Bentley project?

I’ve always thought the Bentley sedan is a pretty good looking car. I’m guessing the reason the older ones are marked way down from their new price is b/c it costs a lot to repair them. If they were economical to repair they’d be more in demand and command higher prices. I concur w/OP’s appraisal, unless you wanted a restoration project to occupy some hobby time, the $28K -74k - no codes version is no doubt the way to go for a Bentley-owner wanna-be. It would be interesting to know what it is functionally about a Bentley that makes it command such a price premium as a new car.

Bentleys have been status symbols for over a century @George_San_Jose1. But today the once wealthy Brits may be like the fading aristocrats of the south whose homes rotted and caved in because they were “too poor to paint and too proud to white-wash.” There are still some grand mansions here but most have been plowed under. One grandly restored home was the setting for the movie “Baby Doll” that was way ahead of its time

The movie was a dark comedy classic that was outlawed from most theaters when released. One of Tennessee Williams’ best works.

Is the high price just b/c of the status thing? I was guessing — compared to a regular car — a Bentley offers more engine power, higher speed rating tires so a crooked bank president can outrun the investors … lol … , maybe a backup battery so you don’t get stranded due to a battery fault, stuff like that.

I once had an opportunity to buy a status symbol house in an upscale prestigious neighborhood. However, it really didn’t fit our lifestyle. For example, the laundry equipment would have to be in the basement. My wife didn’t want to be going up and down stairs, even though there was a clothes chute. The house had hot water heat and would have been difficult to install air conditioning.
At the same time I was looking at the house, I came across a Mercedes Benz diesel at a very good price. I thought about living in a prestigious neighborhood in a big house and driving an upscale car.
However, I liked my smaller house with central air conditioning. I also decided that the Mercedes Benz diesel didn’t really meet my needs.
In other words, I didn’t want to be a slave to my possessions just to look upper class.

Pretty nice collection of cars. Sad to see it broken up, but it is tough for admission fees to totally support a car museum.

I think the biggest failure of the museum is to be in Tupelo. I don’t mean to demean the town, I’m sure it is a nice place to live, but it is far from the tourist traffic needed to sustain a car museum. I don’t think the “birthplace of Elvis” is the draw it once was. It is even far from a major city center that could feed visitors.

the 06 i saw had a dual 2 oval brake light. the newer cars have a 3 oval version and the suv has the B version. was it a takeoff on the oval design?

You’ve just about summed up the situation @Mustangman. It’s a shame that the city’s movers and shakers are too blind to recognize it.

1 Like

No, the car is hand assembled, and that adds to the cost. The materials use on the interior are exquisite; far beyond anything we see in the cars we own. The hides used for seating must be flawless, otherwise they end up in $1000 handbags. They have a tree of the year contest to determine which tree will provide the trim for the car. The dashboard trim is two pieces. One of the criteria is that the two pieces have to match grain so well that you can’t tell that it is two pieces.

@Rod_Knox, Frank Spain started MCI with a couple partners, and that is where he made his money. The microwave towers they erected did make cable companies possible, though, if that is what you meant.

if this was roadkill they would yank the ailing v12 and drop in a LS motor. but 12k is over their usual bottom feeder starting point. tavaris also has his burned ferrari project. now thats a train wreck if ever i saw one

Yeah. And Carmax no longer offers that warranty on Range Rovers, specifically because of Doug. :wink:

1 Like

Here in his hometown Frank Spain built and opened the first television station and at the same time built a local cable system.Tupelo Community Antenna(CATV). He did seem to have his hands and pocket book in several media ventures but it would seem that his local cable effort was the beginning of what has become XFinity.

https://www.chotank.com/classes/moreflor.html

Before the city built the museum for Spain’s collection they were housed in a dilapidated old building that was once a large commercial laundry and dry cleaners. I went there once to try to get an old Chevrolet running but when I saw how crowded the cars were and how dark the building was I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. I hope the auction is televised. Some of the cars are likely worth millions.

Maybe we Re saying the same thing. According to the article you posted, Comcast chose Tupelo as their first CATV site because Spain had the most reliable microwave tower network. He provided wireless infrastructure that made CATV possible.

1 Like

I’ll never be rich enough to own a Bentley I guess, I’d never notice whether the dashboard grain matched or not, plus when I mentioned to the salesman that I wanted manual roll-up windows, OMG, I’d be thrown off the lot!! I wonder if the grain of the road rash on my butt would match? … lol …

1 Like

I read it in a review several years ago.

Love some of the Doug Demuro videos. He did a video review of a Hellcat and I think it scared him. He also did a review of a Lamborghini suv that was similar to the Hum V. The “Rambo Lambo”. I like the videos that are about some obscure car that I never knew existed like the Lambo. Pretty interesting.

As for used exotic cars, my wife’s friend bought some sort of twin turbo V8 bmw suv a few years ago. They didn’t keep it long. Her husband claimed a sensor would fail if his wife farted in the seat. Not literally. I guess?

1 Like

I’m 30 miles from tupelo and I’ve never been to the museum. I always intended to, just never found the time.

I rarely see any cars in the parking lot when I pass. They may not have enough paying attendance to even pay to keep the windows clean.

so, the 06 bentley is 28k. and a 09 is 48k,
just saw a 09 cts-v for 28k. i wonder which will depreciate more
always liked the cts-v but didnt really like it that they only offered the SC model in the later years. they have a challenger r/t and a hellcat so why not a non SC cts-v also?
maybe the caddy folks hated having a chevy motor? and only caved in when they added the SC?