Any Roller/Bentley GRM owners?

I have always wonder how DIY friendly a older Rolls Royce or Bentley is. I tried to look for parts cost once and I couldn't find any so I am guessing parts are expensive.

I don't own one, but I have had the disease.

A friend bought an early 70's RR at auction and used it for daily transportation at his vacation place in Maine. It was really oozey and sublime to drive. He actually kept a jar of Grey Poupon in the glove box because people kept asking for it at stoplights. He had it gone over by a British shop. My recollection was that it had some fairly oddball suspension engineering that required some level of experience in order to maintain.

My disease has to do with my vacation idea. The plan was (is?) to find a Roller on CL Los Angeles and fly out (from Baltimore) to buy it. Drive it back to the east coast, stopping at all of the pertinent National Parks, and then putting it back on CL.

The plan sounds great, no? You will notice that it doesn't include anything about watching the car as it is consumed by flames on the side of the road in the middle of the night in Death Valley. Nah--that could NEVER happen. Right?

Well... at least it would keep you warm for a while.

I am also very interested in this! My obsession was piqued when I found that a Bentley Turbo R could be had for not much more than the 330i that I was looking at for a daily driver. Anybody here gonna say no?!

Wasn't the Turbo R the one with like 650 ft lbs and 500hp? Why not?! Add moar boost! If you blow it up, LSx!

Top Gear UK had an episode on used cars you could buy for new econobox money. The Turbo R was one of them. I'd even dig one, if I could find a manual swap for it :)

Conquest351 wrote: Wasn't the Turbo R the one with like 650 ft lbs and 500hp? Why not?! Add moar boost! If you blow it up, LSx!

Nah, it's "only" around 300hp and 488 lb-ft of torque. At least in 1991. The later models got more horsepower but I don't think they ever cracked the 400hp barrier. "Sufficient" is all that Bentley ever disclosed.

I've considered an older Turbo R more than once. Just because. I don't know why, I don't normally go for ostentatious and British, it's more like can of bees and Japanese.

i would LOVE a beater bentley

Just sent my Dad a link to a cheap Rolls. We throw this idea around every once in a while.

Also, Jay Leno (see "Jay Leno's Garage") has a great video of his Turbo R.

you're all a bunch of idiots, I'm now trolling the interwebz for a turbo R, berkeleyers...

because yesterday's ferrari post had me looking for 400s and that link to the Andy Reid 5 horses and the budget supercar comparo keep me lusting after a maserati spyder gt (6speed version of the cambiocorsa) until I see the GTO threads, GAAAHAAAAAAAAA STOP IT!

I know, DEEP BREATH, then remember if I get a big enough garage I can catch em all

I have a sickness...

AaronBalto wrote: My recollection was that it had some fairly oddball suspension engineering that required some level of experience in order to maintain.

I seem to recall older RRs (dunno until when) had hydraulic Citroen self-leveling rear suspension. I can imagine keeping it working properly and within a budget could be challenging.

Best comment I ever read about the Turbo R was DEDjr saying that it was the only RR or Bentley he had driven in years that he would want at his back in a bar fight.

(If I'm remembering that wrong, please correct me. Mr. Davis would want, and deserves, to be quoted accurately.)

On the other side of the Balance Sheet of Awesomeness, however, I believe gas consumption on the early Turbos was in the mid-single digits.

And I believe it was not just the suspension on the early Shadows but also the brakes. I have to believe there are conversion kits out there somewhere, but it's worth thinking about.

In reply to Javelin:

That's pimp to the extreme. Before you had to use the grille to cut down peasants in your way, with this you can clear whole families of peasants...

Nice Fisher Plow package on that Cloud! The best deserves the best!

And the cool thing is it's RHD, so you can judge your curbs like a pro!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozb60tFje3c&feature=related

There are other vids to the right, but this tells what you can buy...and what to look for in an older Turbo R.

I wouldn't mind having one..or made into an Estate....or a Continental "T"...made into a brake...

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/cto/2785593002.html

Brian Johnson and alot of naked chics

Javelin wrote:

That is the most awesome thing I have ever seen, ever.

I raise you sir

aussiesmg wrote: I raise you sir

Hmmm could a new contender for the record for " hookers in the trunk "

quality but the high profile might offset the useability ? Discuss

At least the el camino version is real! (The other looks pretty fake to me, who knows.)