Crewe-based Bentley Motors (www.bentleymotors.com) has confirmed that production of its all-new Flying Spur — a luxury touring sedan — is now underway, with deliveries scheduled to begin early in 2020.

Handcrafting of the first customer orders is currently taking place at Bentley’s factory after more than one million miles of development testing.

Peter Bosch, board member for manufacturing, said: “The new Flying Spur is a leap forward, combining ‘state of the art’ technology with a modern ultra-luxurious interior and exterior. Every single example is an artisanal piece of art, handcrafted using the finest authentic materials.”

The new Flying Spur features an extended wheelbase, as well as a retractable Bentley ‘Flying B’ mascot. A wide range of Advanced Connectivity features is available, along with systems such as a night-vision infra-red camera, Traffic Assist and a Head-Up Display.

The new Flying Spur is powered by an enhanced version of Bentley’s 6.0-litre twin-turbo-charged W12 engine and has a dual-clutch eight-speed transmission.

It has a top speed of 207mph and a 0-60mph time of 3.7sec.

There were 285,000 miles of durability testing, while chassis testing alone accounted for over 150 laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit.