• Two owners from new • Present ownership since 2005 • Left-hand drive • Circa 43,900 kilometres (approximately 27,300 miles) from new Bentley's 1980s resurgence had hitherto relied exclusively on models whose basic architecture was shared with other Rolls-Royce products, but on display at Geneva 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.

Styled with the assistance of consultants International Automotive Design, the Continental R benefited from computer-aided design and wind tunnel testing in the devising of its sleekly streamlined shape.

Despite the need to incorporate non-traditional features such as doors recessed into the roof, the result looked every bit a Bentley, albeit one restated for the 1990s.

Also new was the gearbox, a four-speed automatic with 'overd...