The Flying Spur Returns: Bentley’s 2026 Masterpiece of Power, Prestige and British Desire

He was twelve years old when the memory took hold.

On a golden afternoon somewhere in the English countryside, his grandfather eased a Bentley Flying Spur onto a winding road bordered by hedgerows and ancient oaks. 

The scent of leather mingled with summer air drifting through the cabin. From the rear seat, the boy watched the Flying B lead the way towards the horizon, glinting beneath the sun like a promise.

Decades later, that promise still burned.

Now sixty, a Liverpool-born technology entrepreneur with a garage filled with bespoke Bentleys, he remembers that drive with startling clarity. It was the moment he decided that one day he would own not merely a Bentley, but a collection worthy of Crewe itself. When news arrived that Bentley would unveil an entirely new Flying Spur for 2026, he knew exactly what came next.

He would be first in line.

And frankly, who could blame him?

The new Bentley Flying Spur is not merely another luxury saloon. It is the latest chapter in a lineage that has become one of modern motoring's most recognisable symbols of success, taste and quiet authority. 

Since the first-generation Continental Flying Spur arrived in 2005, the model has become a fixture of contemporary popular culture, making memorable appearances across films, television dramas, celebrity garages and music videos, often serving as shorthand for achievement itself.

The fourth-generation Flying Spur elevates that status dramatically.

Its design is cleaner, sharper and more confident than ever. Most striking are the single front headlamps—the first fitted to a Bentley sedan since 1962—bringing the Flying Spur into visual harmony with the latest Continental GT family. 

The radiator grille now integrates seamlessly into the front bumper, while the traditional wing vent gives way to an uninterrupted sweep of metal, with discreet badging positioned behind the front wheel. 

At the rear, flowing surfaces, redesigned lamps and a body-coloured number plate surround create an appearance of remarkable modernity.

It looks less like a car and more like momentum sculpted into steel.

Beneath those elegant proportions lies Bentley's class-leading V8 hybrid architecture, delivering the sort of effortless performance that would have seemed fantastical when W.O. Bentley founded the company in 1919 with a simple ambition: to build "a fast car, a good car, the best in its class." 

More than a century later, that philosophy continues to guide a company of over 4,000 craftspeople and specialists at Crewe, where Bentley still creates some of the world's most desirable grand tourers. 

Yet the headline act may well be the return of the Flying Spur S.

For devotees of spirited driving, this is the one.

Producing 680 PS and 930 Nm, the new Flying Spur S is the most powerful S-badged Flying Spur ever built. Its High Performance Hybrid powertrain delivers 130 PS more than its predecessor, launching the car from 0-100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds before surging towards a 191 mph top speed.

Numbers alone, however, tell only half the story.

The Flying Spur S receives Bentley's Performance Active Chassis, previously reserved for Speed and Mulliner models. Active All-Wheel Drive, Bentley Dynamic Ride, torque vectoring, twin-valve dampers and, for the first time on a Flying Spur S, an electronic limited-slip differential combine to create what is arguably the most driver-focused Flying Spur in history.

Inside, craftsmanship remains sacred.

Owners may choose from five distinct seat designs, each requiring approximately twelve hours of meticulous handcraftsmanship. Whether specified with fluted or advanced quilted detailing, every seat serves as a reminder that Bentley remains one of the last great houses where luxury is still created by human hands rather than algorithms.

Then there is the Virtuoso Collection.

Created for those who consider music as essential as horsepower, it introduces the extraordinary Naim for Mulliner audio system across three curated themes—Soprano, Tenor and Bass. 

Originally developed for the coachbuilt Batur and carrying a £25,000 option value, the system employs twenty-one speakers, including advanced Focal-derived drivers featuring patented single-piece M-profile cones engineered for exceptional rigidity, lightness and damping. The result is perhaps the most immersive audio experience Bentley has ever offered.

Naturally, Bentley has wrapped this technological theatre in exquisite details, from Champagne Gold accents to a stunning new exterior finish called Dark Teal—a sophisticated metallic blue infused with subtle green undertones that seems tailor-made for Britain's shifting skies.

It is precisely this balance of heritage and innovation that makes Bentley unique. The company that began with W.O. Bentley's uncompromising vision now extends its influence far beyond automobiles into furniture, fragrances and branded residences, each carrying the same unmistakable DNA of craftsmanship, prestige and British elegance. 

The new Flying Spur arrives in markets from the fourth quarter of 2026.

For the Liverpool collector, the order form is already waiting.

For everyone else, the temptation may prove irresistible.

Some cars transport you.

A Bentley Flying Spur transports an ambition.

*Photos courtesy of Bentley Motors.