Tipster TJ lobs a softball at us, tempting the “Grey Poupon” joke to roll off the keyboard. I’m not biting, though it’s hard to resist when you’re looking at a luxury barge called a 1995 Bentley Continental R. Somebody paid several hundred thousand dollars for this car when it was new. Now, you can have it, according to the ad here on eBay, for $37,500. But wait—that’s an asking price. You could also go lower with the “make offer” feature. You have almost a month before the listing ends to decide what to do. If you’re successful, you need to get to West Hollywood, CA to collect your car. Or send your man Jeeves to do it and deliver it to your front door.
What’s good about this? It’s a coupe. You can’t go wrong with a two-door can you? And whoever had it, didn’t drive it much. It’s about thirty years old, and there are 53,500 miles on the clock of the 6.75-liter CID V8 engine. That mill, btw, is turbo-charged, so you should have no trouble moving the bulk of this beast. It’s too bad that the underhood goodies aren’t pictured in the ad, though.
What’s bad about it? The attitude in the service shop that if you can afford to own it, you can afford whatever they want to fix it when it breaks. The issue that your local mechanic is probably much more interested in fixing Hondas than in tackling British luxury-brand engineering. Then there’s the fact that what was luxurious in the mid-90s, including heated front seats and automatic climate control, is more or less run of the mill nowadays. (Burled wood inserts might be a different story.) A cassette player is hardly going to capture anyone’s imagination nowadays, though the ad is written like it might.
If the pros add up to more than the cons; if you like the idea of paying pennies on the dollar for what most of us could never in a lifetime afford to buy new; or if you’ve just always wanted to shoulder the plebes aside and assert your country-club attitude, then a car like this might be for you. Is this particular one for you? I’d want to do some figuring on why it’s had five owners already. And I’d note that in the middle of that string was a lease customer. I don’t know who that might have been, but do people who have to lease a luxury car to afford it have the money or concern to keep up with its possibly expensive servicing needs? It’s a question with no direct answer, but one that you ought to consider should you decide this is the time to spend Prius-level money on ultra-luxury level metal.
5 previous owners?Sounds to me like someone wanted to be able to say they owned a Bentley but didn’t want the expense of maintaining such a car….nice but no thanks!
Future classic. These are undervalued at present.
Wouldn’t choose a white paint job, personally.
It’s not on Craigslist…. it’s on eBay!!
I submitted this tip from Craigslist, probably what caused the confusion.
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/cto/d/west-hollywood-1995-bentley-continental/7713519574.html
Ronnie Wood 🇬🇧 👅🎸 loves Bentleys. That guy spent his money 💰 🍸 🚬 ❄️ 🥳 🚗
Watch the YouTube videos of Hoovies garage and his journey with these cars and you will run away. You can buy a lot of nice cars with the cost of parts to repair this thing
Personally, I’d rather have an AMC Hornet with a V-8.
Peasants!
Hoovie’s car was a heap of junk. Remember, that’s his niche. There are minty examples of these with full service history out there if this kind of car is your jam. No, it’s not cheap to run like a Camry, but these older Bentleys just ooze Old World class…unlike the new ones. Just be sure you live near a Bentley/Rolls specialist, I could never consider a car like this out here in the sticks, but obviously in SoCal that’s not an issue.
I’ll still take that ’73 Imperial advertised 3 weeks ago.
I love these cars, and they’re very well made.
Looks like the front suspension has issues, and personally I don’t like the colour and the chromed wheels and grille.
CID is cubic inches of displacement. Should be 412 CID.
You don’t want to buy one of these in Michigan as the screwed up policies of the SOS force you to pay for the license plate and registration fees every year based off the original selling price so plate renewal would be based upon $200k or more! No thanks!!
Yes indeed, it flashy its expensive to maintain. you can look like a million bucks for the price of a used Tahoe. Since my critical care insurance won’t cover me when I dump the Busa it likely won’t cover my heart attack when I go to repair anything on this. With that said I guess the Ole’ Caprice will have to do.
Gorgeous. Just gorgeous … even in white.
Chrome wheels on this are like white belts and open shirts – that is, the sleazy side of the family.
At least it’s a real Bentley, not a VW.
Continental GT replaced this in 03(?).
I’ve driven a Continental GT (not around the block, 3-4 hours one day)…fast and enjoyed it. I’ve driven 12-cylinder: Jaguar, Lambo, BMW, MB AMG and various Ferraris, not as an owner.
The Bentley Continental GT is an amazing 2 pedal car!
2 door. Nice back seat. Too bad your passengers will have to crawl to get into it. Classy.
Isn’t Bentley actually owned by Volkswagen so not really British anymore but just as pricey for repairs just more reliable
Incredible head up ass writeup on EBay. What a dork.
That’s basically a nice garage ornament.