All Entries Tagged With: "Flying B"
Gilmartin’s Flowing B Parallels Rolls-Royces’ Flying Lady
- Bentley’s “Flowing B” reminds us of the Flying Lady
- Bentley manufactures parts for old Rolls-Royces
- Flowing B to be available on Mulsanne
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Bentley Motors
ONE of the odd, but open secrets in the automotive world is that VW’s Bentley manufactures Rolls-Royce parts; that is to say parts for any Royce that was assembled at Crewe before Rolls’ departure with BMW to the new assembly at Goodwood.
So, in a funny twist, if you wanted to replace your Silver Seraph’s Spirit of Ecstasy (a.k.a. the Flying Lady) because some uppity kid nicked your original, your new Rolls-Royce emblem will have come courtesy of Bentley, not Rolls-Royce.
Pre-War Bentleys and the S-saloons in the 50s were sold with “Flying B” emblems on the radiator shell. Essentially it was an art deco font letter “B” with carefully knurled wings attached that rose above the chrome grille.
Those emblems have made a recent resurgence as a bespoke option in the Arnage, Azure, and Brooklands cars and now the Mulsanne.
Bentley designer Richard Gilmartin has taken the original Flying B concept and embellished it for art and charity’s sake in the recent Bonhams auction in honor of the Christie cancer center which we’ve covered in the previous article.
Bonhams Lot no. 12 featured two examples of a new mascot called the “Flowing B”. It is the silhouette of jubilant and busty lady whose figure clad with silken dress forms the shape of a “B” in profile and looks not entirely dissimilar from Royce’s Flying Lady -but different enough to avoid (hopefully) copyright issues with the ex. parent company.
Machined in aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer) and sold at auction, the “Flowing B” will be made available as a bespoke option from the Mulsanne saloon.
Mr. Gilmartin wrote in the lot description posted on Bentley’s website that the Flowing B drew inspiration from some of the best works of the early 20th century by the French company Lalique.
And a certain other British marque, sans doute.
F.Y.I.: Mr. Gilmartin’s other entry, lot 11, is also noteworthy. It’s an acrylic on canvas pop art painting of the Bentley 6.5 Litre Blue Train car.
What’s so special? Part I: The Flying Spur
In his road test review, Mr. Csere posed the question that since the large automaker Volkswagen, AG had purchased the small, but élite Bentley Motors and had developed two new models since the 1999 acquisition, would Bentleys still be considered special?
The Car & Driver editor then spent much of the rest of his word allotment to proclaim how wondrous it was to experience a 5,580 pound car performing as quickly as the Flying Spur flew. Mr. Csere concluded that were he able to pay the $171,285 for a new Flying Spur, he would consider the new Bentley special enough to merit the cost.
I think that Mr. Csere and his colleagues at Car & Driver have missed the point.
What Mr. Csere does not seem to appreciate is how Bentley has managed to move down market with the new Flying Spur. True, the car is fleet; the new Bentley manages to soar to sixty mph in 4.6 seconds and on to one hundred and sixty in half a minute.
But being fast by itself does not bestow the true values of Bentley Motors. If owning the ability to comfortably drive at intense velocities were the only aim, one need look no further than spending $40,000 less on the Mercedes-Benz S600, the more capable machine.
The new Fl
ying Spur is based, like the Continental GT, on the ill fated Volkswagen Phaeton. In the Phaeton’s case, not only was the prospect of spending $96,600 on a VW absurd, it was not marketable considering that the virtues of Audi A8 ownership could be enjoyed for $30,000 less.
So, in a GM style maneuver, VW recycled the Phaeton – its body frame and W12 engine into the two new Bentleys. The move has achieved success with the popular Continental GT and will likely do the same with Flying Spur.
The interior of the Flying Spur is nearly the same as the VW; from the very shape of the doors, to the shape of the seats and arm rests, and even the seat belts. Mr. Csere seems to note some of the VW essence by referring to the “unfortunate ‘German disease’ of overly complex and nonintuitive controls,” in the sedan.
If Bentley used to be nothing more than a redressed Rolls-Royce, would that not be better than being just a redressed Volkswagen?
Building a German Bentley based on a Volkswagen is a sure sign of the devaluation of a marque. Consider the fall of Mercedes-Benz since the Daimler-Benz acquisition of Chrysler. To be sure, Chrysler has benefited by since producing the best made American cars. Mercedes-Benz has since bottomed out in luxury segment quality surveys by J.D. Power & Associates and yours truly.
What saves Bentley is that the company continues to produce the sublime Arnage for the time being. This is a bone thrown to the Conservatives that serves to satisfy and an attack on the more flamboyant competition (i.e. the Phantom). What is regrettable is that in a vacuum, the Flying Spur would be a fine car in the league of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Yet, since it must compare to the grand Arnage, it fails to impress.
Without the Arnage in Bentley’s lineup, owning a contemporary Bentley would not be so special; no matter how many heavy footed automotive reporters say otherwise. 
To read Mr. Csere’s article click the following link: Car & Driver
To learn more about the Flying spur click the following link: Bentley Motors
