Bentley Turbo R Empress II by Hooper & Co

Let’s get formalities out of the way, shall we? 

Introduced in 1985, this car:

• Cost roughly £275,000 in period — do the conversion yourself and leave a comment about how hard your jaw hit the floor when pricing it in ‘today’s money’;
• A first Empress was hand-built in 1985, the fifth and final, still hand-built, in 1991. Two were left-hand drive;
• Each has a turbocharged 6.75-litre V8 engine with 320 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque;
• It can achieve a zero-to-100 km/h (62 mph) run in less than 7 seconds;
• Accelerate from zero-to-160 km/h (100 mph) in less than 20 seconds;
• …all with a completely unique and redesigned handcrafted body, to lower drag

For quite some time, until the 2010s, you could have this car, and probably the goblets, too, for about £65,000.

Not a bargain, sure, but until it became a genuine classic and was given the whole auction treatment (more on that in a minute), the car wasn’t all that desirable to those wealthy enough to take it home. Perhaps it still isn’t.

Fact is: a Ferrari Testarossa from the same year, in conditions favourable to a land barge, would have a hard time street racing against this fat and slicked back Bentley.