Half-hearted prep makes for bargain Bentleys

We missed a blinding Bentley bargain at SWVA’S sale in October. A lovely ’91 Turbo R in Dark Oyster with blue hide and a warranted 66,000 miles sold for

– are you ready – just £6100 plus premium. With only five owners, bills in the history file for £19,000, 12 previous Mots and 14 servicing stamps in the service book, this wasn’t the usual tired and knackered Turbo R. She sounded sweet, the paint was lovely, the wood, leather and carpets were in fine condition, she was straight, rust-free and looked very enticing indeed. Even the original factory alloys were unmarked. Yet in the same month H&H sold a Balmoral Green ’89 LWB (rarer I know) with 60,000 miles, nice history and four owners for £14,675. Both cars were in similar condition, pleasingly original and well cared for. In November Anglia also sold another very cheap Bentley. Just £3780 bought the dark-green, deceased-estate ’90 Mulsanne S with 98,000 miles and history. While prices of Spirit, Mulsanne, Turbo R and Brooklands models vary wildly and are very much dependent of condition, mileage and history, the lesson with these two cheap flying Bs is simple. They were undersold because they weren’t well-presented. If you’re selling a classic through an auction, have it professionally detailed, organise the service history, and help the auction house write a proper description. With auction sales, the more advance preparation you put in, the better the result. And for buyers there’s another moral. The less glossy auction houses generally have cheaper cars because their marketing and advertising is less. Study catalogues before sale day and you might identify a potential bargain.

VALUE 2015 £22k VALUE NOW £16.5k