Some anniversaries call for cake and polite clapping. Bentley’s brought three Flying Spurs instead.
To celebrate a trifecta of milestones; the 60th year of the T Series, the 40th of the Turbo R, and the 20th of the 2005 Continental Flying Spur, the Crewe marque has commissioned three bespoke 2025 Flying Spurs by Mulliner. All three originals live within the 50-car Bentley Heritage Collection at Crewe, maintained to running condition like prized thoroughbreds taken out for regular exercise.
Launched in Paris on 5 October 1965, the T Series was Bentley’s first monocoque saloon, a structural revolution that made the car lower, narrower and shorter than its predecessor yet roomier within. Powered by a 6.2-litre V8 with a genteel 202 PS, it would waft to 100km/h in a whisker over 10 seconds and top out at 180km/h. The example in Bentley’s collection is VIN 0001, freshly restored to Shell Grey over blue leather with Burr Walnut.
If the T civilised the saloon, the Turbo R lit a fuse beneath it. Debuting in 1985 with a Garrett T04 turbo strapped to the 6¾-litre V8, it delivered 298 bhp, the century sprint in 7.0 seconds and 217km/h flat out. Just as crucially, a 50% hike in roll stiffness transformed the handling from club lounge to country-lane credible.
The 2005 Continental Flying Spur revived a storied name and, crucially, proved that a Bentley four-door could nudge the 200mph (321km/h) ceiling while pampering four adults. A 6.0-litre W12, all-wheel drive and a slippery 0.31 Cd clinched the case. The Heritage Collection owns VIN 20001, finished in Cypress Green with Saddle and Cognac hides over Burr Walnut, and scarcely 500 miles on the clock.
Three anniversaries, three Flying Spurs, one clear message: progress is sweetest when it remembers where it set off from.
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