Lot 635: 1985 Bentley Eight Saloon

The repositioning of the Bentley marque as Rolls-Royce’s enthusiast, high-performance partner had begun in 1982 with the introduction of the Bentley Mulsanne Turbo, yet one crucial element of the package remained relatively undeveloped: the chassis. As it happened, the modifications necessary to enable the greatly increased urge to be exploited to the full - firmer damping and altered spring rates - debuted in 1984 on the evocatively named yet normally aspirated Bentley Eight. By giving the Bentley Eight a simple mesh grille in vintage Le Mans style, its designers created a distinctive new model, furthering the marque’s revival as Rolls-Royce sporting partner. Conceived as an ‘entry level’ Bentley, the normally aspirated Eight was pitched against the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series yet was more expensive than its German rivals at a little under £50,000 when launched in 1984. The saving of some £5,000 over the price of a standard Mulsanne was achieved by a slight reduction in interior specification - straight-grain walnut rather than the traditional burr, for example - yet the overall effect remained virtually unchanged. “Inside it’s still luxury with a capital ‘L’ and the big, leather lounge chairs with their every-which-way power adjustment remain a potent statement of this,” observed Motor.
A very clean and well maintained vehicle, this Bentley Eight comes with full Rolls-Royce agent service history to May 2000 at 109,222 miles, while the accompanying full set of expired MoT certificates, dating from 21st October 1991 (at 63,516 miles) to the present, confirm the currently recorded mileage total of 117,700 to be correct. Finished in blue with matching hide interior, the car is presented in good condition in all respects and offered with current road fund licence, MoT to October 2008 and Swansea V5 registration document.