1994 Bentley Continental R

The Bentley Continental R was launched at the Geneva Salon in 1991, though many of the design elements of John Heffernan and Ken Greenley had been seen as far back as 1984, when the company introduced their 'Project 90' concept car. The enthusiastic reception received for the concept led to the development of the production vehicle. The Sultan of Brunei was so impressed with the car that he bought the 1991 show car at the exhibition. The new car was based on the Turbo R floorplan and was fitted with a 6.75-liter turbocharged V8 engine which was believed to offer 325 horsepower. Top speed was in the neighborhood of 145 mph and zero-to-sixty took just 6.6 seconds. The engine drove through the then new 4-speed GM 4L80-E transmission. The body was unique to the marque and was not shared with any model of Rolls-Royce, something that was not done by any other Bentley since the S3 of 1965.

Production of the Continental R lasted from 1991 to 2003 with 1,290 examples produced. It carried a sticker price of $277,720.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2013