1979 Bentley Corniche FHC

1979 Bentley Corniche

A really rare example of the Bentley Corniche FHC - one of the very last produced being under-pined with the Silver Spirit upgrades even though it wasn't at that time available and hence called the 5000 chassis series

The factory often used the coachbuilt cars to launch upgrades, hence the Corniche had the climate control system for T2 in 1975 whilst the T2 wasn't launched for another 2 years

Only 6 Corniche's were built by Bentley and ours in the first to have been produced

First sold in the "good 'ol US of A" down in Calfornia to a University Lecturer finished in period brown with matching interior

Our intrepid owner then decided to retire in Hawaii and naturally took his beloved Bentley with him

The second owner, met him there, and also heard about his Corniche too

After many visits over the years our second owner was 'allowed' to purchased the Bentley and happily added her to his vast collection - Maserati Ghibli DHC / Lamborghini 400GT x 2, Ferrari 250 California ..... you get the picture

He is based in Paris and Geneva, primarily, it is from him that I first purchased the Bentley, involving an 'R' Type Continental and a Continental R too

He had changed the brown paintwork to the green we now see and had her looked after in Geneva

As soon as the Bentley got back to London, another customer here, who was looking for the 'Holly Grail' 5000 series Corniche, immediately agreed to buy her for his home in Ibiza - hence the Bentley has never been offered on the open market since first delivered from Crewe

The interior is in completed original condition and the leather has never been coloured, which is quite remarkable and shows how well she has been looked after

The seat arm rests show very little sign of use over the years and the veneers too are almost unmarked - the speedometer just 48.882 miles recorded

There are lockable cubbies in each door and hide covering to the top roll and the knee roll whilst all 4 seats have their own individual head rests and very nicely there is a tachometer fitted into the fascia next to the clock

Immediately before we send her off to Ibiza we had given her a major service with carburettor overhaul, new accumulators, gearbox filter and brake system

There has been very little use since and she is EU registered in the UK

The US bumpers are correct for her original delivery, although we can easy carry out a transformation the the smaller EU bumpers should the new owner wish - we have done this on many occasions

We feel very happy to have her again and to have able to offer such an opportunity for her fourth owner