Why you shouldn t buy this car: Because you don t have enough money.

Why you should buy this car: The Bentley Continental Flying Spur could well be the world s finest automobile. Although the Phaeton-based uber-sedan is not a participant in the luxury car gadgetry sweepstakes, nobody does the basics better.

The Spur goes like Moet at an upper class hen party, stops on a hatchback, turns like a Duchess glimpsing a working man s butt cleavage and offers a perfect shelter from the slings and arrows of outrageous capital gains tax. The floss factor is high, but the thoroughness of the car s engineering and the driving satisfaction it engenders earns the Flying Spur its right to be envied — for a long time to come.

Sutability Parameters:
· Speed Merchants: Yes
· Fashion Victims: Yes
· Treehuggers: No
· Mack Daddies: No
· Tuner Crowd: No
· Hairdressers: No
· Penny Pinchers: No
· Euro Snobs: Yes
· Working Stiffs: No
· Technogeeks: No
· Poseurs: Yes
· Soccer Moms: No
· Nascar Dads: No
· Golfing Grandparents: No

Vitals:
· Manufacturer: Volkswagen — I mean, Bentley Motors
· Model tested: Continental Flying Spur
· Model year: 2006
· Price as Tested: $171,285
· Engine type: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 48-valve 6.0-liter W-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
· Horsepower: 551hp @ 6100 rpm
· Torque: 479 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm
· Redline: Seems a bit irrelevant really
· Wheels and Tires: 275/40 R19 Pirelli or Michelin
· Drive type: Four-wheel-drive
· 0 - 60: 4.9 seconds
· 1/4 mile: NA
· Top speed: 208mph
· Fuel economy city/highway: don t ask, don t tell (10/18)
· NHTSA crash test rating front/side/rollover: Not tested (they can t afford it)
[by Robert Farago]

Related:
Jalopnik Reviews: 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Part 1; Part 2 [internal]