1993 Bentley Eight

Bentley Eight (Saloon), 1984 - 1992

The Bentley Eight was in production from 1984 until 1992. Styled in house by Fritz Feller, it is a front- engine, rear wheel drive saloon car seating five people.

The Bentley Eight was a derivation of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit-based Bentley Mulsanne of 1980, which in mechanical terms was identical to that pairing. That meant a 6.75 litre L series V8, coupled to a GM three speed automatic gearbox, a floorpan derived from the Shadow 2 and self levelling rear suspension licenced from Citroen. The Eight, however, had tightened front suspension reflecting the marque's desire to make this a more sporting saloon than the Mulsanne.

The Eight was the result of Rolls-Royce's desire to expand downwards, and target those who might otherwise have considered a top of the range Jaguar, or - whisper it - the Germans. The target had been to produce the car for under £50,000 - £6000 less than the Mulsanne upon which it was based - and this was done by simplifying the specification. Thus, the Eight had cloth trim, a cloth headlining, a straight grain walnut dash with no digital displays and no centre console, the lambswool rugs became an option, and the slatted grille was replaced with mesh. The rear vanity mirrors went in the bin, too. As a result, £49,497 got you into a Bentley.

It has to be said, many owners ticked the option boxes. Leather especially was ticked in the majority of cases, to the point where it was re-standardised in 1987 along with power memory seats. Fuel injection and ABS had been added late the previous year, and Active Ride was added with the 1989 facelift. 1988 had seen the fitment of twin headlamps in place of the Spirit's oblongs, but many have subsequently been converted to take them as they're prettier. Likewise alloys, those Eights which left the factory on steels have often been upgraded.

By the end of Eight production in 1992, 1736 had been built. It and the Mulsanne were jointly replaced by the low-pressure turbocharged Brooklands model.

The Eight drives, unsurprisingly, like a Mulsanne - and in turn like a slower Turbo R. While they may be considered sports saloons, the truth is these cars are luxury liners and there's no excusing them. Throw the Eight into a corner and it won't suddenly shrink around you, this car is seventeen feet long and six feet wide and it feels it. But that doesn't make it hard to drive, quite the opposite. You can see all corners clearly, none of the controls are weighty, and it imbues you with a sense of fundamental "rightness". While the Eight won't be cheap to run, you could get very used to using it every day.

Mechanically, it's no different to a Spirit or even most Shadows, and breakers such as Flying Spares can provide anything you can't get from specialists such as Introcar. The Rolls Royce/Bentley SZ body is big, and that means a lot of it to rust. It's fairly well protected, but it certainly isn't exempt from rot. . The wheelarches and the sills are the most important areas to check first. These can indicate the condition of the shell as a whole. There are water traps around the window trim and behind the door handles, as trim rubs against the paint and eventually exposes bare metal.

The Eight is not the most valuable SZ body, though cars in dark colours with light interiors are easiest to sell. Most have now been upgraded with lambswool rugs, alloys, twin headlamps and other appurtenances of the true Bentley experience, and these are popular with the sort of people who buy them today as an entry level Bentley. Collectors, however, would find most joy in an original spec, entry level Eight.

Competitors would include the Mulsanne, Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit or perhaps the earlier Shadow/T2. Maybe a Mercedes W126 S-class or a BMW E32 7-Series could be considered too, while a Daimler Double Six would be a worthy rival.