SimplyAbuDhabi XII

3 3 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I W hen Bentley announced the 2014 Flying Spur, they did so with some fairly impressive claims. They called it “the most powerful four-door Bentley ever,” they talked about, “much improved door kinematics,” and described this beautiful Bentley as “the ultimate high-luxury sedan with unrivaled performance”. Of course all those words really got this writer’s attention. Not that the announcement of a brand new Bentley wouldn’t have stirred me into action anyway. Well now I’ve seen the car I have to say that they really weren’t exaggerating. Up close, the all- new Flying Spur is quite simply stunning. With this car, Bentley has reinvented its successful Continental Flying Spur, dropping the ‘Continental’ from the name, adding even more standard horsepower, placing more emphasis on super-luxurious motoring and giving the car its own distinct identity, although an identity that doesn’t hide its relationship to its rather racier cousin, the two-door Continental GT. The Continental Flying Spur that this new model replaces was introduced in 2005 as essentially a four-door Continental GT. That’s no bad thing, obviously, and that car acquitted itself well as a particularly sporting vehicle for its size and class. With the new Flying Spur though, Bentley is setting its sights beyond the driver and aiming to make the car popular with the chauffeured set too, placing new importance on those fortunate enough to travel in the back seats of this executive express. When you look at the Flying Spur in the flesh, or rather the metal, you see that Bentley has taken the looks of the Continental and subtly transformed it into something that bears more than a passing resemblance to a more streamlined and sporting version of the larger Mulsanne, most often driven by a chauffer with the happy owner riding in the back. The bigger Bentley’s imposing roofline and kick-up to the rear shoulder line carry over to the Flying Spur, while, at the front end, the grille has a more upright stance than on the outgoing model. Also at the front, Bentley has carried out a neat trick to create the Flying Spur’s unique ‘face’. The new car’s outer headlamps are larger than the inner ones, a size relationship that’s the complete opposite of that on the Continental. It’s a subtle touch and one that clearly defines the Flying Spur as muchmore than a Continental with two extra doors. Somehow these details also highlight the four-door’s longer length and slightly more refined presence than those of the Continental GT coupe and GTC convertible. FlyingHigh