Offered for sale in Sweden, this factory right-hand drive Bentley Turbo R comes from the penultimate year of Turbo R production, as confirmed by its chassis number ending 57777.

This example has just over 100,000 miles on the clock and is finished in its original Diamond Blue Silver metallic paint, with Wildberry fineline leather trim, both of which are in immaculate condition.

The car was sold new in England, and had two British owners before being imported to Sweden in 2007 where it has been held by a Bentley enthusiast since. Mechanically the car has always been maintained by Bentley specialists, and the seller holds full records confirming the car’s service history. Recently, the car received a full service and significant additional maintenance work including a new gearbox, front wheel bearings, Bilstein shock absorbers all round, all engine hoses replaced and new Michelin tyres fitted. The car is ready to enjoy, and includes an upgraded stereo system with integrated Bluetooth and C-tech charger.

The Turbo R model was built from 1985 through to 1997 after which it was replaced by the very rare “Turbo RT” model. Being a late model Turbo R, the car benefits from a number of enhancements made throughout the Turbo R’s 12 year production period, which saw just 7,230 units built. For this car’s model year (1996) there were a total of 281 Turbo Rs built, with 169 of those in right-hand drive.

The Turbo R was broadly based on the Mulsanne Turbo sedan but received substantial improvements and changes, many of which are not visible. The stiffness of the chassis was improved by 50% over the Mulsanne, and the anti roll bar rates improved by 100% and 60% respectively in the front and rear. Damping was also improved, and a Panhard rod fitted to the rear subframe to further improve cornering. The “R” in Turbo R was intended to refer to “Roadholding”, paying homage to the handling focus of these improvements.

The Turbo R was offered in both long and short wheel base form. This example is the short wheel base model, but is certainly long enough at over 5.3 meters. The car is fitted with the factory 4-speed GM-4L80-E automatic transmission, being an upgrade applied to the Bentley range from 1992 onward (earlier models received a 3-speed auto).

Various styling enhancements were applied throughout the early 1990s, as were the addition of driver and passenger airbags, boost control and adaptive shift control. In 1995 and 1996, 17 inch wheels were standard (filling the big guards perfectly), and an enormous array of improvements were made specifically in the 1996 year. For a full list of the changes, please follow this link to rrsilverspirit.com which is an excellent summary resource for these cars.

Of most significance in the 1996 year is the jump in power, which saw the 6.75l turbo V8 make 385hp (287kw) at 4,000 rpm. These are huge numbers for the time, and the cars offer a rare factory combination of both large capacity V8 with a turbocharger. At 2,450kg, the Turbo R is propelled to 100kph in just 6.3 seconds (only .2 seconds slower than the S600 V12 Mercedes of the era).

With limited numbers and a big following worldwide, these cars are now at a perfect age to begin their appreciation curve. They are truly one of the great hand crafted land yachts of their time, and the low production and high performance specification should only see interest increase. Particularly on the inside, there are few cars that come close to the beauty of the Bentley and Rolls cars of this era.

For more information or to request an inspection of this fine luxury sports sedan, please sign in and click the contact seller button at the top of this page.

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