For a white-hot minute, I was ready to start looking for transporters roaming the deserts of New Mexico to pick up a bargain Bentley. I know, I know – why go looking for one halfway across the country when there’s likely a problem child sedan right in your own backyard? Well, because this one is red and you simply don’t see Bentleys of this era wearing red paint all that often. Sadly, I suspect this is a respray, so my hopes were almost immediately dashed. I still love these old gas-guzzling British beasts, and if one of you can convince me this isn’t a respray, maybe I’ll go look at it. Find it here on Facebook Marketplace for $3,950.
So, the tell-tale signs I’m relying on to convince myself this is a respray are the following: the bumpers are red, which they shouldn’t be. Those should be black. The C-pillar is missing the Bentley badge, which likely got tossed in a cheap respray. Third, the trim pieces that sit in front of the rear wheels on the lower part of arch are also missing. These are all classic signs of a quick respray where no one was concerned with getting the details right, which, at the point that this Mulsanne was at the bottom of its valuation curve, would be the typical amount of care someone would take giving it a cosmetic refresh.
Now, there is a chance it was originally red and it got the secondhand paint job with the finishing touches mentioned above left off. There is evidence of red paint in the door jams, and usually those fast-track paint jobs don’t account for covering up the original color. If we could peek inside the engine bay, we might get final confirmation as to what it looked like when leaving the factory. The Mulsanne was a fortress when new, and the car of choice for the ultra elite. You can see how far it’s fallen, however, with cracked wood trim, tired leather seats, and a crumbling sun screen in the windshield. Not surprisingly, the seller offers little in the way of details, simply noting that it hasn’t run for years.
The back seats look decent, but that’s not saying much in terms of the overall health of the car. It thankfully has the original 15-inch wheels still, and the badge at the edge of the front fenders is still present. The 6.75-liter V8 is said to produce around 230 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft. of torque, delivered via a sleepy 3-speed automatic transmission. Sadly, because this isn’t a Turbo R and due to driver-quality Mulsannes selling for around $5,000-$7,000, the current asking price is likely to keep this red land yacht parked for some time. However, if you figure out that this is it’s original color, maybe I’ll be dumb enough to buy it. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Stephen for the find.
Jeff i just found out yes the paint is original, now go buy it before someone else does!!
Does any of this matter? It’s junk. It’s worthless. It needs to be crushed and sold for its weight
It’s far more restoreable than a good % of the vehicles on this site!
Your not a car guy huh ? The parts on this car would bring a good chunk of you didn’t want to do something with it.
If you can get driver quality for 5k why pay 4k for this ?
I am quite frankly amazed that one of these things went 131,000 miles on its own power!
No title, do they have the authority to sell it? Is there a finance company looking for it? I would love to Tinker on it and get it running but its only worth about $250 scrap value to me
The most expensive car in the world, a cheap Rolls-Royce. This wouldn’t even be good yard art. But if you could get it cheap enough, this may be a good basis for a pickup or Howard’s Rolls-Royce tow truck. I don’t know about an LS, but maybe a diesel and a six speed manual. As they say beauty is the eye of the beerholder.
I also wonder why they used a steering wheel form a forklift.
Can you provide more info about the rolls royce tow truck? Sounds interesting!
Hellephant and a 6 speed
What? No LS?
The straights of Mulsanne are only a distant memory to this heap.
this looks like a lot of money and a lot of trouble. I had a friend who had tons of money in palm beach who owned a 74 rolls royce, and in the early 80s he told he replaced the alternator and it was like 7 grand then. just for an alternator. now look at a whole car with a need for new leather, wood refinished, paint, etc. go buy a nice car, not much more money. if you must drive a british problem. (they aren’t even nice driving cars!)
Y0u’ve been watching too much of Baby Driver and how his parents met their fate as he watches the family car get crushed in the wrecked car lot. Never argue when driving.
Worst nightmare.
leave it where it is. you’re better off
A replacement grill would probably cost as much as the asking price.
It’d make a great 4 x 4.
Hold out for a turbo.
This a truly a mind boggler for me. While I am not a fan of owning a RR or a Bentley, how could anyone leave a car like this to waste away? It was not a cheap car when new. 1986 is forty years, yes but I have 3 mid 80’s Toyotas that are in far better shape and drivers! It looks like it was driven hard and put away ‘wet’! What a shame !!
“how could anyone leave a car like this to waste away”
Based on where it’s located now, and probably has been for a while, we can all merely speculate.
Two words. RATROD !!
It’s the only thing it’s good for at this point.
Good idea. Part out what’s sellable that you don’t want to use, and you’ve made your money back. And you have a really good conversation piece that holds four or five hippies in comfort.
Seeing a blower sticking up through the hood would turns heads.
Assuming parts are still available for this car, it’d make an awesome resto project. I’ve always loved Rolls-Royce/Bentley cars of this vintage.
It could be done. Parts are available. They are outrageously priced, as are the technician hourly rates. The resale value of these, even running ones in decent shape, is in the basement, since nobody wants the maintenance cost nightmares.
That’s understandable. There’s maintenance, and then there’s maintenance. If it can be driven as it is, I’d keep stock what can be kept stock, while upgrading what needs to be upgraded. I don’t know what, since I’ve never driven a Rolls-Royce or Bentley.