The best Bentleys of all time
If you need to get somewhere quickly in ultimate luxury, you can't get much better than a Bentley. Bentleys have been building fast wood-and-leather-lined saloons and coupés for years, selling them as a sportier alternative to a Rolls Royce. Often, the cars were too similar, but that changed in the 1980s, and Bentley hasn’t looked back since, going its own way under the stewardship of Volkswagen. These are the best Bentleys ever made.
Bentley Turbo R
Where the Mulsanne Turbo was soft and wallowing, the Bentley Turbo R – the 'R' being for 'road-holding' – was a polished performer in the corners, with suspension that was 50 per cent stiffer than its predecessor with a Panhard rod used to sure up the rear subframe. Power came from the company's venerable 6.75-litre V8, which was turbocharged to produce an estimated 300PS (221kW) because Bentley never quoted a figure. Whatever the power figure, it was good for 0-62mph in around seven seconds and a 135mph top speed. It was also the first Bentley to get alloy wheels.
But, while the handling and wheels were modernised, the Turbo R's interior stuck doggedly to the original formula, offering acres of thick leather in a wood-lined cabin with a hand-built feel missing in new models. Turbo Rs are one of your cheapest routes to Bentley ownership, with prices starting from less than £10,000 and good examples costing less than £20,000.
Bentley Speed Six
The Bentley Speed Six was the firm's most successful race car, winning Le Mans in 1929 and 1930 with Woolf Barnato, Sir Henry 'Tim' Birkin and Glen Kidston behind the wheel.
Unlike Tim Birkin, who favoured supercharging, W.O. Bentley was a capacity man and set to work on building a new 6.6-litre motor to replace the old 4.5. With a single Smiths five-jet carburettor, twin magnetos and a compression ratio of 4.4:1, the motor delivered 149PS (110kW) at 3,500rpm. Just 362 examples were built at Bentley's factory in Cricklewood, north London.
Bentley R Type Continental
Getting the balance right with an extravagant coupé can be tricky. One person's posh and exclusive is another’s bold and crass, but we'd defy anyone to pick fault in the Bentley R Type Continental's style. By modern standards, the R Type is small, with a jewel-like grille sitting between the car's four driving lights and a front wing that flows back into the spats at the back. It's pure elegance.
But aerodynamics played as big a part as style in the Bentley's design. It was designed to carry four people at speeds of 120mph – quite an achievement in the 1950s. Power came from a 4.6-litre straight-six that grew to 4.9 litres, and you could have your R Type with a manual or an automatic gearbox.
Bentley Continental GT (Current)
Sometimes, new cars lose the formula that made the original car a success, but Bentley has done things in reverse with the current Bentley Continental GT. Every new iteration of the Continental GT better encapsulates what a Bentley GT is about.
The new model gets the handling balance just right. The Continental fits around you like a car its size never should, and the air suspension can deliver plush comfort or solid control in bends. Performance is as dominant as you would expect, with the latest model getting a 782PS (575kW) V8 that's good for 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds and a 208mph top speed, yet is capable of running for 50 miles on battery power alone. Factor in the car's effortlessly posh interior (and swivelling infotainment screen with analogue dials on the back), and it's hard to think of a better GT.
Bentley Arnage
The Bentley Arnage arguably comes from a golden era of Bentley, where large parts of the car were still handmade and had a handmade feel, but Volkswagen made large swathes of the car's underpinnings, which were, therefore, infinitely more reliable than what Bentley produced.
The Arnage still felt like a Bentley, though. That was particularly true if you chose the Arnage T, which used Bentley's 6.75-litre V8 in place of the 4.4-litre BMW motor in earlier models and served up a gigantic 1,000Nm (732lb ft) of torque from just 3,200rpm. It meant a twist of the ankle was all that was needed to overtake huge lines of traffic as the Arnage headed towards a top speed of 179mph. Thankfully, braking comes from the biggest brakes fitted to a production car at the time.
Bentley Continental R
Much like its namesake, the R Type Continental, the Continental R's age (it's more than 30 years old now) has mellowed the wanton excess of its styling. It's still a big, bold coupé, but much less bold than Bentley's latest fleet of luxury saloons, coupés and cabriolets. Front on, it looks like any other Bentley in the period, yet when you see the car in the profile you notice its two-door shape and line that runs nose to tail along the flanks.
Having all the torque in the world makes up for the fact that Bentley makes do with an ancient four-speed automatic gearbox, though that's not enough to stop it from accelerating from 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds – the same time as a Honda Civic Type R hot hatch. But what marks this Bentley out from its rivals is the opulence of the interior and the fact that it comfortably accommodates four adults.
Bentley Mulsanne
Since the demise of the Mulsanne in 2020, Bentley hasn't had a full-sized saloon to take on the likes of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, which is a shame because the Mulsanne offered a sporting drive that you won't find in the Rolls. The Mulsanne was the last Bentley saloon to come fitted with the famous 6.75-litre V8 – an engine that offered effortless performance and perfectly matched the Mulsanne's cosseting luxury.
Flick a few switches and the Mulsanne's ride could transform from pillowy and cosseting to firm and controlled, allowing you to make full use of performance, which meant it could accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds. Despite its performance, the Mulsanne was even plusher and roomier inside than a Flying Spur while being significantly cheaper to buy than a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
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Turbo R
Speed Six
R Type Continental
Continental GT
Arnage
Continental R
Mulsanne
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