Monterey Automobile Week is a time for extra within the automotive world. A number of the rarest, most costly and most fascinating automobiles are on show, however automakers additionally take the time to point out off new fashions – which is strictly what luxurious British model Bentley did at this 12 months’s occasion.
The automaker’s coachbuilding division, Mulliner, is making use of its know-how to the Flying Spur, an over-the-top four-door saloon with an equally loopy price ticket. Surprisingly, the automotive shall be obtainable with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, too – a primary for Mulliner.
The Flying Spur will launch with the choice of a 2.9-liter V6 plug-in powertrain, a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 boasting 542 horsepower and a twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W12 engine producing properly over 600 horsepower. The plug-in hybrid model isn’t any slouch, although. Bentley says it’s going to propel the large automotive to 60 mph from a standstill in simply 4.3 seconds, and on to a prime pace of 177 mph.
A yacht on wheels
Separating the ultra-luxe Flying Spur Mulliner from the ‘regular’ mannequin took some work.
For starters, the coachbuilders added unique 22-inch wheels with a gray painted and polished end, in addition to self-leveling wheel caps to take care of the Bentley brand in an upright place whereas the wheels are in movement. Particular badging and unique Mulliner bodywork, such because the “Double Diamond” grille and silver painted mirror caps, had been additionally utilized.
Inside, consumers can select from one among eight custom-made, tri-color themes, one among which is named Ascot. Automobiles sporting an Ascot inside will get Imperial Blue leather-based stretching throughout the instrument panel, door trim, and headliner, in addition to Camel leather-based on the seats with hand-stitching and white micro-piping.
The inside incorporates a diamond stitching sample that Bentley says took 18 months to develop. Every diamond incorporates 712 particular person stitches, aligned to the middle of the form.
Earlier than you begin considering that is some form of easy-going, cheap-to-operate plug-in hybrid, we’ve bought to step in with a actuality verify. Bentley, as a model, is only a few inches in need of Rolls-Royce within the value and exclusivity division. Mulliner automobiles, particularly, take the Bentley model deeper into extra, and are even nearer to that luxurious benchmark.
No precise pricing particulars have been launched as but, however the usual Flying Spur’s price ticket already exceeds the $200,000 mark – so it’s cheap to anticipate a coach-built model of the automotive to slip properly north of $300,000.
Higher begin saving now, then.