Embracing the Old-School Luxury of a Bentley Continental R

Olgun Kordal

Lest we conveniently forget … this is how Bentleys used to be, and not that long ago, actually. If it seems as remarkable to you as it does to me that it’s been 22 years since the Continental GT emerged from VW Group’s then-recently acquired Crewe factory, then consider this: The Continental R you see here was built in the same year—2003. It feels like a different era altogether.

Is that a good thing? Hmmm. Well, it’s utterly charming, in a way that the Conti GT isn’t, at least so far. But it’s also deeply, sometimes hilariously, flawed in other ways. Of course I fell in love with it, and drove it for far longer than I should have on a day that was meant to be about trying out the latest bespoke creations from Bentley’s Mulliner division.

2003 Bentley Continental R and Bentley Continental GT
Continentals old and new, a pair of Mulliner’s best.Olgun Kordal

The Continental R was the last in a fine line of powerful, luxurious saloons that Rolls-Royce–owned Bentley specialized in. Emerging from the Silver Shadow–based T-series, Bentleys had gained new life with pioneering (though crude by modern standards) turbocharging of the long-lived 6.75-liter overhead-valve V-8. Had the term “world’s fastest drawing room” ever been used before to describe a car? Maybe—but never so often as for the Mulsanne Turbo and more so the Turbo R that preceded the Continental R. I’m sure I did the same myself in the mid-1990s, despite having little idea of what a drawing room actually was.

The Continentals came next—the first Bentleys for more than two decades not to share bodywork styling with a Rolls-Royce. The Continental R was a more civilized, less sporty version of the Turbo R, but it still packed a hefty clout from that venerable V-8, with 355 hp enabling a 0–60 mph time of 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 152 mph. In 1998, power was increased to 420 hp, which cut the 0–60 mph to 6.0 seconds and raised the top speed to close to 170 mph.

2003 Bentley Continental R interior
Olgun Kordal

Sitting in this example, the last Continental R Final Series produced, is a reminder that luxury has come a long way in recent years. There’s no doubt that this is luxurious, with its wide diamond-quilted leather seats, deep carpets, and black-lacquered woodwork, but the clunky black plastic switchgear and ugly airbag steering wheel sit uncomfortably between the classiness of the cars of the 1950s and ’60s and the sleek perfection of modern day interiors.

I rather like it, though, once I’ve worked out where the damned starter button is. The number of gauges and switches is exciting in that same schoolboy way of peering through a condensated door window at a speedometer that dared to promise 100 mph or more. Oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature, ammeter, clock … it’s all there, together with an absurdly illogical scattering of switches and controls. 

Why is the ignition switch to the right of the (right-hand drive) steering column but the chromed, unmarked starter button far to the left, in the center of those seven auxiliary gauges? Which accessory catalog did the electric window and heated seat switches come from, and did they have to sit so awkwardly with the electric seat controls? And how come the chromed rotary windscreen wiper switch is to the left of the steering wheel, near invisible from the driving seat? Still, at least the light switch, on the opposite side of the column, is the same style … and similarly difficult to spot initially.

None of this is anything new for anyone with a classic car, until you remind yourself (again) that this ’03 is a car with its origins in the 1990s. So it’s with some trepidation and a worry that I’d misremembered the era of Bentley that I turn the key and press the starter. 

Of course, I needn’t have worried. I’ve no idea who first applied the word “woofle” to big V-8s, but woofle it does, albeit quietly. It sounds just right—refined but powerful—and as I clunk the hefty gear lever into Drive and press down on that hefty machined aluminum accelerator pedal, the Continental R woofles some more and glides away, slurring through the gears with far less subtlety than a modern auto but smooth enough to feel suitably regal.

2003 Bentley Continental R head on
Olgun Kordal

The steering would come as a shock to anyone brought up with modern power assistance only; it’s ridiculously light but there’s just—only just!—enough feel through it to know what’s going on. It doesn’t take long to realize there’s a fair bit of roll from the suspension, too. Looking back at my notes I see the first thing I wrote was “wobbly” under the heading of the ride and handling, but my goodness it’s smooth. Forget today’s 20-inch-plus wheels and low profiles; this is how a luxury car should handle bumpy roads.

The brakes, too, would scare the life out of someone who’s only driven the very latest models, but they work OK with a bit of pressure. It’s not long before progress is becoming swifter, hampered on this day only by the antiquated wipers that are struggling to clear the admittedly torrential rain. It feels so comfy, so much more responsive than initally expected, that it’s easy to imagine spending the day just driving around in this dated interpretation of luxury. I could easily have just left my own car in Crewe and headed straight home in the Continental R, desperately trying not to think of the resultant bank-breaking petrol fill-up on the way.

There was a time, not so long ago, when this era of Bentley shouted overweight, cigar-smoking chairman of the board. But now? Now it feels like a classic car, and a wonderful treat to experience. VW-era Bentley has come a long, long way, but it was always on the back of cars like this.

2003 Bentley Continental R rear 3/4
Olgun Kordal
Read next Up next: DS Automobiles Wants to Be the Rolls-Royce of France

Comments

    I feel like for all of the performance progress, styling and elegance have taken huge steps backward. Especially with both vehicles in frame. The newer convertible’s wheels look ridiculous and ostentatious. It’s hit nearly every manufacturer this way though.

    Yeah; the new one looks like an Audi TT that just came into some money.
    Remember Ralph Kramden, after finding a suitcase of cash? “If I want a boat with three propellers…”

    I have always felt the initial “plain” version of this coupe’ looked better, without all the wheel-arch extensions, and on a slightly higher side-wall tire. I had never seen one of these in person in the Midwest USA until my son and I reached Scottsdale, AZ, on our way to San Diego for the Rolls Royce Owners Club annual meet a few years ago. It’s really effective in person. Just as with my 1989 Mulsanne S, when you are driving one that is working properly, (which can be hard) you envy no one.

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