Bentley Continental Flying Spur
I recently attended a “get to know you” reception at the local Bentley dealer here in Central Florida. The star attraction was a magnificent blue Flying Spur.
Let’s clear up something from the outset, Clarkson will hate it. More on that later.
The car certainly has presence. Based on the same platform as the Continental GT (the VW Phaeton platform) and using the same 6-litre, 552 horsepower bi-turbo, one would think that the car would just look like a stretched Conti. I am happy to report, that although the family resemblance is there, the Flying Spur was crafted with its own look in mind.
That look is one of elegant sportiness. This would be, as many Bentleys have been, for the petrolhead that has made good in life, is heading toward retirement, but can’t be bothered with the obligatory driver and prefers to rely on himself. The rear seat is roomy and fairly well appointed, not that any owner will be spending any amount of time there.
No, the owner would be up front having his backside massaged by the built-in seat massager (no kidding) while choosing between the various options for shifting gears -- full auto, paddle shift or touchtronic style. The cockpit features easy to reach controls, an information centre screen bang in front of you in the dash, and of course navi-audio-video controls in the centre console pillar.
As the few flaws, Bentley should choose between brushed aluminium or chrome. The two don’t match well, especially in the case of the aluminium gearshift lever and the chrome electronic barking brake switch. Also, while functional, the steering wheel seemed a bit thin and out of place for a driver’s car such as this. Moneyed petrolheads would almost universally prefer a wheel that is thicker with handgrip mouldings.
The external body lines are sexy, providing a remarkably muscular look to this luxury sedan. Certainly more sporty than the Maybach, its wheels and tyres don’t suffer from an overabundance of bling, unlike the latest Roller. The mesh grill and GT style front fascia suit the car.
The Flying Spur also has an extremely roomy boot. One of the staff at the Bentley dealer said that they call it their “four body boot”. Suffice to say that any owner of this car could probably safely house their entire domestic staff in the boot with room to spare.
Why will Clarkson hate it? Easy, the same reason he didn’t like the GT. There is something, well, just too corporate-Teutonic about it. My observation is that if one removed all of the flying wings which there are in great quantity, almost everywhere on the car, you could almost mistake the car for a stretched Lexus. Almost, but not quite.
I had my reservations about this vehicle when I was reading about its development, but after viewing it in person, I must say that the positives outweigh the few negatives. Now, where did I put that spare $170,000?
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