2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur on 2040-cars

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Bentley one-off limo to feature at Buckingham Palace Coronation Festival

Probably the only time a Bentley Mulsanne could come off as somewhat ordinary is when it shares a driveway with the Bentley State Limousine built for Queen Victoria. That's exactly what's going to happen during the Coronation Festival happening in the Buckingham Palace Gardens from July 11-14, where Bentley will show both cars and more.
Outside of the sedans and a few others Bentley is bringing to the festival, the brand from Crewe will provide a glimpse at what goes in them. An outdoor display of "bespoke" craftsmanship will have specialists from the factory demonstrating how to cross-stitch a steering wheel and how to make cross-banded veneers.
There's a press release below with more information, and the queen's car show awaits you later this week.

Bentley plotting Mulsanne performance model for Paris debut

Between three distinct body styles and numerous engine specifications, Bentley has made more versions of the Continental over the years than we would care to count. But one thing it has, by and (very) large left alone is the Mulsanne. Sure, it's done some special editions and some extra equipment packages - it's even toyed with the idea of a two-door convertible version - but at the end of the day, the Mulsanne soldiers on as a four-door sedan with one engine and one engine alone. That may be about to change, however.
Fueled by ambiguous pronouncements from Bentley's returning chief Wolfgang Dürheimer, rumors from the UK suggest that the Flying B marque is preparing a more performance-focused version of the Mulsanne to debut at the Paris Motor Show this October.
Details are few and far between, but we'd expect the Mulsanne's long-serving 6.75-liter V8 engine to be further tuned beyond its current specification of 505 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque, accompanied by a stiffer suspension, bigger brakes and other upgrades. Historically Bentley would turbocharge the Mulsanne's predecessors (to turn the 90s-era Brooklands, for instance, into the Turbo R), but the Mulsanne's engine is already spooled up, so the British automaker will likely have to massage the extra muscle out another way.

Bentley bringing Flying Spur V8, upgraded Continental GT Speed to Geneva

Until the new Falcon sport-ute comes along, Bentley is still a brand that revolves around two model lines: the Mulsanne, which is available essentially in one form, and the Continental family, which is available in many. The Flying B marque has traditionally offered the V8 version in two specifications and the W12 in three, and packaged them into three different bodystyles. With the Geneva Motor Show fast approaching, Bentley is rolling out two more.
First up is the Flying Spur which, despite having dropped the Continental from its name, is still based on the same. Bentley opted to skip the base W12 version when it introduced the new Flying Spur at last year's Geneva show, going straight for the more powerful version that would otherwise wear the Speed moniker. But now it's bringing a V8 version to the Swiss auto expo.
In addition to the W12, the Flying Spur will now be offered with Bentley's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. For the time being at least, Crewe is offering it in the base, 500-horsepower spec, and not with the more potent 521-hp from the Continental GT V8 S, but we're still looking at a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph. And that's pretty fast for a four-door sedan, no matter which way you cut it. Power is channeled once again to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission, riding on an air suspension. There's a Mulliner Driving Specification package to make it even more derirable, the reduced weight in the nose ought to make it handle better, and with cylinder deactivation, promises to deliver much better fuel economy.