VEHICLE DESCRIPTION

Bentley built just over 1400 examples of its first-generation Azure, and this car has a significant place in marque history because it is the very first of those.

A specification sheet that was issued for chassis number SCH50801 on 1 August 1994 refers to ‘Project P100’, and shows that it was to be finished in Sherwood Green. The interior was specified in Sandstone trim with Spruce piping, plus Conifer carpets and Burr Walnut wooden trim. Listed under ‘options and extras’ were an airbag steering wheel, air horns and tinted Sundym windscreen.

The fascinating history file includes the full ‘Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars History Book’ tracing its build process. There are even documents from Pininfarina, dating from late 1994, that refer specifically to chassis number ‘50801 – Sherwood’ and relate to the car’s body panels.

There is also a 2011 letter from Richard Charlesworth, then head of the Bentley Heritage Collection, in which, having consulted records held at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club, he says that ‘all the evidence points towards’ this car being the very first Azure.

It was registered on 6 February 1995, just over a month before the model was officially launched at the Geneva Motor Show. Early service records and invoices suggest that the Bentley was retained by the factory when new. After an Azure that had been lent to two journalists so they could follow the 1995 Mille Miglia had been stolen from an underground car park in Brescia, it’s said that this particular car was fitted with an uprated alarm system.

By April 1996, when it was serviced at the Rolls-Royce Crewe service centre, the Azure had already covered 23,678 miles. It subsequently remained in single private ownership between 2001 and 2020, and the paperwork includes a wealth of invoices from dealers and marque specialists such as P&A Wood.

Having been sold to a new owner in 2020, it continued to be maintained regardless of cost. Recent restoration work has included a respray in its original Sherwood Green and a full interior retrim, with the result that it is now being offered for sale in exceptional condition. Great care was taken to retain features that were particular to this car, such as the ‘Continental R’ identification plate on the driver’s A-post

Fresh from a major service at Bentley specialist The Beaconsfield Workshop, this Azure is not only a supremely luxurious four-seater convertible, it also carries with it the extra cachet of being the ‘Project P100’ prototype.

MODEL HISTORY

When it was launched at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show, the Azure became the most expensive model in Bentley’s range. At a new price of £215,000 in the UK, it carried a premium of £37,000 over the Continental R, 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 Italian company not only designed and manufactured the convertible roof mechanism – which could be raised or dropped 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 majestically to a top speed of 150mph.

The levels of luxury and comfort to be found inside were exactly what buyers expected froma 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, 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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