1962 Bentley S3 Continental Flying Spur
The Bentley S3 is a four-door luxury car produced by Bentley from late 1962 until 1965.
The S3 was very similar to the S2, with the most-visible exterior difference being a four-headlamp layout reflecting that introduced on the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III the same model year.
These cars were handmade exclusively in full aluminum body in the plant of North London. The prices were then about 50% above those of the already expensive Bentley S3 Saloon. Of this luxury model, only 87 pieces were built, which today are almost exclusively in collector`s hands.
Rolls-Royce had envisaged the Bentley Continental as exclusively a two-door car, but late in 1957 the decision was taken to sanction the production of a four-door variation. Introduced on the S1 Continental and known as the ‘Flying Spur’, this design was a collaborative effort by Rolls-Royce’s in-house styling department and H J Mulliner, and bore a strong resemblance both to the two-door Continental and to existing coachbuilt four-door styles on Rolls-Royce and (non-Continental) Bentley chassis. To the Continental’s existing qualities of pace and elegance, the Flying Spur added four-door practicality, a more spacious interior and generously proportioned boot. The Flying Spur body style continued on the V8-engined S2 Continental and was revised to incorporate the S3’s four-headlamp front end following the latter’s introduction in 1962.
The interior was modified with individual seats for front passengers and increased leg room in the rear, in an effort to reduce injuries to any occupants thrown forward in a collision scenario, meeting the public’s growing attention to safety in vehicles. Individual front seats and arm rests became a standard feature and more powerful lighting and additional indication lights and switches on the instrument panel were introduced, presenting a far more modern feel to the last of the S Series Bentleys.
These cars were fast – thanks to aluminium coachwork, a raised compression ratio and longer final drive – and once again found favour with the super-rich of the day. It took two years before the company relented to customer demand for the pace and exclusivity of the Continental combined with the practicality of four doors. H.J. Mulliner of NW London created a superlative Continental saloon, subsequently titled ‘Flying Spur’ after the Clan Johnstone crest of Mulliner’s then managing director, Harry Talbot Johnstone. The first car was on the road in May 1957 and deliveries commenced with a pair exported to the USA just two months later.
