This first Bentley factory finished car was given the name Bentley Mark VI standard steel sports saloon. This shorter wheelbase chassis and engine was a variant of the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith of 1946 and, with the same standard steel body, became the cautiously introduced Silver Dawn of 1949. In 1952 both Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn and Bentley Mk VI standard steel bodies were modified to incorporate a boot of about twice the size and the result became known as the R type Bentley based on the Chassis number at which the change took place.

A 4.6-litre, factory bodied car tested by The Motor magazine in 1951 had a top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 15.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 16.5 miles per imperial gallon (17.1 L/100 km; 13.7 mpg_‑US) was recorded.

As history would have it, the Mk VI made its appearance in the James Bond novels.. After his first Bentley is destroyed, James Bond purchases a Bentley Mark VI towards the end of Ian Fleming's 1955 novel, Moonraker. While the vehicle is not mentioned again in Fleming's writings, it made an appearance in Anthony Horowitz's 2015 James Bond continuation novel Trigger Mortis, set in the aftermath of Goldfinger. In the novel, 007 reflects on being forced to surrender the brand new Mark VI for a week to Q Branch at M's behest, who had added a few accessories of their own - an alarm button with a geographical position transmitter, run-flat tyres, bullet-proof windows and a secret panel (for concealing his firearm) in the glove compartment. The novel also notes that by the time of its events, 007 had not yet had time to add the Amherst Villiers supercharger that he favoured. By the end of the novel, the vehicle's hidden features save 007's life after he is ambushed in London by vengeful SMERSH operative, Ivan Dimitrov. Unarmed and held at gunpoint, Bond is saved from the assassin's first bullet by the car's bullet-proof door window, which shatters, but provides Bond the opportunity he needs to grab his PPK from the compartment and shoot Dimitrov dead.