What you're looking at the latest stunner to come out of Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera's garage in Milan. The Flying Star, based on Bentley's 610-horsepower GTC Speed convertible, is all-Bentley (well, except for the coachwork) and all-new from the windshield back.
Not only does the Flying Star showcase some very talented engineering, it shows that the automobile as a form of art is far from dead as long as people have the money to invest in it.
The Flying Star's roof and rear fenders are steel, the widened doors and hatch are aluminum, the trim is handmade, and the oval tail lights are a 1950's throwback. To make this Bentley stand out just that much more, the car rides on 20-inch Borrani X-Ray wheels.
Inside, the cargo area is covered in a woven leather carpet that matches the custom luggage, while the new rear seats fold flat to provide a 1,200 liter storage capacity (with the seats up, storage is limited to 400 liters, still enough to fit four golf bags).
Touring plans to build up to 20 copies of the Flying Star with a "basic price" of €590,000 for the entry-level model (based on the 560-horsepower GTC), while all-important personalization starts at the €590,001 mark.
Customers should know that were they to make that not-insignificant investment, most worries attributed to owning a one-off car (or as good as) have been taken care of:
"The car will be serviced at the Bentley dealers. Bentley Motors and Touring Superleggera have developed a special mutual warranty program, which safeguards warranty clauses for both the basic car, and the transformation by Touring...The model is CEE homologated according to the new low-volume production directive. For the first time since its introduction, the type approval was awarded without destructive test, using simulation and FEM-analysis."
It's good to see that not only has engineering and style evolved for the 21st century, but professional high-end maintenance and safety standards have as well. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a welder and some aluminum sheets to buy.
-By Phil Alex
