A million-dollar bespoke Bentley once owned by the late flamboyant stockbroker Rene Rivkin has hit the market – just days after his wife suddenly died.
News the heavily customised vehicle is up for sale – for a fraction of its original price – comes after Daily Mail Australia revealed Rivkin’s widow Gayle passed away last week, 18 years after her husband took his own life.
Rivkin ordered the Bentley Turbo RL in 1988 when he was the nation’s best-known stockbroker, before a spectacular downfall saw he him jailed for insider trading.
According to marketing material, with adjustment for inflation the one-off car would have cost more than $1million when it was commissioned but is now being offered for $67,990.
A million-dollar bespoke Bentley once owned by the late flamboyant stockbroker Rene Rivkin has hit the market – for a fraction of its original price. Rivkin, who suffered from brain tumours and bipolar disorder, took his own life in 2004 after serving jail time for insider trading
‘Story goes that Rivkin wondered into Eggerton’s in London – a now-defunct coach-builder that bodied Bentleys pre-war and later became a retailer – and commissioned this car for his London residence,’ the advertising campaign states.
‘Referenced in his biography, the Bentley was chauffeur-driven and escorted Rivkin’s distinguished guests to and from Heathrow when in town, and also around local districts like Park Lane to peruse its wares.’
The turbocharged long-wheelbase hand-built British V8 has 86,000km on the clock and has been owned by two collectors since 2006 when it left the Rivkin estate.
The Bentley features a writing table which slots into the nearside cabin, a drinks cabinet and tray that accepts a decanter and two glasses, and a rear centre seat section to hold CDs.
Rivkin ordered the car in gloss black with a red leather interior, ebony inlays and cherry carpets, as well as hand-painted body stripes down the sides.
The car comes with a detailed service history, paperwork from the Rivkin Group proving it’s provenance and extra paraphernalia including a Bentley towel.
The Bentley features a writing table which slots into the nearside cabin, a drinks cabinet and tray that accepts a decanter and two glasses, and a rear centre seat section to hold CDs
The turbocharged long-wheelbase hand-built British V8 has 86,000km on the clock and has been owned by two collectors since 2006 when it left the Rivkin estate
‘Such examples rarely exist because characters like Rene Rivkin – with the means and mind to order such a vehicle – are just as rare, too,’ the advertising campaign by Cult and Classic automotive dealership states.
‘After use in the United Kingdom, Rivkin personally imported the car into Australia in the late 1990s where it was famously seen around the big end of town right until his death.’
Cult and Classic owner Justin Narayan told Daily Mail Australia that Rivkin’s black Bentley ‘screams 80s excess’.
‘It’s a cool car,’ Mr Narayan said. ‘It’s definitely got a bit of cred. Everyone I’ve had walk in here who knows who he is is instantly enamoured with it.
‘He had a Ferrari he ordered at the same time with exactly the same pin stripe, with exactly the same red leather interior. They were a matching pair.’
Rivkin was almost as well known for his luxury car collection as he was for carrying gold worry beads and chomping on Davidoff cigars.
But he was rarely seen behind the wheel, preferring others to do the driving.
‘I am very different from most people who buy these cars in that I know nothing about them and I don’t like driving,’ Rivkin said in October 1995. ‘I just find them to be things of beauty – works of art on wheels.’
Rivkin’s best-known Sydney chauffeur was Gordon Wood, who worked for the financial guru from October 1993 until February 1996.
Wood’s model girlfriend Caroline Byrne was found dead at the bottom of the The Gap in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in June 1995.
Wood was found guilty of Byrne’s murder in November 2008 and spent more than three years in prison before his conviction was overturned in February 2012.
Rivkin ordered the car in gloss black with a red leather interior, ebony inlays and cherry carpets, as well as hand-painted body stripes in his own signature colour
At Wood’s trial, two Watsons Bay restaurateurs gave evidence that they saw a green two-door Bentley at The Gap about 3pm on the day Ms Byrne died. Rivkin owned a green four-door Bentley at the time.
The court heard the only similar vehicle in Australia – a green two-door Continental R Bentley – was owned by advertising mogul John Singleton and it was not his car spotted that afternoon.
Rivkin was the youngest-ever member of the Sydney Stock Exchange and in 1985 was named Business Review Weekly magazine’s Stockbroker of the Year.
He was first embroiled in a major controversy after a printing plant called Offset Alpine, of which Rivkin was chairman and chief investor, was destroyed by fire in 1993, resulting in a $53million insurance payout.
In April 2003, Rivkin was found guilty of insider trading by purchasing Qantas shares based on market-sensitive information the carrier was to merge with Impulse Airlines.
The car comes with a detailed service history, paperwork from the Rivkin Group proving it’s provenance and extra paraphernalia including a Bentley towel
Rivkin was sentenced to nine months’ periodic detention, but collapsed in his cell after just one day. He underwent brain surgery and resumed his sentence in 2004.
Upon his release Rivkin displayed increasingly erratic behaviour and was treated for for bipolar disorder. He spoke publicly of contemplating suicide.
After his first attempt at suicide Rivkin moved from the family’s Point Piper resident to his mother’s Darling Point home where in May 2005 he took his own life. He was 60.
Gayle Rivkin, who had campaigned for greater research into and understanding of brain tumours, left behind five children when she died suddenly last week.
Eldest son Damien told Daily Mail Australia: ‘We are devastated at the loss of our mother Gayle Rivkin. She was a loving and devoted mother and grandmother.’
‘The family requests privacy at this time and will not be providing further statements.’
Rivkin was the youngest-ever member of the Sydney Stock Exchange and in 1985 was named Business Review Weekly magazine’s Stockbroker of the Year. His Bentley is pictured
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