VENICE, Italy–When that noted travel writer Marco Polo ventured to China along the fabled Silk Road back in the 13th century, his principal mode of transport was the camel.
More than 700 years later, I had the opportunity to trace Polo’s route backward from Shanghai to Venice and be among the first motoring journalists to drive the all-new 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur.
There was a catch: I had to make the journey in 48 hours or less to make the official worldwide press launch in northern Italy. The first leg was a jet flight to London’s Heathrow Airport, followed by a brief train trip to Paddington Station.
A second flight to the appropriately named Marco Polo International Airport in Venice led to a powerboat ride up the city’s Grand Canal to the historic Gritti Palace, onetime home of the Doge of Venice and former official residence of the Vatican ambassador.
Planes, trains, boats. But what about the automobiles? Seasoned travelers no doubt will already have noted that there are no motor vehicles permitted on Venice’s narrow, winding streets and alleys. Fortunately, Bentley’s international press department had a fleet of Flying Spurs waiting back at the airport, so the first day’s drive commenced not long after our arrival back on dry land.
A quick history lesson about the British marque: Established in 1919, the company enjoyed only a brief 12-year run as an independent automaker before founder W.O. Bentley sold out to Rolls-Royce. Rolls changed hands several times over the past 25 years, eventually winding up as a subsidiary of German automaker BMW. Bentley, meanwhile, was split off and acquired by rival Volkswagen in 1998.
This brings us quickly back to the present. The first new Bentley to be developed under the new owners was the sumptuous Continental GT coupe, which went on sale last year in North America and most recently has spawned a four-door sibling, the Continental Flying Spur sedan.
The Flying Spur was inspired by the 1952 Continental R-Type, and borrowed its name from the 1957 Flying Spur, a four-door derivative of the R-Type designed by coachbuilder Mulliner (now owned by Bentley).
Both the Continental GT coupe and the Continental Flying Spur sedan share more than a few components and architectural hard points with Audi’s range-topping A8 sedan and VW’s Phaeton flagship.
But the Flying Spur is pure Bentley inside and out. The exquisite exterior shape was sculpted by the same design team led by Belgian Dirk van Braeckel, and seems even more breathtaking in real life than photos are able to portray.
The familiar face has been lifted relatively intact from the two-door. The Flying Spur is nearly a foot longer than the Continental GT, and much of that additional space has been allocated to the rear passenger compartment, which is woefully inadequate in the coupe.
The Flying Spur that I shared with AutoWeek magazine’s Wes Raynal was painted Diamond Black. The spectacular cockpit was trimmed in hand-stitched Saffron (sort of a camel-hued brown for you color-challenged guys) and Beluga (kind of a dark purple) leather, with oodles of rich walnut adorning the instrument and door panels.
We drove the optional four-seat configuration (the standard model accommodates five). Extra-cost features on our test car included forged 19-inch eight-spoke alloy wheels, a TV tuner in the dashboard, deep-pile carpeted mats, an alloy fuel-filler cap and a duotone steering wheel done in wood and leather.
Naturally, the Flying Spur has many of the same exquisite details as its sister car, including a Breitling clock in the center of the console (Bentley has a co-branding deal on Breitling watches).
As with the two-door, the heart of the car is its sensational powertrain: A massive 6.0-liter W-12 engine with three banks of cylinders, topped with double overhead camshafts and fitted with twin turbochargers.
The big 12-cylinder, which is a more powerful variant of the VW/Audi powerplant, drives all four wheels through a ZF six-speed automatic transmission. The Tiptronic-style gearbox can be shifted manually via paddles just behind the steering wheel — a feature shared with some of the more expensive VW and Audi models.
Our late-April drive in the Flying Spur headed north from Venice into the foothills of the Dolomites. For a while, we followed a gently winding course along the River Piave through a series of postcard-perfect towns and alpine villages. It’s difficult to imagine that less than 90 years ago, the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian army fought — and lost — its final significant battle here against a combined French-British force toward the end of World War I.
Nor has recent history been much kinder to this region of northern Italy. Some of the more scenic towns, like Erto and Longarone, have been reconstructed over the past 30 years, following a devastating landslide in 1963 that burst the Vajont dam and flooded the valley below, killing thousands of residents.
Negotiating this twisting, mountainous terrain, the Bentley feels surprisingly nimble, considering it weighs a hefty 5,400-plus pounds. But the bigger surprise is that this massive four-door weighs only 200 pounds more than the Continental GT coupe, yet its performance suffers little.
The Flying Spur is quick, with 0-to-60 acceleration in a mere 4.9 seconds; that compares with 4.7 seconds for the Continental GT. And top speed is quoted at 195 mph, just 3 mph slower than the coupe.
When Raynal and I swap places, I finally get to sample the generous rear quarters.
Individual controls in the rear center console enable the rear seats to be reclined or the front seats to be move forward. The rear seats are also heated and cooled for the ultimate in all-season comfort. Of course, there are separate right- and left-hand temperature controls, as well as overhead reading lights — all in all, a fairly civilized environment if you elect to be chauffeured rather than drive yourself.
From either front or rear seats, the ride is supple and smooth, thanks to an advanced air suspension system that continuously adjusts dampers and ride height to compensate for speed and road conditions. Because of its sheer mass and bulk, the Flying Spur is not exactly agile, but the steering at least is responsive, and the vented disc brakes are simply sensational at reeling in this behemoth with no drama.
On the safety front, Bentley has fitted two full-length side curtain air bags to cushion the heads of front and rear occupants, as well as four thorax bags that offer side impact protection. An electronic stability program, traction control and antilock brakes are standard.
Complaints are few. You have to hunt for the power mirror controls; they’ve been positioned, strangely enough, just above the gearshift lever on the center console. The navigation system is unduly complex; the screen is too small, and the system uses CDs, rather than the more commodious DVDs. The front cup holders are a bit difficult to reach, and the CD changer is mounted in the glove box, a dumb location.
In sum, the Bentley Flying Spur is a rare and highly desirable motorcar which, despite its German parentage, seems to draw deeply on its British roots and heritage. The sedan is richly appointed, roomy and relaxing — an appropriate mode of transportation for the idle rich — but also sleek and powerful, characteristics it shares with the Continental GT.
Company executives like to joke that the Rolls-Royce is meant to be ridden in, while the Bentley is meant to be driven. The new Flying Spur happily fulfills either role, for a fraction of the cost of a new Phantom. Bentley says the car will go on sale this fall for around $165,000.
Until then, start saving your pennies, order a Fodor’s guide to Italy and curl up with a good book — preferably a copy of “The Travels of Marco Polo.”