Rolls-Royce had envisaged the Bentley Continental as exclusively a two-door car, but late in 1957 the decision was taken to sanction the production of a four-door variation by H J Mulliner. Introduced on the S1 Continental and known as the 'Flying Spur', this design was a collaborative effort by Rolls-Royce's in-house styling department and H J Mulliner, and bore a strong resemblance both to the two-door Continental and to existing coachbuilt four-door styles on Rolls-Royce and (non-Continental) Bentley chassis. To the Continental's existing qualities of pace and elegance, the Flying Spur added four-door practicality, a more spacious interior and generously proportioned boot. The Flying Spur body style continued on the V8-engined S2 Continental and was revised to incorporate the S3's four-headlamp front end following the latter's introduction in 1962.
The Bentley Flying Spur was offered in two models, with either four or six side windows; the “Four Light” variant, style number 7443/B, was the most rare, as it was used on only fourteen S1 Continental chassis, of which only three were factory left-hand-drive examples, the vast majority of those produced (55 cars) being completed in the six-light style ('7443'), while two other six-lights featured smaller rear quarter lights. Mulliner produced 128 examples of the Flying Spur on the S2 Continental chassis, of which a mere 52 were left-hand drive examples.