Bentley Continental Convertible, 1985
Bentley Continental I
Bentley Continental I•
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Chassis No.: SCBZD000ZFCH10137
Estimate: £65,000 - £85,000 GBP
- Formerly the property of Jools Holland
- Coachwork by H J Mulliner, Park Ward
- Registration no. B716 BDS
- Very early carburettor-fed example
- Delivered new in the UK
- Only circa 18,000 miles from new
- Considerable recent expenditure
- Fully sorted and ready to enjoy
A key factor in Rolls-Royce's marketing strategy for the 1980s was the re-launch of Bentley. To rekindle interest in the marque, a glorious name from its past was resurrected - 'Continental' - and applied to the two-door model previously known, like its Rolls-Royce equivalent, as the Corniche. An inspired move, the Bentley's 1984 name change had the desired effect; sales (which in the 13 years since the Corniche's launch had amounted to a mere 77 Bentley-badged cars) would total 421 for the succeeding 11 years of Continental production.
Introduced in March 1971, the Corniche was a revised version of the H J Mulliner, Park Ward-bodied two-door variants of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T-Series saloons, themselves notable as the Crewe factory's first unitary-construction cars. In Corniche form Rolls-Royce's well-tried 6.7-litre V8 produced around ten percent more power than standard and proved capable of propelling the car to a top speed in excess of 120mph, with sports car-beating acceleration to match.
The model proved a major success for Rolls-Royce, and although its exterior style remained recognisably Silver Shadow, the Corniche/Continental benefited from the regular updates and improvements made to the contemporary Silver Spirit range, remaining in production well into the 1990s, the last (Convertible) examples being delivered in 1995.
Offered here is a very early example of the revived Bentley Continental; indeed, the instruction manual is still the Corniche edition. It is one of the very rare carburettor-fed Continentals, which are generally considered more refined than their 1986-onwards fuel-injected successors. Finished in Georgian Silver, the car was manufactured late in 1984 and supplied to Gaulds of Glasgow. The Continental was registered in their name on 24th January 1985 and the following day was delivered to its first private owner: a Mr Tricerri of Gleneagles Village. Mr Tricerri kept the Bentley until 2007 when the second private owner acquired the car at 7,500 miles.
Today, some 37 years after it left the Crewe factory, the Continental has covered only some 18,000 miles in the hands of various well-known custodians, the immediately preceding owner being none other than musician and 'petrol head' Jools Holland.
The Bentley has benefited from considerable expenditure over the last few years, including £16,000 spent in February 2021 on a thorough sorting of all the mechanicals, receipts for which are on file. We are advised that the car is in magnificent 'time warp' condition. Well-specified, it comes complete with the original lambs' wool over rugs; all large and small tools; the factory-fitted Blaupunkt radio/cassette player; flying 'B' mascot; and even cocktail requisites to both front doors. Carburettor-fed Bentley Continentals of this era are very rare, and to find a low-mileage example in such wonderfully original and unmolested condition is quite remarkable.
