The Bentley Continental Flying Spur is one of those cars that makes you stop scrolling on Auto Trader. You spot one sitting there for about ten or twelve grand, sometimes even under ten, and think, “Hang on, that cannot be right.” A proper Bentley, twelve cylinders, four wheel drive, leather everywhere, all for the price of a used Fiesta?
The one in the photos here and the video below happens to be a 2006 car, but the same broad truths apply to all of them. These things were once the preserve of hedge fund managers and Premier League footballers. Now they turn up on Facebook Marketplace in Stockport. It is quite a fall from grace, but that is what makes them interesting.
They are cars you buy because you just have to get it out of your system. The same reason people buy old Rolls-Royces. You know full well it will drink like a rugby club on tour and beep at you for reasons you will never understand, but you buy it anyway, well, because it is still a modern-looking Bentley, isn’t it?
The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Background
The Flying Spur is basically the four-door version of the Continental GT. It features the same 6-litre twin-turbo W12 engine, the same All Wheel Drive system, and much of the same mechanicals as the Volkswagen Phaeton underneath.
When Rolls-Royce and Bentley were sold off in the late 1990s, Rolls-Royce went to BMW, while Bentley went to Volkswagen. It was one of the more curious corporate splits in motoring history. The result was a Bentley that mixed traditional British craftsmanship with German engineering and electronics. That combination still defines these cars today, for better or worse.
When new in 2006, the car in the photos here would have cost around £130,000, which in today’s money, adjusted for inflation, is roughly £240,000. They were aimed at people who wanted performance as well as comfort, and for a while, they sold very well. Twenty years later, you can buy one for the cost of a second-hand Kia.
Bentley Continental Flying Spur Styling
Nobody pretends the Bentley Continental Flying Spur is pretty. The GT looks squat and purposeful. The Spur looks a bit like someone stretched the GT in Photoshop and forgot to press undo. James May once said the rear looked like a Toyota Avensis, which is hard to argue with.
Still, it has presence. It is big, wide and still looks like money. Pull up in one in the Cheshire triangle and people assume you’re a well-heeled native. Pull up in the same car on a council estate and the neighbours assume the drugs have arrived. Either way, it still gets noticed.
Who Buys a Bentley Continental Flying Spur
The difference between a Continental GT and a Flying Spur these days mostly comes down to who is behind the wheel. The GTs, being plentiful and also cheap, have become popular with wide boys seeking a bit of automotive bling. You see them on council estates wearing large wheels, smoked tail lights, and driven by a bloke with a tracksuit and a Rolex he bought in Thailand. Those cars are often run on a budget. Often, with a dashboard full of warning lights, as it was serviced by Ryan from down the pub.
The Flying Spur attracts a slightly different crowd. Older, calmer, more likely to own a decent pair of shoes and be able to afford a service at an independent specialist. They appreciate what the car is rather than what it says about them. And because of that, the Spurs tend to be better looked after. If you are shopping for one, that is worth knowing.
The Spur tends to be the choice of the over-40 chap who brings it out at weekends, high days and holidays to take his wife to dinner.
Inside the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Cabin
Inside, it is unmistakably Bentley. Nice quality leather, acres of polished wood and chrome everywhere. There are also buttons, hundreds of them, most of which do things you will never discover. The infotainment system was outdated before the iPhone even existed, and the navigation is hopeless, but the cabin itself is a lovely place to be.
The seats are soft, not as comfy as a Rolls, but still nice. The driving position is excellent, and it still smells expensive. The famous Breitling clock sits proudly on the dash, reminding you that once upon a time, this was a six-figure car.
The W12 Engine
Under the bonnet lives the six-litre W12, effectively two VW VR6 engines joined together. It produces around 550 horsepower and enough torque to drag a bungalow sideways. It is a heavy car at roughly two and a half tonnes, but when you press the throttle, it moves like something half its size.
May described it as taut yet supple, like the belly of a dancer, and for once that is not journalistic nonsense. It fits. The engine is smooth, powerful and wonderfully indulgent.
Mash your foot into the carpet in one of these, and it will take your breath away. I’ve had a lot of big cars, including Rolls-Royces, S Class Mercedes, old Jaguars and a lot of five-litre plus old American metal, and nothing comes close to the power of this. With around 550 horsepower, it sits firmly in Ferrari 575 territory for performance, which is quite something for a two-and-a-half-ton saloon.
On the Road
You can always hear the engine. It is not Rolls-Royce quiet, and it is not trying to be. It growls when you accelerate, hums when you cruise and occasionally makes you grin like an idiot.
The steering on these is slightly odd. It gets heavier the more you turn it, which at first makes you think something’s wrong, but it’s actually how they’re meant to be. Once you get used to it, it feels natural enough, but it does catch you out the first time you use it.
The brakes are powerful and the Four Wheel Drive gives it grip in all weathers. Press the throttle hard, and it surges forward like an aircraft taking off. You reach licence losing speeds faster than you would believe possible.
In Dubai, James May wound one up to 180mph on a closed road and called it hell for leather. That about sums it up. In a GT that feels like showing off. In a Flying Spur, it feels gloriously daft, a gentleman’s drawing room doing nearly two hundred miles an hour.
Ride and Handling
The air suspension gives you a choice of settings, though comfort is the only one worth using on British roads. Any firmer and you will feel every cigarette butt you drive over. When it is working properly, it rides well, with a mix of firmness and give that makes it oddly satisfying.
It does not float like a Rolls, but it never pretends to. It feels planted, confident and far more agile than something this heavy has any right to be.
Owning One
Owning a Bentley Continental Flying Spur is a test of your attitude to risk. It is a twelve-cylinder twin-turbo Bentley with air suspension and enough sensors to run Heathrow. Things will go wrong eventually. You just hope they do not all go wrong at once.
Some say they are electrical nightmares. Others claim they have had years of fault-free motoring. The truth, as always, is somewhere in between.
Fuel economy is laughable. Expect low teens if you drive gently, single digits if you do not. But again, if that worries you, this is not your car.
Parts are not as hard to find as you might think. Firms such as Flying Spares keep most things in stock, and there are good online forums where owners swap advice and photos of things that used to work. If you can wield a spanner yourself, you can keep one going without bankrupting yourself completely.
Verdict
The Bentley Continental Flying Spur is flawed but magnificent. It is not especially beautiful, and it is certainly not cheap to run, but it is one of the few cars that still feels genuinely special every time you drive it.
May said that the Continental GT never quite made sense, but give it four doors and fix the ride, and suddenly it does. He was right. The Flying Spur feels like a proper Bentley, a gentleman’s conveyance with the heart of a supercar.
For under ten grand you can own a twelve cylinder, two hundred mile an hour saloon that still looks and feels like money. Treat it well and it will make you feel like a king. Mistreat it and it will drain your wallet faster than it drains its fuel tank.
Either way, you will have a story worth telling. And that, really, is what cars like this are all about. The video below covers the ownership experience nicely. At the time of writing, it’s for sale for under £10k.
Summary:
• Brilliant mix of British luxury and German engineering
• Huge power, still impressive today
• Running costs are high, but not ruinous if maintained properly
• Still turns heads everywhere it goes
If you have owned a Flying Spur or a Continental GT, feel free to share your experience in the comments below. It would be interesting to hear what your ownership has been like.