About this specific vehicle
Bentley Continental T 1997 Registration number R516 YVP, 2 door coupe, 6750 cc. Atlantic Blue Mica exterior paintwork with Magnolia Hide interior leather.
Just 322 of these fabulous high performance grand touring cars were produced between 1996 and 2002. This car was registered in December 1997 but it is the 1998 model which had numerous upgrades not the least of which was the substantial increase in the power output from the original 400 bhp to the astonishing for the time 426 bhp which propelled this cruiser from 0 to 60 in close to 5 seconds.
The Bentley R type Continental was the first uniquely bodied Bentley under the Rolls Royce Ownership in the 1950’s and the new Continental R was only the 2nd from 1991 to 2002. The much more powerful and sporty Continental T became available to discerning buyers in 1996. Substantial and truly elegant this was the most expensive model on sale throughout that period. These cars were destined to be the very last totally hand made vehicles produced by Rolls Royce Bentley before the company and future production of new models was taken over by BMW and from there it was mass production.
Consequently these impeccably luxurious grand touring machines are the last made with exquisite attention to every small detail that you could imagine and by craftsman whose skills sadly are no longer available. They were made regardless of the cost. Quality and performance were the only rules that applied at the time. The original specification document is with car and with the numerous extras required by the first owner the car would have cost well over £200,000.00 and we believe in fact it was in the region of £230,000.00 when new. The instant appeal was such that the majority of the 322 went for export immediately to rich buyers abroad and very few were available directly for the UK market.
This car is an original UK market vehicle and was ordered from the Roll Royce Bentley dealers Broughtons of Cheltenham for a local businessman and it has remained in the UK ever since then. It seems the first change of ownership was in 2000 to an Hotelier in Yorkshire where it was mainly driven by his wife and it is from them that the present owner purchased the car in 2009. It has remained in his private collection ever since and only driven 10,000 miles in the last 12 years. The current mileage is 90,000.