While we all love to see a car that’s been obsessively cared for by a doting owner, it does tend to be the same type of vehicle that gets that sort of treatment. Find a hand-written log of fuel consumption or similar and it tends to be the service history of an old British sports car or saloon. We’re generalising, of course - lots of people love lots of different cars - but the point is the Bentley Continental GT is not necessarily one you’d have at the top of a list of beautifully maintained modern classics.
We all know why, of course. For those who loved old Bentleys, the Conti was too new school and too VW-influenced to be proper, and their considerable contingency fund would go on something with a 6.75 V8. And many who bought them new would have moved onto something else within a few years; Bentley sold so many original GTs that they soon got cheap. And, well, we’ve all seen what tends to happen with cheap luxury cars, where people attempt to run them on a budget fit for the purchase price - and not the original RRP. It tends to end disastrously.
You’ve probably taken one look at this 2005 GT and reached a conclusion already. Private plate, loads of miles (184k), resale grey, a sub-£15k price tag - avoid at all costs, right? However, here’s a lesson here, surely, in not judging a book by its cover. Because not only has this Bentley not had an MOT fail since April 2017 (six thousand miles ago), its service history includes 38 main dealer visits. 38! At Bentley! Talk about dedication, and expense. The advert suggests there’s more than 100 invoices with the car to document the work undertaken, including fairly recent work to the gearbox, brakes and suspension.
The laudable (and potentially ruinous) approach to keeping a Bentley on the road is at least reflected in the condition of this one. We’ve all seen plenty of Conti GTs over the past 20 years - there's actually a very nice Dark Sapphire one due to go under the PH hammer this week - and many were in much worse condition than this. And most didn't have more than 180k on them. The bolster wear on the seat isn’t that bad at all, the wheels look smart and the paint seems in great condition. It’s a familiar cliche, sure, though this could most certainly pass for a much lower mileage example.
Now, of course, to keep a Bentley of this calibre looking this good is going to require a similarly methodical approach. It’s not like the diligence of one owner buys the next a couple of years of slacking off (though a Bentley specialist, rather than a main dealer, is probably alright from now on). Bentley bills stay big whatever the value of the car, and while common faults have been addressed already that isn’t to say a couple more won’t rear their heads. And it’d be reasonable to say some folk might not want to spend that money on a car with so many miles.
That being said, it’s hard not to be just a little bit curious about the Bentley with almost as many main dealer visits as it has valves. Many lower mileage ones won’t have been so spoilt. Someone has loved this old thing recently, and it’s surely got some life left to lead with similarly conscientious upkeep. There’s even a fresh MOT going on it, to save some angst. And it’s £13,995 before any negotiation. Then, before you know it, the 200,000-mile W12 Bentley will be on the drive. Which is a story to tell, if nothing else.
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