1987 Bentley Turbo R L review from UK and Ireland

The steering rack developed a leak after about 5 months. The company from which I bought it (a well-known London independent specialist) took the car back and reconditioned under warranty. A few months later, we took the car in for a regular service, and the company announced that they weren't happy with the reconditioning so replaced, again under warranty.

The rear cups that hold the kingpins have started to corrode, and needed replacing. Likewise the front negative camber bushes have needed replacing. Finally, the drive belt had started to stretch, and was initially tightened, then replaced.

These three items were "normal wear and tear" and thus we had to pay for the work.

The car puts a grin on my face every time that I drive it. At slow speeds, it is happy to waft along gracefully, and shows no signs of "wanting to go faster". However, when I decide that I want to up the pace, it responds incredibly smoothly, without a hint of turbo lag, and handles like it was on rails.

I had expected something like the Jag Sovereign, but a bit better. Instead, I've found it to be in a completely different league.

This is the long-wheelbase variant, and the interior space is incredible. When it rained, I could sit my baby daughter in her car seat, and then crouch down in front of her, in the foot well, to strap her in properly.

The pre-sales service from the (independent) dealer was excellent. We went up to look at their stock, but couldn't find quite what we wanted. A few weeks later, the dealer phoned to say that they had a car coming in that we might like, and then brought it down to us for a test drive later in the week.