When you were a kid, did you ever dream of owning a car that could do 200 mph? It’s still a near-mythical figure, achieved by some of the poster cars on our bedroom walls like the Lamborghini Diablo, but largely considered out of reach for mortals like us, at least in something that wasn’t heavily modified. However, a funny thing’s happened over the past 35 years or so — not only has the number of cars capable of 200 mph ballooned, depreciation has brought pricing on some of them closer to Earth.
So what’s the most affordable 200 mph car? Well, a Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG and a V10-powered BMW M5 with the SMG automated manual gearbox will allegedly both hit 200 mph if their top speed limiters are removed, but for the purpose of this exercise, let’s stick with stock. What does that leave us with, a Dodge Charger Hellcat? Perhaps, although there is one car I can think of that’s now even cheaper than a Charger Hellcat, yet still has an official top speed of 200 mph. I’m talking about the 2008 Bentley Flying Spur Speed.
Let’s cast our minds back to the turn of the millennium, when Volkswagen bought Bentley, separating the brand from Rolls-Royce for the first time since 1931. At the same time, BMW bought the rights to the Rolls-Royce passenger car name and Spirit of Ecstasy, resulting in a bit of a row, a settlement, and Volkswagen hastily re-engineering the Arnage to accept the Bentley 6.75-liter V8.
However, Bentley also needed a new model beneath the Arnage, and Volkswagen had quite the plan: Take the enormously heavy, enormously complex Volkswagen Phaeton W12, drape it in new coachwork and several acres of cows, and then modify the engine with, among other things, two turbochargers. The result was a 552-horsepower cruise missile, available as a Continental GT Coupe or a Continental Flying Spur sedan. However, this only resulted in a top speed of between 195 and 197.6. mph, and that simply isn’t enough. Thankfully, 2008 happened.
Wait, I don’t mean it like that. When I say 2008 happened, I mean that while Lehman Brothers was going bust and Detroit’s big three were preparing to invert their empty wallets in front of Congress, Bentley was preparing a four-door weapon to surpass Metal Gear. We’re talking about a Continental with 50 more horsepower and 74 more lb.-ft. of. torque than the standard one, tweaked suspension, sharper steering, available carbon ceramic brakes, and a top speed of 200 mph. It’s called the Flying Spur Speed, and as far as literal trim levels go, this is one of the best.
Oh, and there’s more to the performance of the Flying Spur Speed than just its VMax. When Car And Driver tested a 2009 model, it ran from zero-to-60 mph in 4.2 seconds, pulled 0.89 g on the skidpad, and stopped from 70 mph in a shorter distance than a Lamborghini Murcielago. At the same time, it was still a proper Bentley, meaning all that speed came with serious isolation. As the magazine wrote:
When you punch the throttle, the result feels a bit like riding a skyscraper shot out of an artillery piece, with max torque coming at a low 1750 rpm. The sounds you hear are dominated by intake whoosh and a determined, locomotive groan from the engine room. But, disappointingly, the exhaust is overwhelmed by wind noise with the windows down and simply eliminated with the double-paned glass up. On throttle lift, you can detect a pleasing woofle from the back, but it seems that only bystanders are destined to hear the W-12’s exhaust note. Gotta toss the proles a cookie sometimes.
That test car carried a price tag of $236,665, but thanks to the miracle of depreciation, you won’t have to pay anywhere near that much for a Flying Spur Speed of your own.
Just take a look at this 2010 Flying Spur Speed up for sale in Arizona for $29,500. That’s not a typo, nor is this particular Bentley a rebuilt wreck. In fact, it has a clean Carfax, but it does sport a whopping 111,297 miles. On the plus side, the Carfax does report partial service history including time spent at Bentley dealers under even the latest previous owner, which means it’s probably been looked after decently.
Here’s another one, a 2010 Flying Spur Speed with a far more reasonable 61,367 miles on the clock up for sale at a BMW dealership in California. The price tag? A still cheap $29,999. With a clean Carfax, a light interior, and gleaming brightwork, it still looks the business.
Fancy giving one of those digital car auctions a go? This 2011 Continental Flying Spur Speed sold on Bring A Trailer last year for $32,855. Sure, it might’ve had 79,000 miles on the clock, but it also had a clean Carfax and a rather tasty coffee over caramel color scheme.
