Bentley S2 Continental Flying Spur by Mulliner
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Car producer : |
Bentley |
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Model: |
S2 Continental Flying Spur by Mulliner |
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Year: |
1959-1962 |
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Type: |
Sedan |
The Bentley S2 (and the high-performance Bentley Continental S2 derived from it) was a luxury car produced by Bentley from 1959 until 1962. The changed designation S2 was to mark the new V8 engine and the improved air conditioning which could now be run from it. Power steering was also standard, and a new dashboard and steering wheel were introduced. Some early S2s were built with the earlier S1 dashboard.
Announced at the beginning of October 1959 as with the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, the S2 replaced the straight-six engine of the Bentley S1 with a new aluminium V8 engine displacing 6.2 L (6230 cc/380 in³). With this new engine, the S2 offered significantly better performance than the previous cars.
1,920 standard and long-wheelbase car chassis were built between 1959 and 1962. Almost all were fitted with standard factory bodywork. A number had coachbuilt bodies by Park Ward, Hooper, H. J. Mulliner & Co., and James Young.
388 more Continental chassis were built with higher performance engines and higher gearing for lighter bodywork built by the same group of coachbuilders.
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 by H J Mulliner. 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
