Crime pays
I’ve previously written in this hallowed column that if you’re not into retail foreplay, then you could bag a Bentley Mulsanne for considerably less than retail via one of those web-based new car brokerage sites. I do realise that while a £30,000 discount may be something worth boasting about down at the Lodge, you still need a king’s ransom to buy a bespoke car. The fact is, the vast majority of us will never accrue the £30k to blow on a fancy VW, let alone the quarter-of-a-million needed to drive out of Crewe in a saloon with pomp and ceremony.
For those of us over the moon to celebrate three matching numbers on the Lotto or £25 on the Premium Bonds, Wilson’s Car Auctions offered us a chance to indulge in a champagne lifestyle for beer money. The company’s Newport branch held a Proceeds of Crime Sale and among the usual seized cars was the very latest variant of the Bentley Muslanne, registered in October 2010 and featuring the legendary 6.75-litre V8. Finished in a metallic grey, it looked every inch of what could be considered the choice for those with both wealth and taste.
Featuring only one previous owner (I wouldn’t like to say either way about their criminal record) it had been supplied – sorry, commissioned – by Bentley in Glasgow when new. This monster had covered just 43,000 miles and the tyres on it were all new Dunlops. It obviously belonged to a crook who believed in good rubber. The interior was crème leather and in rather good nick, with no untoward odours. Externally, it wasn’t perfect, but then neither was it abused or hanging. Typical VW quality was in evidence with the odd damaged door handle.
Bidding started from the floor at just £20,000 – less than a third of the VAT paid to the Treasury when this was first registered. Remember, this was a no-reserve auction, so it was exciting to see such savage depreciation without the stomachchurning thought that it had been entered into the auction because of a terminal technical fault (not the case with all modern Bentleys, trust me).
Eventually, the auctioneer banged the gavel down at just £41,500 + the Out, ending an exciting, adrenaline-charged sale. Such lots are to be savoured in the motor trade, as everyone in the hall is watching and rooting for the high bidders. The atmosphere really was positively charged.
Slap on a private plate and you’d be away with the WAGS in this most thundering of saloons.