Introduced in 1991, the Continental ‘R’ was the first Bentley in 26 years to not share a body style with a concurrent Rolls-Royce and was inspired by the highly collectable Continental R-Type of the 1950s.

The elegant two-door coachwork was styled by John Heffernan and Ken Greenley, a duo whose résumé included sports cars like the Aston Martin Virage.

Five years later, Bentley introduced a short-wheelbase version dubbed the Continental T that was equipped with an uprated engine developing 420bhp and an impressive 650lbs/ft of torque available at only 2,200rpm.

Bentley customers soon expressed interest in equipping the 'wide-body' Continental R model with the T’s more powerful engine, and the Continental R Mulliner was consequently introduced, as a completely new model, at the 1999 Geneva Salon.

The nomenclature was an homage to H.J.

Mulliner, the British coachbuilder responsible for the original R-Type’s breathtaking fastback bodywork.

The R Mulliner’s wide body configuration of...