Bentley Continental R 1993

Ever since the mid-60s the Bentley brand lost market share against the more successful Rolls-Royce. In 1981, in the first full production year of the Bentley Mulsanne and the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit only 151 Bentley were sold while Rolls-Royce sold a total of 3,014 cars! The reasons were to be found in the similar technology and body of the cars. The Bentleys had to differentiate themselves from the RR types. One key part of that strategy was the performance of the car. The differentiation strategy proved successful when in 1990 both brands came to a tie with new orders and in 1996 when 1,235 Bentleys were sold but only 509 Rolls-Royce. Coupés were available from Bentley since 1966 but ever since 1980 only the convertibles had been offered. So when in 1991 the Continental R was released in Geneva, the time was right. Even more important was the fact that no direct competitor was offered by Rolls-Royce! And that the new Contintal R was offered only with the very powerful turbo engine of the Turbo-R sedan.
Our Bentley Coupé has a German registration. The classic is in excellent condition with a mileage of just about 99,000 km. These vehicles were the last cars developed prior to the BMW era.