1988 Bentley Mulsanne Saloon

• Preceding enthusiast ownership from 2009 to 2020
• Automatic transmission
• Substantial service history
• Recently serviced
• 'On the button'

Based on the Silver Shadow II, the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and Bentley Mulsanne were announced in the autumn of 1980. Heavily revised styling featured a lower waistline, increased glass area and a more modern angular look, while beneath the skin significant improvements had been made to the newcomers' self-levelling rear suspension. Rectangular headlights graced the front of a Rolls-Royce product for the first time and the oft-changed radiator became wider and squatter in both versions. Inside, the Crewe firm's exemplary standards of equipment and finish were maintained, the most noticeable change being the adoption of separate rear seats and the reinstatement of folding picnic tables. The UK launch price was a just short of £50,000, or around £270,000 in today's money!
The Mulsanne would remain in production until 1992, by which time the entire Rolls-Royce/Bentley range had been updated with fuel injection and anti-lock brakes, both of which were adopted for the 1987 model year. For 1988 the normally aspirated Mulsanne was revised, becoming the Mulsanne S, in which form it incorporated the racy-looking mesh grille of the 'entry-level' Bentley Eight and the centre console of the range-topping Turbo R. Four circular headlamps, adopted on all Bentleys for 1989, would be the final major development before the Mulsanne and Eight models were replaced by the Brooklands in the summer of 1992.
Formerly registered as 'A13 MVL' and 'E742 LYR', the Mulsanne we offer comes with numerous old V5C documents recording the ownership chain together with a substantial quantity of expired MoTs dating back to 1996. The immediately preceding owners purchased the Bentley in May 2009 from Veteran and Vintage enthusiast/collector Mark Tidy, its owner since March 2005. The current vendor, a respected Veteran and Vintage engineer, has owned the Mulsanne for the last three years. The accompanying service booklet has not been stamped but the car does come with plentiful service history in the form of a substantial quantity of bills. The current odometer reading is 63,588 miles. Finished in blue with cream leather trim and dark blue carpets, 'E435 SFX' is offered for sale at a fraction of the original purchase price and comes with a current V5C Registration Certificate.