| Author | Message | ||
     Chris Buckenham Frequent User Username: chris_buckenham Post Number: 53 Registered: 6-2012 |
Good Afternoon Everybody, Could do with some help putting a value on my 1997 Turbo R. I'm thinking about buying another Bentley , but a more recent model. The car has had a lot done to it over the last few years, I'll list most of it below. Full upper engine rebuild , head gaskets all induction seals etc New ignition leads Rebuilt hydraulic pumps New accumulator valve bodies New hydraulic brake spheres New front discs Rebuilt front calipers New front wheel bearings Rebuilt alternator Rebuilt water pump New engine mounts New front springs New top shock absorber bushes at front Can't remember if it was one or two headlights Replaced speakers all round Michelin tyres about 1000 miles ago Full respray this spring including some metal work on the off side rear wheel arch and new rear windscreen seal. Various window trim seals replaced as well. The car has done 57,200 miles. It's had oil changes and filters done a couple of times during the last 4000 miles. Any suggestions as to its real value and what it might sell for most welcome. Will post some pictures if I can shrink them down. Thank you , Best regards, Chris | ||
| Bill Hart Experienced User Username: bill_hart Post Number: 28 Registered: 6-2015 |
Chris, I've owned an '89 Turbo R, a'97 Continental T, '03,'04 and '05 Arnages and an '04 GT W12. Maybe i'm weird, but I liked the '87 Turbo R best of all. So, when I got the opportunity I bought my present '95 Turbo R. Think twice. Your car sounds like an outstanding vehicle. Unless you go to a hugely expensive relatively late model you may be sorry. In the US you will see cars like yours advertised for 26 to 29 $thousand, but in the real world they seem to be selling in the neighborhood of 20 $thousand. l | ||
| Chris Buckenham Frequent User Username: chris_buckenham Post Number: 54 Registered: 6-2012 |
Bill , thanks very much for the input. Yes , I certainly won't sell it without giving it plenty of thought beforehand.      | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 43 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi Chris When I was looking to buy people wanted at least £13k for a shed! Better the devil you know? Surprised you had to have so much done though. Hope that helps Mike | ||
| richard george yeaman Grand Master Username: richyrich Post Number: 374 Registered: 4-2012 |
Hi Chris is your car Racing green it is hard to see colours in some photos I also have a 1997 Turbo R Vin No 60128 it is P registered April and is Racing Green with a Red coach line they are truly magnificent cars I will be trying to keep mine. I enjoy the attention it receives when I park it at car outings, A few weeks ago at one such outings we were staying in a hotel in county Galway and I was approached by family members of a man celebrating his 89th birthday if I would take him for a short drive in my car which I did and the look on his face after we returned was a delight for me also makes owning such a car worthwhile. Richard. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 627 Registered: 5-2015 |
Lovely car. I thought a chrome mesh grill might look better not sure. The pleats in the seats go 90 degrees angle to my Shadow ones. Nice colour leather. As to the value. Check what other cars are being sold for. I have seen from £10k to 25k in the UK. After about 15 years the actual age of a RR/B car starts to be irrelevant and its becomes all about the model and the condition. In the UK very very nice Shadows are fetching £20k plus. Or keep the car and smoke it around until its worn out. And this is where these car show there true value, they keep going. Surprised at top end overhaul. The rest is just consumables that super cars use. Lucky it wasn't a Ferrari. | ||
| Chris Buckenham Frequent User Username: chris_buckenham Post Number: 55 Registered: 6-2012 |
Thanks for the comment guys. I'm not so sure that I have done that much to it considering the published maintenance regime particularly considering the hydraulic side of things. I could think of quite a lot more to do to it. It was a case of what the Porsche 928 people call deferred maintenance. Cars hit a certain low point in value , people buy them thinking they've got a deal, fail to spend the money on it and that's where I was. It was never that bad though , I think I'm just a little fussy. It is British Racing Green. On the matter of the top end, when I got,in there to change the head gaskets some things were only hand tight or not much more. Luckily the engine didn't get hot at all. The vast majority of the seals , o-rings gasket sets were very hard or perished as were some of the vacuum hoses. Without sounding big headed I consider myself reasonably good at fettling engines and that job was one of the most time consuming and taxing jobs I've done. 1/4" ratchet with about a 400mm flexible extension to get the nuts back on the intake side of things. Luckily I was given plenty of information by this forum and also P and A Wood who are not far away at all , and the story as far I I was told is tha the head gaskets tend to fail on them all at some point and that the version available now is an improved type . It certainly looked better. The reason I've been thinking about selling is that I've just got too many cars to keep the maintenance up on , but maybe I'll have to reconsider this. Best regards, Chris | ||
| Bob Reynolds Grand Master Username: bobreynolds Post Number: 342 Registered: 8-2012 |
"Lovely car. I thought a chrome mesh grill might look better not sure. " Exactly my first thoughts when I saw the photo! That black grille (its probably not black, but looks it) sticks out like a sore thumb as being wrong for the car. It doesn't match the headlights! A chrome grille on that car would make it look spectacular. | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 47 Registered: 7-2015 |
Chrome mesh grills are for 8's (imo) Mike | ||
| richard george yeaman Grand Master Username: richyrich Post Number: 375 Registered: 4-2012 |
I think its just the light that isn't right for a photo and I also think that the grill is a standard grill that looks good in reality if you are face on if looked at from the side you are looking through the grill at the black void behind the grill. Richard. | ||
| Chris Buckenham Frequent User Username: chris_buckenham Post Number: 56 Registered: 6-2012 |
Good Evening Everybody, It's the light , it looks better in the flesh . If I had time I'd take it to a friendly car dealer who had the well lit white box it really would look something. The story goes that Sir David Frost who was the original owner ( bear in mind is all subject to apparently being true) asked for it to be painted in body colour , which it is to give the impression of being low key and somewhat of a street sleeper when trundling around London. Looking at the market , certainly from an insurance point of view I'm sure that it's got to be 18-20k , but then of course I would , wouldn't I ? Best regards, Chris | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 632 Registered: 5-2015 |
British Racing Green seems to come in different shades of green. My Shadow has agreed value. The insurance company issues a valuation certificate with a money value on it. If the car gets wreaked they pay that money. This works both ways in that we both know how much. A top end overhaul on a RR V8 takes days even with double jointed hands. So I take my hat off to anybody who does a good job. | ||
| Jan Forrest Grand Master Username: got_one Post Number: 864 Registered: 1-2008 |
Strictly speaking BRG is just racing speak for any dark green. Since it didn't show the dirt like Ferrari Red, and especially Teutonic White, it was deemed better for racing purposes. Because of this virtually all marques painted BRG just used the closest available dark green from the factory palette. | ||
| Jonas TRACHSEL Frequent User Username: jonas_trachsel Post Number: 69 Registered: 2-2005 |
In my youth all racing cars had to be painted in the colour allocated to the country of the team/driver, at least for international races. Great Britain = dark green (of course) Italy: red (of course) Germany = silver (not white as Jan suggests) France = blue US = white with a blue center stripe Switzerland = red with a white center stripe Belgium = yellow and so on Yes, those were the days.... | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 643 Registered: 5-2015 |
Blue is also Ireland. Despite what some think green has never been Irelands national colour its actually blue. Lotus was the first team to break tradition with the advent of brand sponsors. The JPS cars were painted like a fag packet. Black and Gold. Not only was Colin Chapman a good engineer he was also not bad on the business side of things. |
