The complete title of at the moment’s Good Value or No Cube candidate is the Bentley Mark VI 4-door commonplace metal sports activities saloon. That’s a mouthful, however hopefully, the automotive’s worth gained’t show too laborious to swallow.
Since 1998, Bentley has been owned by Volkswagen, and shortly after that buy, VW tried an up-market push to higher align the decrease echelon model with its fancy-pants new British brother. A part of that push was the 2004 VW Passat W8 we checked out yesterday. The overly advanced and really costly to restore engine, together with an AWD chassis and all the luxurious accouterments VW may throw at it, makes for a weirdly compelling automotive even now, 20 years later. A modest $2,750 price ticket and the promise that nothing was amiss with our automotive led to a few of you being prepared to miss its potential for impending doom. The outcome was a slim 54 % Good Value win.
Engineer Walter Owen Bentley based his namesake automotive firm in 1919. Over the following decade, he noticed it go bankrupt twice and at last be offered to arch rival Rolls Royce in 1931. Bentley left the corporate 4 years later, as by that point the model had been absolutely absorbed into Rolls.
This 1948 Bentley Mark VI was the primary post-WWII automotive to hold the Flying B and the primary series-built full automotive ever supplied by Rolls Royce. Previous to the Mark VI all of Rolls’ vehicles had been offered as rolling chassis’ with coach-built bodywork. To save lots of the corporate cash, the Mark VI shares its ladder body chassis and suspension with the Rolls Royce Silver Wraith. Atop is an all-steel physique manufactured by Pressed Metal in Cowley and shipped to the Rolls manufacturing facility in Crewe for paint and meeting.
Energy for the Bentley is made by a four-and-a-quarter cc straight six with an F head valve practice and two SU H4 side-draught carburetors. Bentley by no means supplied official energy scores for the engine, however the frequent thought is that it makes round 130 horses. A four-speed all-synchromesh handbook transmission was fitted with the gear lever on RHD vehicles equivalent to this sprouting from the ground on the precise aspect of the motive force’s seat. That require a little bit of gymnastics to step over when getting into or exiting the automotive. In complete, 4,001 Mark VIs had been constructed, with 3,171 of them being manufacturing facility Pressed Metal-bodied vehicles and the remaining being coach-built specials.
In response to the advert, this dealer-offered Mark VI has come from long-term possession the place it apparently sat for a very good very long time. The advert claims the automotive runs when gasoline is launched to the carb float bowls however that the gas system will want a full goingover to make it run correctly. Per the images, it seems that the final time this automotive was registered for the highway was in 1999, so all programs—cooling, brakes, lubrication, and so on.—must be addressed. Luckily, regardless of being a Bentley, these are pretty easy vehicles and had been constructed extraordinarily nicely so it shouldn’t be too daunting a activity to convey it again to road-worthiness.
Aesthetically, there’s cause to take action as nicely. The automotive appears to be like terrific, and whereas the advert notes rust, that seems to be little greater than floor corrosion on the chassis and exhaust. All the principle drivetrain parts—engine, gearbox, and rear finish—appear to be weeping their varied oils, however that’s just about par for the course on any outdated British automotive.
Issues look fairly good within the well-appointed cabin as nicely. The leather-based is a bit age-worn, and the entrance passenger seat has a tear that may require some work, however it’s in any other case full and with out main flaws. And sure, each entrance and rear doorways are center-hinged. It has a clear title and reportedly simply 6,684 miles on the clock.
The asking worth for this Rip Van Winkle Bentley is $13,950. Does that sound truthful, contemplating the automotive’s situation and presentation? Or does the work required to convey it again to life really feel unbefitting of such a worth or of a Bentley proprietor?
You determine!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
Assist me out with NPOND. Hit me up at [email protected] and ship me a fixed-price tip. Bear in mind to incorporate your Kinja deal with.
