Triple anniversary: Bentley celebrates three seminal sedans

2025 sees three significant anniversaries in Bentley’s history, each now celebrated with three bespoke Flying Spurs.

The 1965 T Series, 1985 Turbo R and 2005 Continental Flying Spur each played a key role in defining the Bentley four-door sedan, creating an unbroken evolutionary line leading to today’s Flying Spur. To mark the occasion Mulliner, the bespoke division of Bentley, has created three 2025 Flying Spurs, each echoing the spirit and the visual impact of its corresponding model.

Each of the new cars mirrors its inspirational forebear while updating the aesthetic for 2025, showcasing decades of design evolution. The three originals are part of the 50-car Bentley Heritage Collection, and as per the other members of the fleet are kept in fully running condition with every car kept on-site at the Bentley campus in Crewe, England.

1965 T Series – a new era: The T-Series was launched at the Paris Motor Show on 5 October 1965.

It was the first Bentley to use a unitary construction monocoque in place of the separate chassis and coachwork of every Bentley before it. Designed by John Blatchley, the T Series looked strikingly modern and while it was lower, narrower and shorter than the preceding model it offered more internal space for driver and passenger.

Its 6.2-litre V8 engine developed 202 PS, wafting the four-door from standstill to 62 mph in just over 10 seconds, with a top speed of 112 mph. The example in the Bentley Heritage Collection was the first ever production T Series, VIN 0001, and has recently been restored to its original Shell Grey exterior finish with a blue leather and Burr Walnut interior.

T Series tribute: Flying Spur Azure: With its 680 PS High Performance Hybrid powertrain, the 2025 Flying Spur Azure’s performance puts it leagues ahead of its respected ancestor.

Yet in their elegance, refinement and focus on driver and passenger wellbeing the two models share a common DNA. While the T Series boasted innovations such as Vibrashock bushes and hydraulic ride height control, the Flying Spur Azure cossets its occupants with Bentley Dynamic Ride and Bentley Wellness seating with multiple massage functions.

Visually, the Mulliner Flying Spur Azure’s Shell Grey exterior finish echoes that of its ancestor, with the same finish on the 22” six tri-spoke wheels, after the original 1965 colour was remastered by Bentley’s Paint Shop. The chrome vertical vanes of the Azure range echo those of the T Series, and lead to bright chromework along the length of the car as per the original.

The interior’s blue-grey main hide – colour-matched to the original T Series interior by Mulliner - is complemented by Beluga secondary hide, while the Burr Walnut fascia, console, door panels and picnic tables are edged with meticulously crafted cross-banding. Mood lighting, Naim for Bentley audio and the Bentley Rotating Display are among other features that create a welcoming and classic interior ambience.

1985: Turbo R sets new performance benchmark: It’s hard to overstate the impact the Turbo R made on its debut in 1985.

With a Garrett AiResearch T04 turbocharger boosting the power of the 6¾ litre V8 to 298 bhp, the Turbo R boasted acceleration to match contemporary supercars yet offered sumptuous comfort and space for up to five occupants. Maximum speed was 135 mph, while the 0-62 mph time was just 7.0 seconds. Just as significant, a 50% increase in roll stiffness compared with the previous model transformed the Turbo R’s handling.

Soon after launch, a nine-month waiting list proved that Bentley’s renaissance as a high-performance marque was universally welcomed, with 4,111 examples finding owners during a nine-year production run. The Turbo R in the Heritage Collection is a 1991 model in Brooklands Green with a yellow coachline, while the interior is trimmed in Magnolia hide with Spruce piping and Burr Walnut veneer.    

Turbo R tribute: Flying Spur Speed: 40 years on from the Turbo R, Bentley’s Flying Spur Speed continues the tradition of supercar performance allied to exceptional luxury.

Its Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain is capable of serene, silent progress in pure EV mode for up to 47 miles (76 km), while the combined 782 PS of Bentley V8 and e-motor delivers sensational performance, passing the 0-60 mph benchmark in just 3.3 seconds (0-100 km/h in 3.5 secs). Mulliner’s tribute to the Heritage Collection’s Turbo R is finished in Brooklands Green – again remastered from the Heritage Collection car - with a Monaco Yellow painted coachline.

