2001 Bentley Arnage Red Label

The vendor, who is in the trade and has owned a number of very special Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, bought the car at auction in 2014 when it had 30,200 miles on the clock.

A decade on and the odometer has only advanced to 35,926 miles.

First registered in December 2001, this particular Arnage Red Label is, by any measure, in excellent condition. 

Always maintained and cared for properly and expertly, it drives very well indeed and feels, looks and behaves like a car with 35,000 miles under its belt rather than 23 years.

This is a particularly attractive car, in our opinion, and its graceful lines and curves are well served by the Wildberry exterior finish and Cotswold hide interior. 

The bodywork is free of any dinks, dents, creases, ripples or folds of consequence that we can see.

The panels, panel gaps and shut-lines are even, consistent and crisp.

The metallic paintwork really pops and sings in the sunshine and has lost none of its factory shine and lustre.

Gleaming chrome-work and irreproachable lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings complete what is undeniably a very good look.

The wheels are in fine fettle, bar a minor scuff here or there, and the tyres look to have a decent amount of life left in them. 

There are a few stone chips around the front valance but, in the main, such trivial aberrations are more notable for their absence than their presence. 

A little paint has rubbed away from the edges of the doors, which is pretty much inevitable on any car that’s left the factory for more than a month or two, and there’s a light vertical scuff on the driver’s door. 

The plastic trim beneath the leading edge of the bonnet is cracked in a couple of places. 

The Daily Telegraph motoring column had the following to say of the interior of the Arnage. “The cabin is the apotheosis of wood-and-leather luxury and it coddles the occupants like no other car. The rear seats are beyond comfortable, they are an occasion. Just sitting in front of the exquisite dashboard and seeing the tiny instrument needles creep past Eric Gill’s locomotive typeface – there isn’t a cheap way into this sort of hedonism, other cars simply don’t have these things.”

We wouldn’t argue with any of that. 

The condition of the interior is every bit the equal of the exterior and is far more a reflection of the car’s low mileage than its age.

The Cotswold leather upholstery with Wildberry piping is in excellent order and, aside from one or two light creases on the driver’s side, it’s all a very long way from acquiring any sort of ingrained patina.

The seats, front and back, are as sumptuously comfortable and cossetting as you would hope and expect to find in a car this classy and refined.

The headlining is in irreproachable fettle, as are the door cards.

The carpets are in very good order and the Wildberry lambswool over-rugs are so thick you’ll think someone has stolen your feet.

The steering wheel, gear selector and other controls all look to be in good order.

We didn’t tweak every lever, press every knob or flick every switch, but those we did tweak, press and flick did as they were told without complaint or delay. 

The wood on the dashboard, door cappings and elsewhere is beyond reproach.

The boot is following the same script in terms of quality and condition. It contains a pair of Bentley umbrellas and a Bentley-branded trickle charger.

The engine bay is notably clean, dry, and tidy. 

Everything appears to be in its right and proper place.

The car’s undersides look to be possessed of plenty of structural integrity.

Basically, it’s all as you would expect to find on a car that’s covered just 35,000 miles and has always been kept in a warm, dry garage.

The car comes with a service book containing 10 stamps. The earlier ones are from main dealers, then from revered Rolls-Royce and Bentley whisperers P&A Wood, and since then by the vendor’s own team of auto mechanics.  

It comes with all of its original handbooks in the original wallet, two sets of keys, its spec sheets, a V5C, and an MoT that’s valid until 17th May 2025.

In common with every single MoT the car has had since 2008, the current certificate shows no advisories.

This Arnage Red Label is ticking all the right boxes for us.

It’s been maintained, serviced and repaired by experts as and when necessary – and with no expense or effort spared. 

It drives as well as it looks, and it looks fabulous.

It comes with plenty of good, solid service history.

We think you’ll be waiting a long time if you’re holding out in the hope of finding a better low-mileage example than this.

We’re confident to offer this fine car for auction with an estimate of £16,000 - £20,000. 

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment.  To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.