Bentley’s Flying Spur is their luxury grand tourer, sort of an alternative to a first-class flight. It combines some of the driver-focused mentality of the Continental with the luxury limousine qualities of the Mulsanne. After seeing the success of the Blackline trim on the Continental GT, being specced on around 30 per cent of the cars, Bentley has introduced the same on the Flying Spur. The Blackline trim replaces the chrome from the exterior with blacked-out elements. The Blackline trim may be a move to attract younger buyers to the brand, like how Rolls-Royce did with the Black Badge Ghost and Wraith.
The trim sees a host of darkened elements on the exterior, on the flying B mascot, radiator vanes, grille, side window surrounds, lower door and rear bumper. The front and rear light bezels, door handles, wing vents and exhaust outlets also receive the same darkened treatment.
The Blackline trim also gets 21-inch five tri-spoke alloy wheels as standard with the 22-inch Mulliner Driving Specification wheels as an option. The Blackline trim costs an extra £3,550 (Rs 3.2 lakh, before Indian taxes and duties) over the standard car which is priced at approximately Rs 3.2 Crore (ex-showroom). The rest of the car is mechanically identical to the standard Flying Spur, with a gargantuan 6-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 engine paired to a dual-clutch eight-speed transmission. The engine produces 626bhp and 900Nm of torque helping this stately home on wheels get to 100kmph in just 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 333kmph! Talk about a dual personality…
The Flying Spur competes with the Mercedes-Maybach S Class, which we covered in our earlier issue and the Rolls Royce Ghost.