2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur

I see this car regularily, as the client has stated "You just can't drive a dirty Bentley," and I entirely agree with him.



For those of you who don't know, this car has a twin turbo charged w12, putting out 552 horse power to an AWD drivetrain. That's only where Bentley's excellence begins.



Being spring, it was time for a full detail, and to replace the winter matts with the padded wool ones. (Ironically, it's snowing as I write this. That's Calgary for you.)



Bentleys have the best floor mats I've ever seen. The construction, fit, and coverage are incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Audi's influence through VW (who owns Bentley), as Audi has amazing floormats (great fit and protection of surrounding areas.)



If I had a Bentley, you could not stop me from driving it barefoot. Seriously, these floor mats are amazing.



Enough about the floormats. What's also amazing is Bentley paint. They are hand sanded like Ferraris, but generally with softer, thicker clearcoat. The depth is incredible as long as the clearcoat remains, well, clear.



I'll provide some details between photos to keep it interesting.







Time to get started. Wheels first!









As I cleaned the wheels, Phil washed and rinsed the car with Ultima Paint Guard Wash (still currently my favourite car wash due in part to it's great lubricity, but mostly I like the smell.) (Ladies, he's single!) Haha that was just a joke, there're no ladies on Autopia!









The car's clean, so we can begin. Phil clayed the car using something blue we had -probably Meguiar's.

Where can I get aggressive clay? Everyone is selling mild clay these days. I don't want mild clay, I want clay that will remove contaminants embedded contaminants efficiently and effectively. Is there such a thing as aggressive clay? Who sells it? What makes clay more or less aggressive? Can I add something to my clay? Someone should sell a clay booster, or a make your own clay kit. I'd do it myself but I don't have a chemical factory ... YET. Anyway ...

















These photos show the general quality of the finish before polishing. Mostly light swirls with a couple of moderate scratches. These cars have lots of clearcoat to work with, but of course the more you leave on, the better it looks. You can say what you want about Zymol Vintage, but nothing adds depth like CLEARCOAT!!









I don't have any photos of the actual polishing, but we use all Menzerna polishes, and finished the car with Ultima Paint Guard Plus. The process took about nine hours with the two of us working. Here, Phil is using steam to clean out new polish and old wax from crevices and seams.









My before photos of the rear bumper didn't turn out well. There were a lot of scratches on the up facing surface. The paint cleaned up very nice. This photo really shows the quality of Bentley paint. Less sanding marks than Ferrari - I think those Italians probably drink too much Espresso and go a little crazy!













How do you know this isn't a Chrysler 300? The grill's made of metal instead of plastic.









I used something matte on the tires. Bentleys look silly with glossy tires.





















The interior was given a wipe down, and the carpets and floormats were shampooed and extracted.











Thanks for reading. Questions & comments are always appreciated.
 
That's some nice work and documentation, although I don't think the Chrysler 300 comparison was necc. :lol I have 7 B cars on my regular client list, and find that menzerna and foam pads don't mesh well, glad it worked out for you.
 
VTechFan02 said:
Very Very nicely done. No full car shots outside?



Great job!



-Frank



Thank you! It was 10 PM and snowing when we finished up, so I'm afraid not.





MakitaNinja said:
That's some nice work and documentation, although I don't think the Chrysler 300 comparison was necc. :lol I have 7 B cars on my regular client list, and find that menzerna and foam pads don't mesh well, glad it worked out for you.



Thank you! Most of the good things in life are not necessary. What do you dislike about Menzerna with foam pads?
 
That's a beautiful car, from the lack of orange peel to the acres of wood inside. I agree, glossy tires would look ridiculous on a car of this caliber.
 
Reflections said:
...For those of you who don't know, this car has a twin turbo charged w12, putting out 552 horse power to an AWD drivetrain. That's only where Bentley's excellence begins...



I always smile when I read things like this. :)



What is so special in a car that had 2 Golf VR6 engine on a common crank and it's basically a rebodied VW Phaeton, based on an FWD architecture?



True Bentley excellence is the Brooklands IMO. That car reperesents everything the marque stands for.



BTW, Bentleys (both VW-sourced and originals) DO have nice paints, I agree.



EXCELLENT photography, congrats!
 
I really like your idea of using the steamer to get the wax / polish out of crevices! I wouldn't have thought of that. Now I have another reason to fire up the steamer again, thanks :)
 
Bence said:
I always smile when I read things like this. :)



What is so special in a car that had 2 Golf VR6 engine on a common crank and it's basically a rebodied VW Phaeton, based on an FWD architecture?



True Bentley excellence is the Brooklands IMO. That car reperesents everything the marque stands for.



BTW, Bentleys (both VW-sourced and originals) DO have nice paints, I agree.



EXCELLENT photography, congrats!



Thanks for the comments - the VR6 engine is a pretty amazing piece oftechnology, so two of them can't be that bad! All I know is that when I hear the turbos spin up it sounds like heaven and makes my skin tingle.



Numbers and photos are one thing, but a car like this should be driven before a final judgment is made. The attention to detail both inside & out is something all of you would appreciate!







P1et said:
Stunning work and incredible photographs. What do you shoot with?



G35stilez said:
Love your threads; great work here!

What are you shooting with?



Thank you very much! I use a Canon Eos Digital Rebel XTI (10 mp). My favourite lenses (well currently my only lenses $$$) are a 17-85mm IS (great for low lighting since I never have a tripod with me) and a 50 mm fixed, which I do many of the close up shots with. It's a little finicky because of the short field of view, but it's a fast lens because it's fixed, and great for auto photography, which I sometimes joke is why I detail cars in the first place (to prep them for photos!) Post processing is done in Photoshop CS2 (levels adjustment, etc)
 
mcnab said:
I really like your idea of using the steamer to get the wax / polish out of crevices! I wouldn't have thought of that. Now I have another reason to fire up the steamer again, thanks :)



This works amazingly, but be careful around 3M. The steam works great for 3M seams, but 3M can be scorched permenantly by too much heat, and boy does it look awful! (don't ask me how I know!)



Another great thing to steam on the exterior is the driver's side door lock. People are often surprised to reach down to their door handle and see a brand new looking lock, which was previously covered with dirty caked on lubricant!
 
Reflections said:
Thank you! It was 10 PM and snowing when we finished up, so I'm afraid not.









Thank you! Most of the good things in life are not necessary. What do you dislike about Menzerna with foam pads?



On most B paint systems they are very stubborn, at least they can be, I normally rely on a more aggressive pad and less aggressive polish that isn't geared toward hard paint finishes.
 
Reflections said:
Numbers and photos are one thing, but a car like this should be driven before a final judgment is made. The attention to detail both inside & out is something all of you would appreciate!



Absolutely agree! Exactly that's why I said what I said.
 
What white balance are you using? The color is spot on, and whatever filters you are using to give it that soft feel is really amazing. I wish I could get all my pictures to look that good.
 
Very nice detail. My Uncle has a bentley Continental GT which I stole for a few hours. It may be two V6's bolted together, but damn that that thing is fast! Also more reliable than the non-VW based Bentley's. Great job again! :2thumbs:
 
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