There is no denying the presence of a car like the Bentley Arnage T. This model is from the glory days of Bentley before they became the victim of acquisition and corporatization, losing major aspects of its identity along the way. The Arnage T was a high performance version of the peak luxury sedan of the early 2000s, fitted with aggressive bodywork, wheels, and other touches like a turbocharged 6.75L V8 to let the world know this was not your grandad’s Rolls-Royce. This example listed here on eBay shows just under 50,000 miles and comes with the most valuable feature when shopping one of these old warhorses: a trunk full of detailed service records.
When new, the Arnage T clocked in around $242,277. That’s a princely sum, by all accounts, and there were likely a fair number of princes, kings, and heirs to the throne who would own a car such as this. The Bentley in Arnage T guise was more of a Bond car than a luxury vehicle, the equivalent of a tuxedo and Rolex versus a tweed jacket and a Tag. While the differences were subtle at best, the Arnage T hits you in a different way than a Corniche of the same era. It’s as if the Arnage was put on this Earth to beat up the Corniche and enable the owner to make fun of the silly sap in the Rolls. The interior of this car is fairly brutalist in tone but it doesn’t abandon the classic benchmarks of British luxury in favor of its athletic image.
And really, how tough can you be if your car comes with standard his-and-hers umbrellas? We’re not savages, after all, even if we bought the Arnage in order not to appear soft. Regardless of which flavor if your favorite, maintenance is an absolute aspect of ownership and while prices have come way, way down from the brand-new MSRP, that doesn’t change the fact you need to budget accordingly for upkeep. This Bentley has clearly been looked after both in regards to its cosmetic condition and the abundance of paperwork included in the sale, which we presume shows many thousands of dollars in routine servicing.
Under the hood is a (nearly) 6.8L turbocharged V8 that delivers an amazing 450 horsepower and 646 pound-feet of torque. This is an atom bomb of torque that just happens to look like Pierce Brosnan on four wheels. Coupled with the firmed-up suspension of the Arnage trim and some other improvements that dialed in sport-like settings, the Bentley was an ideal comprise of luxury and performance. It’s rare that those two words carry equal weight in car, but examples like this were priced like they were because they achieved the balance like few others could. Now, you can experience the privilege of having you cake and eating it too for just $30,000. It’s up to you to decide if the upkeep budget is worth it.
Great write up Lavery 👍 awesome automobile.
Sure would be fun to own, but it’s the insurance and the maintenance that crushes you. 30k is reasonable. It is. But it’s going to be 30k a year to just own it. Well, 10-15k a year at least.
I almost bought a Maserati last summer. 2015. The sound of that engine was fantastic. Then I learned it’s because it actually has a Ferrari engine in it!! And then the insurance premium was going to be about 7500/year. And I reached out to the only place around that could service it and learned that just replacing brakes cost about 2 grand!!! I can only imagine how much more it would be on this thing.
Doesn’t really matter how much brakes on a Ferrari costs,cause they weren’t meant to stop, anyway.Actually,that sounds cheap.It costs 2g,s for brakes on anything nowadays.I can,t even believe the price of anything anymore.Im almost glad I,m too old to be restoring cars anymore. BOOHOOHOO. LOL
TC
It’s gotten so i get sticker shock every time I see the price.
To me the Bentley Arnage and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph are “in-between cars”. Designed by Rolls-Royce/Bentley in Crewe during the early 90’s, but built by VW starting in 1998 after they bought Bentley.
Some fell strongly that this leaves the Arnage and Seraph effectively orphans after their “parents” divorced (BMW bought Rolls-Royce and VW-Audi bought Bentley). Parts and tech support from BMW & VW are limited at best. Some parts are apparently made of unobtanium.
Cars up to about 2007 also frequently have head gasket problems, which are very costly to repair. Some owners do a head gasket upgrade as preventative maintenance. The car for sale here has $10K in service, but as the head gasket issue is not mentioned, I would consider it deferred maintenance.
While this Arnage T looks quite nice, similar cars are currently selling for under $20K.
These things sold for over $420,000 in today’s money. What a colossal waste of cash.
Now I know where VW hid all the money they made from their diesels with the milage deal they had going.
Sounds like the 50K miles came from driving back and forth to the repair shop.
Looking at these on Bring a Trailer, this is at the high-end of the market. They’re not worth much. People are scared of the maintenance it would seem.
I see Bentleys in my area all the time. NoVA/Great Falls/Ashburn (NFL players). There’s a Bentley/Aston dealer two miles from my house.
The Great Falls drivers of these are invariably old men wearing impeccable and overpriced designer business-casual clothes and presenting themselves as elegantly and quietly important, with the obvious attitude that they could care less if the depreciation is half a million dollars.
Yes, it’s a stereotype but also very real. I see it all the time. Just spend a little time at the Great Falls, VA Safeway parking lot. They shop there all the time.
I wish someone would explain to me the attraction of this brand beyond pure conspicuous consumption for the sake of conspicuous consumption.
Do any of these guys realize that nobody else cares if they can waste money so indiscriminately.
I saw a Bentley going thru the KFC drive-thru in Wellington Florida.
Lot of them and RRs in South Florida.
As they old saying goes, money can’t buy taste… :)
Someone sounds a tad envious.I with I could afford their driving clothes. Depreciation is a big thing when you’re rich
Not envious at all. More like “why”?
Nobody around here says “wow, you own a Bentley?”. In Great Falls, most everyone is filthy rich. Astons, Lambos, Ferraris, Bentleys are daily observances. Nobody gives a crap about a Bentley sedan that looks like a Chrysler 300.
Second, around here, if you drive it into the city, you are inviting thieves to follow you to wherever you stop, or worse, home. The thieves and gangbangers know what Bentleys are, and this has happened.
If I had that kind of money, I’d still be a hippie in jeans and probably own a really nice vintage rod or a 1953 Skylark or a Alfa Gulietta convertible or something like that.
These big-money, modern cars bore the he|| out of me. I don’t get it. The sports models exceed the ability of 99.9% of drivers to drive them properly at a track day outing and the cost of dumping it into the rails is ridiculous. A Lotus 7 replica would be a whole lot more fun on a track, at least to me. I actually drove a modern Ferrari at a Summit Point. Certainly fun, but I came away saying that you could have a lot more fun for a lot less.
Old cars had character. These modern cars are just clinical examples of conspicuous consumption.
I would have to agree. Blue jeans and a flowmaster exhaust T-shirt in an old Camaro, Nova, and Chevelle. Probably a different one for each day of the week. But a new ZR1X would be in the garage too.
TC
It’s gotten so i get sticker shock every time I see the price.
Very nice write-up…the ultimate velvet hammer to tour around in! Alas, I’m in the Timex and T-shirt club.
I ‘ll bet it’s fun to drive.
I wouldn’t buy it!