Now, there is a caveat here. Any cheap Bentley will go wrong, often in a horrifyingly expensive manner. We’re dealing with a twin-turbocharged W12 and air suspension in a car that originally came with a house-like price tag, not to mention complex body electronics for the 2000s. Sure, the Flying Spur reportedly fixed the pre-2008 Continental GT vacuum hose routing that required engine removal if a leak in the line above the transmission happened, but repair bills could eat the shirt right off your back.
Still, if you’re handy with a toolset and willing to pay for expensive parts, a cheap Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed could be your cheapest way into the 200 mph club without having to flash a tune. Will you ever use that top speed? Likely not, but knowing it’s there certainly satisfies teenage aspirations.
Top graphic images: Bring A Trailer; depositphotos.com
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https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/2C3CDXL96FH773696
Counterpoint: Wrecked salvage hellcat charger for 24k. Even worse idea, but cheaper
It’s not that bad of a salvage either.
https://en.bidfax.info/dodge/charger/26595902-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-2015-black-62l-vin-2c3cdxl96fh773696.html
Ooof, I do have a soft spot for W12 Bentleys and 30K is a tasty temptation. Would I actually buy one? Hell no. Turo for a weekend? Sign me up.
IIRC, one of the major UK magazines (perhaps CAR) tested a regular Flying Spur when it came out. They were impressed with the mid-190s official top speed, and wanted to see if it was accurate.
They took their test car to the Nardi test track (one of the few places in the world where you can actually do that sort of speed) and with three passengers and the a/c on high in an Italian summer, it was timed at 203 mph. They were even more impressed.
This is definitely intriguing. My half drunken dream car is a W12 Phaeton. But I know how difficult repairs and costly maintenance can be. But kick up that trim level to BENTLEY and that double shot of Repasado makes this an OHHH YEAH! I am used to the $4k yearly maintenance bills on a…BMW E93 with the twin turbo (call me a glutton for punishment), but this would probably double that $.
Then the alcohol wears off and realize a BMW G30 with the B58 in stock is close enough in spec (speed wise in being somewhat practical). Add a tune, because it’s 2025 and who isn’t running a JB4, would be a faster 0-60 only with a fraction of the maintenance and up to date technology. I doubt it could do 200 with the restrictors turned off, but in NJ there is no safe roadway to do that speed.
I will wait until the next bottle of Casamigos to dream about this again.
I live in an early 1970s suburb developement. I live in a 1000sqft ranch house.
My neighbor, who lives in an equally 1970s small ranch house, has this and a Maserati Gran Cabrio in their driveway.
That says alot.
Does it say they’re a criminal?
Criminal? Maybe. Do they make highly questionable life choices? Absolutely.
TBH, It very much could say they are a specialized garage mechanic.
BUT REALLY, is it that much of a flex now a days?
A 100K-mile twin-turbocharged W12 Bentley sounds like a lovely candidate for an EV conversion.
Or an LS swap.
That would diminish its performance.
An LS that runs is faster than a broken W12!
shh, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good narrative.
Oh the smells and warning lights that’ll follow for the poor sucker that tries to take a used Bentley to 200 mph.
You’re much better telling people that it can do it than actually trying. Like an athlete way past their prime telling you about the glory days.
Being decent with a toolset means as much for this case as being decent at flossing means if you need a root canal.
I had thought the early conti’s didn’t have the vacuum problem, and it was introduced with changes that came with the flying spur
Not today, Satan! Not today….
I saw a new 4 door Bentley at the local mini golf place. Man, that car is hawt!
Move that decimal one place to the left and I would seriously consider that.
Imagine what a 3 grand one would look like. Dents everywhere, ripped seats, a Walmart stereo, and pink fuzzy steering wheel cover. Baby seat dents in the rear seats. Probably running on 11 cylinders. “Price firm, I know what I got”
+ Pep Boys chrome “enhancement” vents, a tacked on “cold air system,” and bald tires.
And blowing oil smoke past its valve guides.
This would be the type of bad decision that would leave me completely broke yet be so worth it I’d have no regrets after it was over.
