Description

1988 Bentley Eight

Only 59,700 miles with 15 services to date; few owners; a lovely example of this most luxurious motorcar 

Introduced in 1984, the Eight was intended to attract a younger generation of buyers to the newly resurgent Bentley marque with a price tag just a whisker under the psychologically important £50,000 mark.

Visually distinguished by its racy wire mesh radiator grille (a reference to the stoneguards worn by the W.O. Le Mans cars) it proved a more sporting drive than its Mulsanne sibling thanks to specially stiffened front suspension. To keep costs down it was initially only available with cloth seats, grained wood veneers instead of maple eye walnut, and steel wheels rather than alloys.

Powered by Crewe's iconic 6.75 litre V8 mated to three-speed automatic transmission, it was capable of 130mph and quickly became a conspicuous success among the Young Upwardly Mobile Professionals of the shoulder-padded Eighties. This popularity soon led to numerous upgrades (and a more hefty price tag) as luxuries such as ABS brakes, Bosch fuel injection, automatic ride height control, alloy wheels, leather trim, electric memory seats and more fancy woodwork were soon added to the specification. It went on to sell 1,736 examples worldwide before production ceased in 1992.

Supplied new by HR Owen of Middlesex in January 1988, this Bentley Eight benefits from most of the upgrades that were made to the model throughout its life. Looking wonderful in Tudor Red with a beige hide interior, it has covered only 59,700 miles to date and has a good service history comprising 15 stamps in the book, the first two at Rolls-Royce main agents and the next ten at Bentley specialists Hillier Hill of Olney. The last stamp was in October 2009 at 49,806 miles by Brittons Ash Garage of Taunton.

The car has had four former keepers, our vendor acquiring it on impulse at a McCartneys antiques auction in August this year to satisfy a long-held dream to be a Bentley owner. Sadly, it turns out that his wife does not share this dream and has told him in no uncertain terms that if the Bentley doesn’t go then someone else will.

As you can see in the photos, the car looks super and drove beautifully when we took it out on a 40-mile run to drop the vendor back home after he had driven the car to Brightwells. Supplied with an MOT until July 2023 with no advisories recorded, it also comes with all its original handbooks in the original Rolls-Royce wallet, operating instructions for the Blaupunkt radio/cassette, a two-volume workshop manual and an indoor car cover.

One of the nicest examples we have seen, it looks ridiculously good value at the modest guide price suggested and it even comes with three-quarters of a tank of petrol!

For more information contact James on 07970 309907 or email james.dennison@brightwells.com