2002 Bentley Arnage Le Mans Series ***Coming Soon***

Details

Coming soon to Oldtimer Australia is an Australian delivered 2002 Bentley Arnage Le Mans Series.

This car is one of only 153 examples ever produced and the second from last one built. It was delivered new through Bentley of Sydney to its first owner on the 16^th February 2002. Whilst it is hard to see in the photos the colour of this car is actually a very dark metallic green. It is absolutely STUNNING in the flesh! The official colour is ‘Midnight Emerald’. Depending on the light and at which angle you look at the car, the colour will change from green metallic to almost black.

This car has only had three owners from new and has always been well maintained by either Bentley or marque specialists.

Accompanying the car is a substantial history file, which includes the original book set.

More information and photos coming soon.

Highlights:

• Rare car being 1 of only 153 Bentley Arnage Le Mans Series built.
• An Australian delivered, factory right hand drive example.
• Finished in the most STUNNING colour combination.
• A beautifully presented example.

Price: $ TBA

Background

The Bentley motor car company was founded back in 1919 by brothers W.O. and H.M. Bentley. The Bentley brothers were involved in the motor industry having acquired the agency to sell French built DFP (Doriot, Flandrin & Parant) cars in 1912, however, they desperately wanted to build their own cars. So that they did and the first Bentley motor car, being just a chassis with a dummy engine, was shown at the 1919 London Motor Show and in late 1921 the first production Bentleys were built and delivered to their new owners.

Bentley got the formula right and their cars proved to be luxurious, reliable and fast thus attracting buyers from the elite of society in period. The cars were also incredibly successful on the race track with Bentley achieving the ultimate success winning Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930.

The difficult economic times in the late 1920’s had a major impact on Bentley and they stopped motor racing soon after winning Le Mans in 1930 and ultimately fell into receivership in 1931. Rolls-Royce acquired the assets of Bentley in late 1931. In this period Bentley produced some fabulous motor cars including the 3 Litre, 4½ Litre, ‘Blower Bentley’, 6½ Litre and 8 Litre models that are all today highly sought after by enthusiasts and collectors all over the world. The first new Bentley produced following Rolls Royce’s acquisition was the Bentley 3½ Litre which evolved into the Bentley 4¼ Litre. Bentleys of this era are also known as Derby Bentleys as they were built at Rolls Royce’s factory located in Derby in the north of England. Subsequent models included the Mark V, Mark VI and R-Type.

Rolls-Royce introduced the Silver Cloud and the Bentley S-Type in 1955 and for the next eleven years these models were at the cornerstone of Rolls-Royce / Bentley production. The Silver Cloud / S-Type evolved through three major model iterations, being the Silver Cloud I / Bentley S1, Silver Cloud II / Bentley S2 and Silver Cloud III / Bentley S3 until superseded by the Silver Shadow / Bentley T-Series.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III and Bentley S3 were introduced at the Paris Motors Show in October 1962. The most visible difference to their predecessors was the twin dual headlamps. The interior was also upgraded. The S3 received individual seats for the front passengers and leg room was increased for the passengers in the rear. The V8 engines had more power and there was a weight reduction of 100kg. The last iteration of the Silver Cloud and S-Type were very successful models for Rolls-Royce and they were sold to the rich and famous, including celebrates and movie starts. Many were chauffer driven.

In 1965 Bentley introduced a totally new car, the T-Series, which was a Bentley badged version of the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. The T-Series remained in production through until 1980 and 2,336 examples were built before it was superseded by the Bentley Mulsanne.

The Mulsanne was a significant car for Bentley. Whilst it was essentially a rebadged Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, Bentley starting building its own brand recognition with the introduction of the ‘Brooklands’ version and in 1982 the Mulsanne Turbo. The Bentley Mulsanne remained in production until 1992 and a total of 2,019 were produced before it was superseded by the Bentley Brooklands and the Bentley Turbo R. The Brooklands and Turbo R models were successful for Bentley, remaining in production through until 1997 and 1999 respectively. Incredibly Bentley built 7,230 Turbo S’.

In 1998 Bentley introduced the Arnage, which was the sister car of the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. It was the first entirely new design since 1980. The Arnage was powered by a BMW M62 V8 engine with a Cosworth engineered twin turbo. Throughout Bentley introduced a number of special or limited edition versions of the Arnage. Most notably, in 2001 Bentley introduced the Bentley Arnage Le Mans Series to celebrate Bentley’s return to racing at Le Mans after 71 years. Only 153 examples were produced.