The 22" swept spoke wheels are finished in Grey with bright machined facings and feature self-levelling wheel badges. The Flying B radiator mascot is finished in bright polished stainless steel and comes alive after dark thanks to its subtle illumination.

Inside, the Mulliner Flying Spur Speed pays homage to the Turbo R interior, combining Linen as the main hide with Cumbrian Green as a contrasting secondary colour. The fascia develops the theme with a duo tone Open Pore Dark Burr Walnut over Cumbrian Green Piano veneer, the two elements separated by a chrome pinstripe.

Subtle touches of Signal Yellow echo the exterior’s painted coachline; this shade appears for the embroidered Bentley emblems, seat piping, overmats, and six o’clock tab on the steering wheel.

2005: Continental Flying Spur W12: The first four-door model of the Volkswagen AG era was launched in 2005, just two years after the game-changing Continental GT.

The name revived that of a classic Bentley design, the Mulliner-built 1958 four-door S1 Continental Flying Spur. The new model offered similar levels of performance to its Continental GT stablemate, combining a 6.0-litre W12 engine and all-wheel drive powertrain with a spacious, four-door body.

With maximum power of 558 PS and an exceptionally low drag coefficient of 0.31Cd, the Continental Flying Spur exceeded 200 mph in testing, though the company conservatively claimed a top speed of 195mph. The Bentley Heritage Collection possesses the first production Continental Flying Spur to leave the Crewe production lines in May 2005, a right-hand drive model in Cypress Green with the chassis number VIN 20001.

Saddle is the main hide colour for the interior with Cognac as a secondary hide, and the veneer is Burr Walnut. The car has only recently been road-registered and activated, as demonstrated by the odometer’s 500-mile reading.

Flying Spur tribute: Mulliner Flying Spur Speed: Mulliner’s homage captures the spirit of the first-ever Flying Spur while updating it for 2025, with Cypress exterior paint and 22" ten-spoke sports wheels in Dark Grey Satin.

A painted pinstripe in Saddle adorns the lower edges of the Styling Specification carbon fibre front spoiler and sills. The interior welcomes occupants to a showcase of Mulliner bespoke craftsmanship.

The Saddle secondary hide colour complements a main hide colour in Special Green that unites the exterior and interior colour schemes. This unique green, created expressly by Mulliner for this tribute model, is also used as contrast shade on the upholstery’s diamond quilting, embroidered Bentley emblems, the steering wheel’s six o’clock tab and Mulliner overmats.

Of special note is the dual finish fascia, with Open Pore Dark Burr Walnut separated from gloss Burr Walnut by a pinstripe in Cypress Green. The Cypress Green pinstripe continues along the upper bullseye air vent vane and door waistrails, while Burr Walnut veneer clads the rear door inner panels.

From W.O. Bentley, who founded Bentley Motors in 1919, to the current team of over 4,000 dedicated colleagues, the company’s extraordinary cars have always been designed and built by exceptional people using only the finest of materials. From modest beginnings, Bentley has moved from strength to strength – in a relentless pursuit of both luxury and performance. W.O.'s vision continues to guide Bentley’s beliefs, actions and ambitions.

Located in Crewe, England and owned by the Volkswagen Group since 1998, Bentley Motors remains the definitive British luxury car company, crafting the world’s most desirable high performance grand tourers. Bentley’s colleagues design, engineer and handcraft five bespoke models: Continental GT, Continental GT Convertible, Flying Spur, Bentayga and Bentayga EWB.

The combination of fine craftsmanship, using skills that have been handed down through generations and engineering expertise is unique to Bentley. The luxury marque is creating a future driven by new technologies, materials, fuels and skills, in the pursuit of a progressive, new world: one in which the highest levels of luxury mobility are achieved with sustainable methods.

The company’s Beyond100+ strategy promises to revolutionise the company to be exclusively electric from 2035.