2000 Bentley Azure Convertible

• Under 17,000 Miles from New
• £6,000 Maintenance Bill from Harwoods of Pulborough in 2023
• One of the world's fastest convertibles

Bentley's 1980s resurgence had relied on models whose basic architecture was shared with other Rolls-Royce products, but also on display at the Geneva Motor Show in '85 was 'Project 90', a mocked-up coupé intended to gauge public response to the idea of a high-performance car unique to Bentley. When the real thing - the Bentley Continental R - was unveiled six years later, the waiting crowd burst into spontaneous applause.

The Corniche convertible had been a major success for Rolls-Royce so it can have surprised few onlookers when a soft-top version of the Bentley Continental R was announced, albeit a full four years after the Coupé's introduction. Once again, Geneva was chosen to launch what would turn out to be the first Bentley model in several decades to use an entirely new name - 'Azure' - which, like 'Corniche' and 'Camargue', evoked exotic destinations in the South of France. The famous Italian styling house of Pininfarina – a firm with unrivalled experience in the design of soft-top Gran Turismos – had been chosen to develop the Azure on the four-seater Continental R platform, and there was no questioning that the result was most successful. Bodyshells were assembled in Italy by Pininfarina, fitted with the automatic soft-top, painted and shipped back for finishing at Crewe. Mechanically similar to the Continental R, but with its turbo-charged V8 engine further up-rated to 385bhp, the Azure was launched in 1995 and cost £215,000 in the UK. Hailed by its maker as, 'the world's best convertible', the Azure lived up to that grand title, proving an immense success, especially in North America where its combination of unmatched luxury, effortless performance, and soft-top style was found highly attractive. When production ceased in 2003 a total of only 1,321 Azures of all types had been built.

Finished in Royal Blue Metallic with a blue cloth hood and a Cotswold and French Navy hide interior, this Azure was first registered on the 6th of January 2000. Supplied by the Bentley dealership Straight Eight (New Forest) Ltd, the car was in the same hands between 2004 and 2011, at which point it was sold it to the previous owner. He kept it for a dozen years before the current owner bought it July 2023 and consequently instructed Hardwoods of Pulborough to rectify all issues found on the car. Accompanying documentation consists of a V5C registration document; a valid MoT until September 2025; Bentley Service Schedules and Record Book; and sundry service invoices from marque specialists. Please note that the private registration shown in the photographs has been placed on retention and the car has been re-assigned an age related numberplate.