VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

Superbly presented in the attractive combination of Fireglow Red with Barley hide and aBurgundy soft-top, this Azure Mulliner is a cherished, low-mileage example of Bentley’s sumptuous convertible.

First registered on 12 January 2001 and sold new by celebrated London dealer Jack Barclay Ltd, the Bentley comes with a set of factory Construction and Test Records from the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club. These document its build process and bespoke specification, from the Birdseye Maple veneer and Wilton overmats for the interior, to the wing vents and stainless headlamp surrounds.

It’s also noted that the car was specified with what Bentley referred to as ‘intermediate’ flared wheelarches, plus embroidered marque emblems for the head restraints, a chrome radiator shell and red badges. The wheelarches alone added almost £20,000 to the new price, which ended up totalling £238,767.

The Bentley’s extensive service record begins when it returned to Jack Barclay for its six-month check-up. Its service book is full of stamps from main dealers in Newcastle and Manchester, as well as marque specialist Hofmann’s in Henley, which looked after the car between 2011 and 2017, by which time it had covered 20,650 miles.

Owned by its current custodian since 2016, it has been maintained regardless of cost in recent years and has wanted for nothing. In 2022, the Azure was entrusted to marque specialist Beaconsfield Workshop for an overhaul of the suspension and braking systems, plus bodywork and paint repairs. It returned there in 2024 so that the powered hood mechanism could be rebuilt.

The end result of this considerable investment is an extremely well-sorted example of the rare Azure Mulliner. Now being offered for sale complete with its original owner’s handbook and service handbook, it has still covered only 22,000 miles from new and perfectly combines the trademark Bentley qualities of comfort, luxury and performance.

MODEL HISTORY

The Azure became the most expensive model in Bentley’s range when it was launched at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show. Its £215,000 list price was more than four times the average UK house price, and represented a premium of £37,000 over its Continental R sibling, which had been introduced four years earlier and provided the basis for this new convertible.

Development of the Azure was carried out in partnership with Pininfarina. The legendary Italian company not only designed and manufactured the convertible roof mechanism – which could be raised or lowered in only 30 seconds – it also built the bodyshells before they were shipped to Bentley’s Crewe factory for final assembly.

The body itself needed a considerable amount of modification during the transformation from coupé to convertible. The rear panels were all new, the rear floorpan was reinforced, and the sills were deeper and stiffer.

The Continental R’s electronically controlled self-levelling suspension was carried over, and beneath the bonnet was the same 6.75-litre turbocharged V8. Power was increased for the Azure – up to 384bhp, plus a mighty 553lb ft of torque – and it could sweep to a top speed of 150mph, having dispatched the 0-60mph sprint in 6.5 seconds.

The levels of luxury and comfort to be found inside were exactly what buyers expected from a Bentley, and were perfectly summarised by Russell Bulgin when he drove an Azure for Autocar in December 1995: ‘There are five-star hotel rooms executed with less panache than the cabin of the Azure.’

From 1999 onwards, there was also the option of a Mulliner model that offered various bespoke features and an even greater sense of luxury, and there was a run of 62 Final Series Performance cars – each built to the owner’s individual specification – before production of the first-generation Azure came to an end in 2003.

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