Bentley Hooper Empress II Market Wrap

Economics. Concepts like supply and demand. Market value. Asking prices, selling prices. With that lame introduction it should be very obvious that I am not an economist.

But if you are into making purchases it is good to know what is on the market. Specifically if you are buying something rare with limited market appeal which previously had a very high asking price. Like the Bentley Hooper Empress II.

Here is the scenario. You are cleaning out the back shed and you come across and old copy of The Californian Executive magazine.

It is from the early 1990's and you open it up to this page, and read the article about a car which is the 'ultimate in coach class'. It also was the most expensive car to buy at the time. Contemplation.



You decide that you want to get one of those, so you check out the market with a litle research.

Believing everything in the advertisements is not always correct as they want to sell you it, and somehow used car salesmen have a reputation.

A total of six Bentley Hooper Empress II were made, and four examples are known to Bentleyspotting. Please sent in information if you know the whereabouts of the other two cars. My guess is in Japan or the Middle East.



What is currently unusual in the market, is that out of the six manufactured, three currently are actively for sale seeking buyers.


The first is chassis number SCBZR03D2LCX32776 from 1990 with a navy blue exterior that has traveled 12354 miles.



It is currently for auction on ebay item number: 270248075462.



It was imported to the USA from Japan and has previous been on the block on ebay before here.



As with the previous auction the opening bit is for US $150,000.00 with a Buy it Now price of US $200,000.00.



Now this is just a bit special. It is presumed by the colour that the picture below is of this car under construction at Hooper in 1990.

Not something you see everyday on the internet.




The second car currently for sale also in California is SCBZR03D8MCX34842. This one is a 1991 car and has traveled 5,075 miles.



A previous article about this car is here, with also gives links to all eight Bentley Hooper Empress II posts on bentleyspotting.



It is not known what the asking price of SCBZR03D8MCX34842 is.



Thank you to Berverly Hills Motor Cars for supplying these high resolution photographs of the car, where it currently is for sale.


The third Bentley Hooper Empress II for sale is in France. It is a 1990 version that has traveled 4660 miles.



The VIN number is not known, and a previous article about this car is here.



It is currently for sale at Autodrome and has an asking price of € 180.000.00



It interestingly enough had an initial asking price of € 130.000, and I wrote that it was a sound investment at that price. Sorry to the sod who was thinking of buying it.


Now to the forth Bentley Hooper Empress II known to bentleyspotting. VIN number SCBZSOT00FCH13832 a 1985 chassis that was coahcbuilt by Hooper in 1988, and is referred to at auction as a 1988 car. The current milage is unknown, but it does get around as it have been photographed a few times here and here, with more to come.



This car has sold twice in the last 4 years.

First it was for auction at the Automobiles de Collection incluant une collection privée Christies, Le Circuit des 24 Heures, Le Mans Classic on the 23rd July 2004.

It had an estimated value of €40000-€60000 and sold €64625.

Here is a write up, noting the incorrect number of cars built.



Then it was sold again a year later at the Exceptional Motor Cars And Automobilia Christies, The Jack Barclay Showroom on the 19th April 2005.

It had an estimated value of £35000-£45000 and sold for £37600.



There could be a reason why the three cars currently for sale have been so for quite a while. Asking price maybe?



Now for some school boy calculations.

1990 SCBZR03D2LCX32776 Navy blue - 12354 miles
1991 SCBZR03D8MCX34842 Red - 5075 miles
1990 unknown Black - 4600 miles

Thats a combined distance of 22029 miles, and a combines age of 53 years, or 19345 days.

So on average a Bentley Hooper Empress II currently for sale travels a total distance of 1.14 miles a day.

They all must live bloody close to the shops.

It is lucky Bentley Spotters can rely on SCBZSOT00FCH13832 who's mileage is unknown from its 2004 figure of 14827.



Look! A Bentley Hooper Empress II owner has remembered to drive it!



Nice spotting CARLOS62.

Pictures (CARLOS62, Berverly Hills Motor Cars, ebayer sklove43, Autodrome, Colin Hyams owner of Hooper & Co. (Coachbuilders) Ltd from 1981, Christies & Darvani)