Bentley Continental Flying Spur: the four-door Continental

The Bentley Continental Flying Spur is the four-door saloon version of the Continental GT, launched in 2005. It uses the same 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine and the same platform, which it shares with the Volkswagen Phaeton, and in Speed form it was presented as the fastest saloon in the world.

Bentley Continental Flying Spur at a glance

This page is based on French Wikipedia, with the English and Italian pages used only to establish the model names. The facts were not cross-checked against a second detailed source.

History of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur

The Continental Flying Spur was introduced in 2005 as the four-door variant of the Continental GT. It carried over the GT’s mechanical package: a 6.0-litre W12 with two turbochargers producing 560 hp, permanent four-wheel drive and a platform shared with the Volkswagen Phaeton. Cars were assembled at Bentley’s works in Crewe and at Volkswagen’s transparent factory in Dresden, Germany.

Continental Flying Spur Speed

In 2009 Bentley presented the Continental Flying Spur Speed. Externally it was similar to the standard car but had more chrome, a cleaner rear and a less inclined radiator grille. Engine output rose from 560 hp to 610 hp, and torque from 650 N·m at 1,610 rpm to 750 N·m between 1,750 and 5,600 rpm. With a top speed of 322 km/h, Bentley presented the Speed as the fastest saloon in the world.

The Flying Spur name

The name is older than the 2005 car. It was used first on the Bentley S2 Continental Flying Spur of 1959–1962 and then on the S3 Continental Flying Spur of 1962–1965. Bentley revived it in 2005 for the four-door Continental, and it later became a model name in its own right with the Bentley Flying Spur of 2005 onward.

Wikipedia carries only a short note on this model in French, and the English and Italian pages are lists of model names without technical detail. This page therefore records only what the French page states; other information, such as production figures and later updates, is not given there and is left out.

Design and features

• Four-door Continental: the GT’s W12, four-wheel drive and platform in a long-wheelbase saloon body.
• Twin-turbo W12: 560 hp in standard form, with torque from 1,610 rpm.
• Two assembly sites: built at Crewe in England and at Dresden in Germany.
• Speed version: 610 hp, 750 N·m and a 322 km/h top speed.

Bentley Continental Flying Spur versions

• Continental Flying Spur (2005–): the standard four-door with 560 hp.
• Continental Flying Spur Speed (2009–): 610 hp and 322 km/h, with more chrome and a less inclined grille.
• S2 Continental Flying Spur (1959–1962): the original Flying Spur name on the S2 Continental.
• S3 Continental Flying Spur (1962–1965): the second of the classic Flying Spurs.

The Flying Spur is the saloon version of the Continental GT, and the Continental R was the model it indirectly replaced in the range. More cars are in the Bentley collection.

Video: 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Start Up, Exhaust, and In Depth Tour

Video by Saabkyle04 on YouTube.

Sources

• Bentley Continental Flying Spur, French Wikipedia: engine, platform, assembly, Speed
• Flying Spur, English Wikipedia: model list
• Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Italian Wikipedia: model list