Some years back, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was crowned the imperial title of the ‘best car in the world.’ It was a pure culmination of luxury and exclusivity. Very recently, the best car was revealed to and shook the world in an even better persona with luxury that felt extremely palpable. The S-Class has taken the fight very close to the top players in the higher luxury space, one of those is Bentley’s new flagship four-door grand tourer, Flying Spur which carries forward the legacy left by the Mulsanne and pays homage to it to the best of its calibre.

Albeit the Flying Spur became the benchmark in luxury two years ago at the time of its inception, here is the Mulliner version of the car which renders it even more exclusive and is sure to spoil the most demanding of us. Revealed at the equally iconic Monterey Car Week, the car bears a generous amount of dissimilarities against the standard model.

Exterior design

To describe its façade succinctly, the perfect word would be bold. A daunting front characterised by immense width, a bonnet line leading to the iconic flying b mascot and quad headlamps make it look unmistakably Bentley. Bits special to the Mulliner edition include 22-inch wheels finished in grey shade with polished rococo, a “double-diamond” front grille and lower grille, both being embraced with chrome look posh. Side vents bearing the Mulliner moniker are also found in addition to the Satin Silver mirror caps. Such is the attention to detail that even the fuel cap features jewel fuel and oil. In a similar fashion to Rolls-Royce, the wheel caps in the Flying Spur Mulliner remain stationary when the wheel is rotating.

Bentley

Interior

If the exterior bragged about opulence as high as it could, the interior is where the Mulliner edition takes the game notches above. For instance, Mulliner plated scuff plates, door mats and diamond-stitched seats carved with the prominent ‘Mulliner’ logo are some of the salient features of the car. Arousing sense of occasion are 8 tri-colour bespoke options for overmats. The cushy headrests, aluminium finish on the gear stick, dashboard and centre console silhouette and the hallmark infotainment system cluster which can be turned to see either analog dials and clock, the touchscreen interface, or simply plush looking veneers is a majestic touch.

A very glamorous theme named Ascot is a medley of Imperial Blue leather covering the instrument panel, doors and most of the cockpit wreaks luxury while a light tan shade of leather called Camel is found on the seats which is tantalising. Keen eyes are going to take notice of the thin white lining on the seat borders which speaks of the exquisite craftsmanship done. Like its British competitor, the Flying Spur Mulliner also gets a 3D effect to the diamond stitching on the door.

Bentley

Features

For those techy at heart, the Flying Spur gets idiosyncratic graphics for the Mulliner edition. The binnacle also features LEDs for great illumination. To inform one of its equally potent sporty characteristics, it features aluminium finished sporty pedals to urge you to take off ravenously. Adding to the comfort is the heated steering wheel and a dual pane glass sunroof for an airy cabin and panoramic view.

Speaking of the place where most owners are going to seek a luxe refuge, the back seat offers electrically deployable brown veneered tables which automatically adjust their position and also reveal a compartment to cache your stylus or that pen from Jashanmal to write cheques worth billions. After a long and dreadful day at the office, consider this car a mecca for you as it cocoons you with its diamond-quilted leather captain seats and offers massaging functions.

Knit picking fine details, buyers in this monopsony market will be handed over not just their expensive palace on wheels in style, but the keys too in Mulliner-branded handcrafted presentation box of the same tri-colour assortment of the interior.

Performance

Along with the already robust V8 and W12 powertrains, is a new V6 hybrid that gives the car the tenacity to propel forward while being more frugal at the same time. The full-fed 6.0-litre W12 shoots the car like a bullet to triple-digit speeds in 3.8 seconds. Be accustomed to a juggernaut as it accelerates till 333 Km/h.

The smaller but more practical 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 does the sprint to 100 Km/h in a laudable 4.1 seconds and tears the wind at 318 Km/h.

Interestingly, the V6 hybrid also boasts of a jaw-dropping 0-100 Km/h time of just 4.3 seconds but limits itself to 285 Km/h.

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