The Bentley Flying Spur transformed by British artist David Gwyther, known as Death Spray, is eventually destined to be crushed. In an interview published by Road & Track on October 19, Gwyther explained that the art car uses a pre-production prototype. No date for its destruction has been announced. The disclosure adds an unexpected end to a one-off commission that was publicly displayed in New York earlier in the month.
Gwyther spent ten days painting the saloon in his Welsh studio. He applied a deep black base, arranged masking shapes by hand and added irregular white forms. The result evokes prototype camouflage, yet it is intended to disrupt rather than conceal the Flying Spur's identity. Its asymmetry works against the Bentley's ordinarily balanced lines and makes the familiar luxury bodywork harder to read at a glance.
The most unusual details appear after sunset. Blue, green and purple phosphorescent pigments absorb light and glow in darkness, creating another composition over the black-and-white surface. Achieving the effect required Gwyther to alternate between working with studio lights on and inspecting his progress with them switched off. He described the experience as close to painting blind because the finished visual effect was not fully apparent during application.
The Flying Spur Art Car made its US debut on October 13 at a one-night CART Department gallery presentation in Manhattan. Bentley placed it alongside the electric Torcal, whose illuminated diamond-pattern grille explores light as a more permanent design feature. The New York showing was not the art car's initial unveiling. The October 19 interview instead established a new fact about the prototype's eventual fate.
Death Spray Custom previously created designs for motorcycles, racing equipment and five vehicles associated with Ken Block's Gymkhana films. The Bentley offered a different surface: a meticulously finished luxury saloon overlaid with visibly hand-made marks. Gwyther told Road & Track that the planned destruction did not diminish his interest in the project. The collaboration had allowed him to try paint and production techniques beyond what he would ordinarily attempt on his own.
For now, the car remains an unusual meeting of automotive engineering and temporary artwork. Neither its final period of use nor its disposal procedure has been made public, so its expected destruction should not be mistaken for an event that has already happened.