There are so many anniversaries, celebrations and reasons to open a bottle of something special this year that I’m ashamed to admit that a few have passed me by. I imagine it will be the same situation for you.
So, somewhat early today, let’s raise a glass to 20 years of Bentley Continental Flying Spur.
The OG Flying Spur was launched in 2005, and it was quite the thing. Following Bentley’s hugely successful rebirth under Volkswagen with the four-seat, two-door Continental GT, the swashbuckling sedan was the car for the driver who wanted a fresh look, but with room for all the family and their stuff.
It came with a turbocharged 6.0-liter W-12 engine that sent 545 hp and 479 lb-ft to all four wheels via a six-speed ZF gearbox, just like the GT. Here, there were rear doors, room in the back for people over six feet tall to feel comfortable, plus the kind of attention to detail you’d expect from a car with Bentley wings on the front. In 2008, a 600-hp Speed model appeared for people who were often late for meetings.
2005 Bentley Flying Spur and 2025 Bentley Flying Spur
Photo by: Bentley
Over the past two decades, the Flying Spur has worn a number of faces, each representing a fascinating evolution of the first car, offering smooth power and space for all. The original ran for eight years, with 2013 seeing a sharper (to look at) second-generation car with a slight name change and a new engine option. The Continental was no longer a Flying Spur, as Bentley was keen to alienate its star pupils.
The W-12 engine was present and correct, with up to 617 horsepower (depending on the year you chose) but the team at Crewe thought that might be too much for some, so they took out the V-8. With a turbocharged 4.0-liter under the hood, the V-8 can crank out more than 500 horsepower and looks rather delicious while you’re all chatting (you can spot it from afar thanks to its red badge).
The end of the 2000s meant not only a world on the brink of a pandemic, but also the third generation of the Flying Spur. A new platform, a new look, new technology, some stylish new “B” taillights, and — for better or worse — a V-6 engine.
For a longer time than before, it seemed rather good, if… firm. It was initially available with the popular W-12 engine, but over the course of the car’s life, Bentley ended production of the engine, leaving it as a V-8 or V-6 hybrid. Which brings us neatly to today, and the latest car is taking over. I’ve had a fair amount of living up to it.
When the original came out, your options for a large luxury vehicle were not as diverse as they are today. SUVs hadn’t quite taken off quite as strongly yet (the L322 Range Rover was a few years old), and while a 7 Series, S-Class or A8 were all options, it wasn’t quite Bentley, was it? However, the Flying Spur, while beautiful, couldn’t quite go toe-to-toe with the then-very-new Rolls-Royce Phantom.
It opened up a new market: cars for wealthy people that weren’t quite Rolls-y, but were just a few steps away from the German Big Three. The Continental GT has the playboys covered. The sedan had everyone. The Flying Spur was full of British luxury, with a price and prestige to match, and marked the beginning of a new era. Keep in mind that it was a good half-decade before Porsche and Aston came out with their own saloons.
Bentley was exploring new territories.
Photo by: Bentley
The Flying Spur was full of British luxury, with a price and prestige to match, and marked the beginning of a new era.
Today, the Flying Spur is still a thing of beauty. A massive mass of metal, leather and wood, combined with an air of superiority that only the British could achieve. Today’s top-spec Mulliner (or Speed) Spur comes with an “Ultra Performance Hybrid” system mated to a 4.0-liter V-8 rated at 771 hp and 737 lb-ft.
You can, of course, get 671 horsepower (which is enough for most people, really) with the “High Performance Hybrid” setting on the base model or the Azure, if you wish. It’s full of electrical tricks to make sure your ride is as smooth and quiet as possible, and the interior is downright gorgeous.
Putting the two side by side, you can appreciate how much Bentley’s design language has changed over the years. The original car, glorious in its day, now looks a bit strange from some angles. It also – and this is going to sound strange given the subject matter – looks rather small. However, if I were the same size as I was 20 years ago, I would be surprised too. And probably very sick.
Inside you’ll find the greatest color shift. In its day, the OG Spur was at the forefront of technology. Heated seats, electronically adjustable everything, and a flashy GPS, among other things, made it stand out, but today some of that technology is outdated.
GPS is the biggest culprit, touch screen technology used to be a pipe dream, so big buttons surround the screen to let you do…stuff on it. It’s surprising how quickly something that was second nature became so strange. A few pokes and the non-HD screen switched it from one function to another, but I stopped pressing things for fear of breaking it. Analogue discs are the stars of the show at the top of the musical instruments as well, which shouldn’t feel “old school”, but increasingly they do.
The new car is a feast of screens, hot stone massages, touch-sensitive controls, butt warmers, colon coolers, flip flops, everything you could want. The spirit of what came before is there, but there are two decades of learning, customer expectations and technological advancements behind it. It’s kinda cool. But also isolating. New technology means it’s very quiet there, which is both a good and a bad thing.
The hybrid powertrain comes with a 50-mile EV range, and it will cruise silently, which is nice. But since you’re so isolated from the outside world, the lack of noise is very strange. Normally, there would be a hint of the engine there to add some ambiance, but not so here. So you twist the drive, set the disc to “Sport” and turn it on, i.e. With a full 771bhp on board, and plenty of electric car torque to back up your silliness, the speed the new Flying Spur musters is rather astonishing. The numbers are ridiculous. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph takes 3.3 seconds, and its top speed is 177 mph.
When the Spur debuted in 2005, it was Bugatti Veyron become something also. This came with 1,000 metric horsepower and unprecedented performance numbers. Twenty years later, you can buy a sedan with roughly the same amount of power.
The Spur’s progress is accompanied by the distant hum of a V-8 and a hazy view out the side windows. Power goes to all four wheels, so you can be childish and get away with the kind of things a rear-wheel-drive car would eat you for. While you’re doing all that, you can have a quiet conversation with the guy massaging his butt in the back seat.
Refined bullying is excellent when it works.
The original Spur, while still quiet, is not silent. The W-12 – never an engine known for aural pleasure – revs gently as you cruise, and will cruise you cheerfully and effortlessly. It’s smooth, comfortable, and attractive.
The steering isn’t quite as sharp as more recent cars, but that’s not the end of the world. Waking up its engine is fun. It’s quick from the start, but wait until it reaches the upper half of the rev range. Once there, the Bentley accelerates at a ‘hold on to the ride’ rate. The numbers grow and the buttocks contract. His example Bentley had less than 500 miles on the clock when the keys were thrown at me, and was clean inside and out.
Photo by: Bentley
Playing two games in a row is amazing. Technology has moved on. What was considered at the time state-of-the-art luxury is now a far cry from what is possible, and the things under the skin are of course much more advanced than they used to be. But there is a common denominator between the two. Early car hints lurk beneath the surface to let you know how deep your DNA roots are.
Today’s Flying Spur certainly has more competition than the original, but to spend time in it is to know that there won’t be anything else to compete with. Having led his grandfather, it’s good to know that he was.