Kinda like dating that stripper when I was in my 20’s
Username checks out
One of the partners at the law firm I work at currently drives a Continental GT and previously owned a Flying Spur. He says that they have actually been quite reliable. Of course he is also the first owner and can easily afford the scheduled maintenance.
Personally, I’ll spend the extra up front to get a Charger/Challenger Hellcat, Mustang Shelby 500, or the Camaro whatever.
It’s a good car if you have a garage with a lift and are comfortable working on VW/Audi products. There’s no service position on this, you just have to remove the front clip and all the coolers/radiators that are in it, piece by piece. Lots of things are still engine-out propositions, so if you’ve got a lift and a hydraulic table it’s not toooo bad.
This is a ‘set your money on fire in a barrel’ car. Because owning one will end up that way.
Jesus Christ, so you took a VW that’s so notoriously expensive to own and maintain that it causes an almost visceral fear response in car enthusiasts upon uttering its name, slapped a couple turbos on it, gave it the badging, maintenance, and repair costs of a brand whose name is practically synonymous with “family money acquired around when the Hanovers hit the scene,” and are now trying to convince me to buy a used version of this car past the 100k mile mark.
You know we need money to pay for subscriptions, right?
I’ll buy one we know has reached 110k miles sooner than one with low miles. If it’s made it this long, it’s a good one.
Exactly. Hundal had me until “Take the enormously heavy, enormously complex Volkswagen Phaeton W12…”
I have a bit of a Bentley fetish, these are amazing toys, the annual service is around the £1000 mark, a high cost for a £20,000 car. They need to be driven though,,
You can get one for Camry money, just don’t forget the other Camry money to keep this thing rolling for a year or three.
Dang you beat me to it. Leaving happy.
Just buy a Camry to drive while the Bentley sits on jack stands awaiting the next repair.
So… offset the terrible repair bills by using it as an Uber drive?
It’s been done already – in Beverly Hills.
Tires start at $280. Each. Don’t disable the traction control.
So they’re cheaper than BMW i3 tires? Nice!
That’s incredibly cheap for a luxury car.
That just depends on how discerning you are with tires. But if you’re planning on doing 150+ regularly I’d definitely invest in good tires that are rated for high speeds.
That’s cheaper than tires for a full size truck, let alone a sports car.
Viper tires are about $650 each for rears.
That’s downright affordable for giant rubber bands these days. Lots of prole-mobiles have tires that cost more.
I didn’t pay much less than that for the tires on my GTI
That’s kind of cheap these days.
I am glad you mentioned the repairs. Many parts may not be available anymore. I would be surprised at 5 figure bills.
Since people that have that much money to spend probably would buy a new one or are ready to sink a fortune into repairs.
Most likely these will be owned by wannabe ballerz and dumped when they unable to run.
I applaud those of you out there we can shade tree mechanic “a twin-turbocharged W12 and air suspension” good for you I am impressed.
You’re not really going to be able to shade-tree your way around parts pricing
I mean you can certainly shop around and get parts cheaper if they interchange with something from Audi, but some Bentley-only items will be expensive.
Going down to Audi parts won’t really make things cheap, especially for air suspension
Chinese knockoffs would be the only real (bad) option
I meant who not we NO way in hell can I work on a w12 anything in my garage.
If it wasn’t for the enormous carbon ceramic brakes I bet this would be doable for a lot of people who can turn a wrench. I didn’t have time to do a deep dive into pricing but the first rotors I found were $12k.
So enjoy the $30K purchase until you get your first necessary repair bill.
The repair could be more than the purchase price.
the repair bills, plural will be more than the acquisition price. Not for the faint of heart that Bentley.
I once read ‘The acquisition cost of a used luxury car amounts to a rounding error in the maintenance budget.’ This seems to be the epitome of that.
Horse people: “That’s all? And I don’t get kicked or thrown?”
Pilots: “…and it’s faster than a Cessna!”
I am friends with a lot of horse people and my daughter has been riding since she was six. Horses are EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!! I am glad she never wanted one of her own.
I suppose there are worse ways for me to become bankrupt.
Think about how nice that car would be to sleep in!
Perfect comment!!!