1993 Bentley Continental R

‘K426 XEL’ is a 1993 Bentley Continental R that started life in Guernsey, moving here in 1997.

Still showing just 76,000 miles on the clock and boasting a good service history, it is finished in Georgian Silver with a blue and magnolia hide interior.

In need of a little TLC, this may be a very cost-effective way of getting behind the wheel of an iconic British super-saloon.

The Bentley’s Georgian Silver (C/B 9531017) coachwork looks pretty good as you walk up to it: The panel alignment is as good as you’d expect to find on such a well-fettled and coachbuilt car, and the tight shutlines conspire with the metallic silver colour to give it a hewn-from-solid look that it entirely in keeping with its original role of transporting rich folk with a modicum of discretion.

The design brief included modest chromework, albeit with an impressive and imposing honeycomb radiator grille. Nonetheless, the brightwork sits easily alongside the bodywork; despite its vast size and obvious value, this is not a car that feels the need to shout.

Witness the seven-spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels, which are humble in design and finished in a subtle silver. They are also in good shape with no scuffs or other evidence of careless parking, and the tyres are, of course, matching Avon Turbospeed CR228D, the perfect rubber for such an accomplished high-performance touring car.

We will never get tired of telling you that 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.

The (presumably hideously expensive) rear lamp lenses are bright and free of cracks. The headlamps are good too, but the body-coloured trim panels that surround them are chipped and damaged. There is also dirt inside the front indicator lenses and the offside rear light cluster is loose.

There is also evidence of paintwork on most of the body panels in addition to a noticeable mark on bottom of driver’s door. It also has the usual stonechips to the front end and bubbling along the sills and bonnet.

The rear bumper doesn't fit as well as it might either and the chrome strip is damaged. There is also paint damage on the boot lid near the Bentley badge. (However, a new badge is included in the sale.) The rear window also has a significant crack in it.

The blue and magnolia interior is a little flashier than the coachwork but only a little, and everything that isn’t carpeted or trimmed in burr walnut veneer is covered in the finest quality hide.

The cabin’s fixtures and fittings are also in a remarkably good condition; while the leather might need a little work in places (of which more later), the overall impression is still very positive.

For a start the front seats are both electrically adjustable, have two-stage heating, and four memory settings, making them thoroughly modern in function while retaining the Old-World charm we’ve come to love; huge and wide, sitting in them feels more like relaxing in an armchair than perching on a car seat.

The controls are reassuringly old fashioned too with proper knobs to twist and sliders to slide; none of your touchscreen nonsense here.

The instruments are proper white-on-black analogue jobbies too, conveying a vast range of information including ambient temperature, time, speed, distance covered, engine revs, fuel level, oil temperature and pressure, coolant temperature, and rate of battery charge.

The rear seats, individual rather than a bench, might not have masses of legroom but they’re as vast and comfortable as those in the front. They’re also divided by a huge armrest-come-cubbyhole whose contents are kept hidden behind a leather-covered tambour door.

The glovebox contains a wonderfully ornate Mulliner Park Ward plaque as well as a couple of CDs from Dionne Warwick and Leo Sayer; no clash between the 19th and 20th centuries has ever been more violent.

The boot contains a set of blue lambswool overmats, the tool kit, an Alpine amplifier, and the battery and its cut-off switch.

As for things you might want to take a look at, we have identified the following issues: the leather on the top of the dashboard is shrinking away at the bottom of the windscreen; the seats and leather trim bear witness to previous renovation but still show some stains and marks; some of the veneer has cracked; and the interior fuel release button doesn't work so you have to use the manual pull in the boot.

Oh, and while the electric seat buttons work, they are wired the wrong way around so the lefthand switch controls the righthand seat and vice versa.

As you can see in the accompanying video, it starts well from cold and settles into a good idle. It also shows a healthy charge to the battery, good oil pressure, and responds positively to the throttle.

The engine is magnificent but discreet under load, although those lucky enough to be standing behind it get to enjoy one of the most menacing exhaust notes of the era.

Our assessor notes that on the road it “pulls to the left when driving and under braking” and that the “gear selector doesn't always select the correct gear meaning it is easy to select reverse and then confidently shoot forward!”

There are a few other jobs for your To Do list including replacing the battery as it doesn’t hold its charge, so we’ve been leaving it connected to a trickle charger. The struts for the boot lid are also weak.

As for the engine bay’s cosmetic condition, while the underbonnet area is generally neat and tidy it is starting to show its age and has developed corrosion in some places.

The underside has the same problem, with rust being mentioned as an advisory point(s) on the 2021, 2022, and 2023 MoT certificates. However, it wasn’t mentioned on the 2024 pass certificate, so it may have been dealt with.

While we’re on the subject, the Continental R’s MoT certificate is valid until October 2025.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and the history file includes the book pack and wallet plus plenty of invoices on file for work over the years.

These include quite a few from 2019 from the Phantom Motor Cars Ltd and The Garage. The former ran up a bill for £6,400 in 2023, while the latter carried out a series of smaller jobs from 2019 onwards.

Hanwells of London also carried out work worth £4,240 in October 2018; this is clearly a car for whom money hasn’t ever been much of an obstacle.

Still unconvinced as to the quality of the car’s routine maintenance? Well, here is a summary of the stamps in the service history booklet:

• 17.11.1994 and 7,416 miles – service by St. Peter Port Garages Ltd
• 29.09.1995 and 10,863 miles – service by St. Peter Port Garages Ltd
• 23.10.1997 and 12,697 miles – service by Bowling-Ryan Ltd
• 24.03.1999 and 19,048 miles – service by Dutton Forshaw
• 27.07.2000 and 32,425 miles – service by De Salamanca
• 27.06.2001 and 35,877 miles – service by Bowling-Ryan Ltd
• 11,09.2002 and 42,809 miles – service by Bowling-Ryan Ltd
•  25.09.2003 and 46,408 miles – service by Bowling-Ryan Ltd
• 15.11.2004 and 50,256 miles – service by JCT600
• 28.09.2005 and 54,254 miles – service by JCT600
• 07.09.2006 and 57,193 miles – service by JCT600
• 14.07.2009 and 62,564 miles – service by JCT600
• 15.04.2015 and 66,353 miles – service by JCT600
• 28.09.2017 and 68,447 miles – service by Arun Limited

That’ll do, eh?

While Jeremy Clarkson might have called the original Jaguar XJR “the best car in the world” he’d wouldn’t have seen which way gentle folk like us had gone in our Bentley Continental R.

Based on the original bad boy of British super-saloons, no petrolhead worth their name hasn’t dreamed of having one in their garage, even if only for a year or so, during which your fingers would have been permanently crossed.

But there is another, slightly riskier way to get your hands on one and that’s to buy a car like this, a car that’s teetering on the cusp. One that’s had a few devoted owners spend a fortune on it in the past but is now starting to limp, just a little.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £20,000 - £25,000.

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 ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.