Lot 310: 1961 Bentley S2 Continental Flying Spur Saloon<

Eulogising about Bentley’s new ‘S’-series cars, introduced in April 1955, The Autocar wrote, ‘the latest Bentley model offers a degree of safety, comfort and performance that is beyond the experience and perhaps even the imagination of the majority of the world’s motorists.’ Later, in October that same year, the Bentley Continental became available on the ‘S’ chassis, the model having been synonymous with effortless high speed cruising in the grand manner since its introduction in R-Type form in 1952. Having relied exclusively on six-cylinder engines since civilian production resumed at the war’s end, Rolls-Royce secured its long-term future by turning to V8 power as the 1960s approached. Introduced in the autumn of 1959, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II and Bentley S2 appeared externally unchanged from their Silver Cloud and S-Type predecessors, though their performance was considerably enhanced by the new 6,230cc aluminium-alloy engine. Power-assisted steering was now standard and there was no longer the option of a manual gearbox, Rolls-Royce’s own four-speed automatic transmission being the sole offering. The S2 Continental chassis differed by virtue of its shorter radiator, four-leading-shoe front drum brakes and - up to chassis number BC99BY - higher gearing. Independent coachbuilders continued to offer alternatives to the factory’s ‘standard steel’ bodywork, perhaps the most stylish being those produced to cloth the Bentley Continental which was, of course, only ever available with bespoke coachwork. The Continental began life exclusively as a two-door car, but from 1957 H J Mulliner offered the most elegant four-door six-light coachwork on the Continental chassis, this model being known as the ‘Flying Spur’. This Bentley Continental Flying Spur was purchased by the vendor from its preceding owner – Simon Hamilton-Walker – in May 1991, having previously been used overseas. Regularly serviced by Mike Penn at the Haynes Motor Museum, Sparkford, the car benefits from a recent front/rear brake overhaul and four new tyres, these works having been undertaken within the past year. Elegant yet thoroughly practical, it is offered with spare key, MoT to December 2007, Swansea V5C registration document and expired MoTs dating from 1996 to 2007, indicating some 40,000-or-so miles covered over the period.