Transmission: 4 gears, Automatic
Model year: 2024
Registration number: BE-02-05

Striking cars often have notable owners. If you order a Bentley Continental in Vermillion Red with a white interior, you are probably not a wallflower. That was certainly not the first owner of this car. The car was ordered by the flamboyant dealer owner Fred Smith. He owned the Bentley Dealer in Rancho Mirage in California in the United States. He had started the dealership just a year earlier and decided to get himself a Bentley Continental as a gift. The car was ordered on September 12, 1989 and finally landed in the United States on May 24, 1991. By then the car had already traveled a huge distance from the factory in England, across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal and then up to California. The car remained in stock for several months and was sold around the end of 1991. The car had done 10,000 miles by 1995 and turned up in Florida in 2005 with 48,000 miles on the odometer. The car then went to its last owner, Ernie Boch, an American billionaire and passionate car collector. The car had only 54,000 miles on the clock at the time.

The last owner took exceptionally good care of the car. Although he has not driven the car much, he has made sure that a number of small things were solved down to the last detail. For example, he had the technology subjected to a full service, the clamps of the roof were replaced preventively, the hydraulic hoses were renewed, the car received a major service and the engine mounts were replaced. The car had to be in tip-top shape and of course it was when the Bentley and Rolls-Royce specialist had taken care of the car for several months. It is of course not the case that the work took so much time, but especially the waiting for parts took a large part of the time.

We bought the car from the collection and couldn't be happier with it. What a beautiful Bentley Continental. The Bentley Continental is based on the Rolls-Royce Corniche III that was built from 1989 to 1993. However, the Bentley Continental was a lot rarer than the Corniche. For model year 1991, Bentley built only 91 Continentals for the entire world. It is said that one third of the entire production in the collection of the Sultan of Brunei has disappeared. This is a car that was one of only 50 units delivered to the United States during its four-year production period. The Bentley Continental was a very rare and especially desirable car when it was for sale new and it is no different today. The Bentley comes with a beautiful report prepared by the party that repaired the car. One of the last passages in particular summarizes the condition of the car nicely: “A hundred other little details tightened up an smoothed this car to the point where it drives as the Crewe Engineers intended thirty years ago.”

The quality of the car is therefore beautiful. The body looks beautiful. The sheet metal is nicely even everywhere with beautiful fits. With Continental's and Corniche's of this generation, it sometimes happens that the doors do not close properly. Due to the enormous weight of the doors, there is of course an enormous weight on the hinges. These have already been replaced on this copy and the doors close beautifully. The Vermillion Red paint is in very good condition and looks like it could be pulled through a ring. What is immediately noticeable is that the grille is also made in Vermillion Red, this beautiful peculiarity was ordered by the first owner. We suspect that the car is completely in the first paint given the condition the paint is still in. The Everflex hood is still in beautiful condition and is of course electrically operated and insulates beautifully. The hood naturally fits well. The car is on the original wheels with good tires in the correct sizes. The pinstripe across the side of the car is still in very good condition.

The interior of the Bentley is exactly as you would expect. The leather is of top quality and wonderfully supple. The inside of the Bentley looks as if the car has barely left the factory gates in Crewe. The white leather has a beautiful red biping that fits perfectly with the red exterior. The car is, of course, equipped with every luxury with beautiful burr walnut inlays, air conditioning and beautiful leather on every surface you can touch. The carpets are also in very good condition and look to be pulled through a ring. The lambswool mats also look beautiful and are still original. The center console is also in beautiful condition. The instruments and controls, of course, all function as they should and look also beautiful looking.

As previously described, the technique is in perfect condition. The 6.75 push rod V8 is a gem of an engine that excels in superbly smooth running and an enormous amount of torque from low revs. At the time, such mundane matters as engine power were not given up by Bentley and Rolls-Royce. We can therefore only conclude that the Bentley Continental is adequately motorized. The engine is mated to a three-speed automatic transmission. The suspension is hydraulic and provides an unprecedentedly comfortable ride. The suspension of this particular example has been completely overhauled and functions excellently. Almost all gaskets have been replaced. The valve cover gaskets were still the original cork ones at the time of the work. The gaskets were of course no longer liquid-tight for a while and have been replaced by rubber gaskets. The hand brakes have even been completely renewed. Even for a specialist it is a huge job to replace and adjust these parts, but here too the work was performed top notch.

The entire history of the car is beautifully written and present with the car. In addition, all work is fantastically documented through an extensive photo series that is present with the car. In addition, the board folder is present. In short, a beautiful and especially very rare 1991 Bentley Continental with a demonstrably low mileage in a beautiful color combination and in beautiful condition.

Gallery Aaldering is Europe’s leading Classic Cars specialist since 1975! Always 400 Classic and Sportscars in stock, please visit www.gallery-aaldering.com for the current stock list (all offered cars are available in our showroom) and further information. We are located near the German border, 95 km from Düsseldorf and 90 km from Amsterdam. So easy traveling by plane, train, taxi and car. Transport and worldwide shipping can be arranged. No duties/import costs within Europe. We buy, sell and provide consignment sales (selling on behalf of the owner). We can arrange/provide registration/papers for our German (H-Kennzeichen, TÜV, Fahrzeugbrief, Wertgutachten usw.) and Benelux customers. Gallery Aaldering, Arnhemsestraat 47, 6971 AP Brummen, The Netherlands. Tel: 0031-575-564055. Quality, experience and transparency is what sets us apart. We look forward to welcoming you in our showroom