalized paints, and therefore are repainted, not always to the expected standard. Hydraulics are often neglected and leaking. Make also sure all gadgets work, they are a frighteningly expensive and complicated to repair. Look at many before buying, or even better, buy one from a real specialist with a warranty. Avoid cheap offers, these cars were expensive when new and are still expensive to maintain now.

General Comments:

This is brilliant car at what it does, full stop.

It will cruise effortlessly and silently at legal speeds or provide bullish acceleration at the twist of your ankle. Handling is very good for a car of this size and weight, but it comes at the price of a rather hard suspension and brutal tire wear. It also has a rather commanding driving position that I had never experienced before.

It's a brilliant long distance car, only let down by a rather hard suspension (despite the fact that it is automatically adaptable) and a faint A-pillar wind noise.

Despite its reputation it will return a rather decent fuel economy (do not get me wrong, it's heavy by worldly standards, at around 12-15l/100Km at 130 Km/h, but less than what I had expected). The engine noise is wonderful.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th December, 2008

15th Jun 2009, 04:26

Very nice and useful review, thanks.

28th Jan 2011, 08:43

Hello, it's still me.

I have put about 28000 Km since the review, and the car is performing extremely well. I bought it with 32000 Km, so the engine has nicely loosened, and I have had the occasion to put high speed kilometers in Germany. It's great.

Maintenance has been as expected. The hydraulics needed a scheduled overhaul (spheres, fluids) and the hydraulic pumps needed new O-rings. Otherwise, brake pads had to be changed and other rather usual filters, bushes and hoses.

The car is so far 100% reliable, including the instruments and electronics, a new "optima" spiral battery cured the few electronic gremlins that I reported earlier.

We have a baby now, and the fact that it is a "giant" coupé is really appreciated by the whole family, the car is used regularly. In case you are interested, fuel economy is much better than expected, around 15 l/100, and significantly less on long trips. We love this car.