Media | Articles
Would You Break the Bank for this Bizarre Bentley Flying Star?
Italian coachbuilder Carrozeria Touring Superleggera once turned the Bentley Continental GTC convertible into a striking shooting brake. Actually, the artisans of Italy did it no less than 19 times for a run of Flying Stars.
In the process of transformation from soft top to breadvan the Carrozeria extended the doors and rear wings by an inch and grafted on new metal for the roof and tailgate. The company says more than 4000 hours of work went into each Flying Star, with no two examples being the same, as it spent six months working with each customer on the specifications.
RM Sotheby’s has a metallic grey 2008 Flying Star coming up for sale at its Paris auction on February 4-5, 2025, with a saffron leather interior and bespoke matching luggage commissioned by the original buyer. It’s powered by a mighty six-liter W-12 engine that’s covered just 7467 km (4640 miles) and has been maintained to the highest standards. The left-hand drive car was first ordered in Belgium in October 2008, then sent to Italy where it was finally finished in later 2009. It’s titled as a 2010 car.
At the time it was built Carrozeria Touring Superleggera claimed that the Flying Star was a “luxurious four seater limousine or high speed load carrier. The elegant interior changes from one configuration to the other to provide the optimum practicality.” It was a “fast, enjoyable supercar, whose value will grow in time like every true collector’s item.”
That last part may not quite be accurate as the Flying Star cost €343,000 on top of the price of the donor Bentley Continental GTC in 2008 and RM Sotheby’s has put an estimate of €300,00-€400,000 ($312,545-$416,728) on the car. It’s not exactly a meme coin crash, but perhaps not the best investment vehicle after all.
Marketplace
Buy and sell classics with confidence
Of course, this should inspire cultivated new distinguished refinements of exclusive coach-built classifications, such as “Artisan Breadvan”, or “Pheasant-Shooting Brake”.
It’s interesting. Does look a little funky with the rear end integration.
I thought the PT cruiser and the chevy SSR were ugly. This takes it to a new level. Same designer as the Cullinan?
At the price point where I usually buy toys, I could buy a lot of cars and somewhere to store them for that kind of money
👍👍
I remember when the concert came around several years ago the price was about 300k in addition to what the original car cost As a wagon lover, it caught my attention because I like weird. Yeah, it’s cool but not mid-figure cool. I own several hot rod wagons and will keep driving them unless a few hundred million is dropped in my lap then I might have one built.
Shooting brake is definitely the coolest name for any body style. And it’s not my thing but what could possibly be a bigger f. u. money symbol than paying $300k extra to turn a Bentley into a less useful station wagon?
I may be a knuckle dragging commoner, but shouldn’t the color of the passenger’s door match the body?
If I could afford the convertible, I would buy one and spend much less than the cost of the conversion to buy a ridiculously expensive SUV to drive the rest of the week.