Just Arrived I Bentley Turbo R - FSD 848

Just Arrived

Bentley Turbo R - FSD 848

Chassis: CH55709 

1995 Bentley Turbo R — A Turbo R With a Few Questions

There are Turbo Rs that arrive looking like they've just stepped out of a Bentley showroom.

And then there are Turbo Rs that arrive looking like they've been parked under a tree for the last few years.

This is the latter.

Our 1995 Bentley Turbo R has just arrived, finished in black and showing 121,000 miles. From a distance, it actually looks rather respectable. The body is straight and square, with no obvious structural corrosion, and there's still plenty of classic Turbo R lurking beneath the accumulated evidence of several years spent outdoors.

Closer inspection tells a slightly different story.

The paint has faded and the lacquer is lifting in a few places, particularly across the bonnet, grille, headlamp surrounds and tops of the wings. The wheel arches have seen better days too, and there's still some stubborn residue down the rear quarter from its previous life beneath a tree.

We're reasonably confident a little elbow grease will help with the sap.

We're less confident about the paint work.

Inside, things are rather more encouraging. The leather is complete and generally in good condition, with the expected wear to the driver's seat, while the fascia and headlining have survived particularly well. The door cards are also presentable, although the door cappings have suffered the sort of lacquer failure that makes you wonder whether they ever really liked each other in the first place.

Underneath, things become rather more interesting.

It does start. In fact, it starts quite willingly. It also drives, although the engine is running rather rough and the journey isn't exactly what we'd describe as a demonstration of Bentley refinement.

Stopping is another matter entirely.

The brakes aren't particularly convincing, the handbrake has effectively retired, and there are a few knocks and clunks from underneath that will need investigating. There's also a fuel leak beneath the car, and the front coil springs have seen better days.

So, yes, there is some work to do.

The question is how much.

That's something we'll find out over the coming weeks. As always, we'll give it a proper assessment before making the final call on its future. We've rescued plenty of cars that initially looked like poor candidates, and we've dismantled plenty that turned out to be much further gone than first impressions suggested.

This one is still somewhere in between.

It does, however, have a few things going for it.

Most notably, it arrived wearing a set of rare 18-inch five-spoke Bentley alloy wheels, an increasingly desirable fitment for the SZ cars. It also carries a laser-cut Bentley grille insert, part number RH3345P4DRU, rather more interesting than the standard grille you normally expect to find on a Turbo R.

Whether those parts end up being the most valuable things about this car remains to be seen.

For now, we're going to give it the chance to prove itself.

It may turn out to be a car worth saving.

It may turn out to be a very useful source of parts for other Turbo Rs.

Either way, there's still a little more story to uncover before we reach for the spanners.