Used sparingly with only 36,000 miles covered in 18 years
The Appeal
There are luxury cars and there are luxury cars. Some will be adequate for making an authoritative arrival at business meetings and powering along motorways. Others will do all that, and more. Take the Bentley Continental GT, for example. You could use it for everyday business duties, but it would be wasted if you didn’t also use it for pleasure. With Rolls-Royce levels of luxury and supercar performance, it is the very embodiment of the grand tourer. As its name suggests, there probably isn’t a car better suited to a continental driving holiday.
Launched to much fanfare in 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show, Le Mans, Goodwood Festival of Speed and Bentley Drivers’ Club Silverstone meeting, the reception from the press and enthusiasts could not have been more positive. The Continental GT marked quite a change of direction for Bentley, shaking off the boxy styling of its predecessor, the Continental R, and replacing it with a very curvaceous, modern shape which hasn’t really aged. Improved engineering allowed it to hit 197mph, an increase of 27mph over the Continental R, which placed it squarely in supercar territory despite its understated and quietly elegant appearance.
New production techniques allowed the GT to be built in larger numbers than the R, which is just as well because demand has never subsided. With only two major updates over the course of its life, it remains a strong seller to this day. Being such an object of desire, Continental GTs tended to be cherished from day one, which is why some of them survive extremely well. This example typifies that, having been used sparingly over the course of its life and preserved in almost-new condition, with money spent on it as and when necessary to keep it in the best possible shape.
Production completed on 9th July 2004 and registered in Manchester
Earliest recorded owner a Mr. Darren Young of Gillow Heath, Cheshire, in July 2005
The sixth and present owner purchased the Bentley in April 2022 for use at a family wedding
Paperwork includes the current V5 plus a copy of a historic one, MoT certificates from 2007 onwards, the original Bentley owner’s book, the service book showing services have been performed almost every year, and a collection of invoices detailing regular maintenance
Beautifully appointed with lots of leather and walnut
Upholstery recently re-Connolized
Boot retains the original first-aid kit and spare wheel
Since the introduction of the Continental GT, it would not be unreasonable to describe Bentleys as being like Rolls-Royces, but sportier. With that in mind, you know the interior’s going to be an exceptionally nice place, not merely luxurious but positively sumptuous. And so it is – just look at the quality of the buff leather. It is every bit as soft, smooth and supple as it appears, and it goes a long way towards making the interior so pleasant.
Recently re-Connolized, it appears in almost as-new condition. Being 18 years old, it is not without a few very minor marks on the surface, but these are so small and so few and far between that they should not affect your enjoyment of the car. The door trim, headlining and carpets are every bit as good as the seats, if not better, and all are virtually spotless.
If you’re not admiring the leather, it must be because you’ve been distracted by the vast expanse of polished walnut, which covers such a large area we wonder if it should not be considered a forest in its own right. It’s one of the nicest walnuts we’ve ever seen, with a high-gloss finish and a deep, marbled texture. If you’re a lover of antique furniture, it’s probably the next best thing to actually having a Queen Anne sideboard in your car.
In addition to all that, there is no end of extra luxuries, from the power windows, air-conditioning and radio-CD player, all of which are to be expected, to the power seats, built-in navigation system and handsome little Breitling clock.
The boot is every bit as clean and well-presented as you’d expect, and it retains all the useful factory-supplied features such as the warning triangle, first-aid kit and spare wheel, which is in such good condition we can say it has almost certainly never been used.
We spoke earlier of the Continental GT possessing a much more modern shape than the Continental R, but in fact it owes much to some of its most desirable ancestors. The rakish sloping fastback is clearly descended from the universally admired R-type Continental of the 1950s, but we think we can also make out the ghostly outline of Woolf Barnato’s Speed Six Gurney Nutting fastback, too. If ever influences from the past were blended with cutting-edge modernity to the best possible effect, we can see that in the Continental GT.
The Dark Sapphire paint is a beautiful and alluring colour and, best of all, virtually impossible to fault. Simply put, if there are any blemishes in the paint on this car, they are so infinitesimal that we doubt you’ll notice them even if you look for them, and you can’t really ask for better than that.
The alloy wheels are extraordinarily good. On close inspection, there is a degree of scuffing around the rims and some slightly larger scuffs on a couple of spokes but, considering they are 18 years old, they have lasted extraordinarily well and still look fantastic.
Otherwise, the Bentley has a very restrained appearance and there isn’t a great deal in the way of trim to comment on, so we will just say, simply, that grille, glass, badges and all the trim you can see are first-class, and that’s all there is to it.
Fitted with the Volkswagen Group’s famous six-litre W12 engine
Sounds phenomenal and runs drives beautifully
MoTed in March with no advisories
Once upon a time, if you were driving a W12-engined car it probably meant you were a pre-war racing driver about to attempt some speed record in an aero-engined special. Nowadays, it’s more likely to mean you’ve invested in one of the Volkswagen Group’s top-of-the-range products. A far cry from the flat-fours with which Volkswagen started life, the sophisticated, powerful and unconventional W12 entered production in 2001 in the Audi A8, but it’s now almost synonymous with Bentleys.
We needn’t get bogged down in the technical details. It should be enough to say that it produces 552bhp, will push the Continental along to 197mph and has a reputation for being well-engineered and reliable. Even at 18 years old, we don’t see this Continental showing any signs of slowing down when it’s only covered 36,000 miles, has very rarely missed a service and still drives phenomenally well.
The engine runs with a very pleasing meaty burble, although the cabin is so well-insulated that it doesn’t intrude on the passengers’ peace. It is always there in the background, though, teasing the driver, whispering in their ear, ‘dab the throttle just a little bit – go on, a little bit more’.
Suffice it to say, if you give into that temptation, then the Bentley will shoot off like a rocket. Even so, with an automatic gearbox, power steering and so on, every effort has been made to make it docile and easy to drive around town. Stopping needn’t be a concern, either. The brakes a very sharp and, since it was MoTed in March with no advisories noted, it seems to us like everything is in the best possible health.
Bentley’s Continental GT is one of the marque’s great success stories. Few models have lasted for 19 years in production, but demand for the GT has been high from the very beginning and it’s easy to see why. It’s a grand tourer in the truest sense of the term, with an unparalleled combination of performance, luxury and elegant looks.
This early example has lasted extraordinarily well. The paint and interior are close to perfect, and the mechanics seem as healthy and virile as any car in the prime of its life. If you’re looking for a way to really enjoy motoring, this is the way to do it.
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2004 Bentley Continental GT
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