Bristol Motor Cars

[thejester]

I recently encountered members of a UK Bristol Owners Club on the wild west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, of all places.

Now, being a car fan, though not a real classic car nut, I was still a little surprised that I had never heard of these things. I remebered the Bristol Beaufighter from books on the war, but that's all.

What interesting things! While some were genuine old Bristols, there were a number of Bristol Speedsters, a remarkably retro roadster, apparently based on an old prototype, sort of a genteel, British AC Cobra.

The whole enterprise just struck me as quintessentially old-school British. the styling, the fact that the cars seem to only come in sedate dark shades of BRGreen, mauve, navy blue and the like, and the fact that Bristol have no outlets, and the cars are essentially built bespoke.

Quite a remarkable phenomenon to encounter in Westport, let me tell you!

The Club members I met briefly were almost all terribly friendly and polite, clearly enjoying themselves despite the inclement weather. And, forgive my rough colonial manner, but no doubt their sunny disposition was helped by the spectacular sums of disposable income you'd have to enjoy in order to not only purchase one of these things, but also ship (and insure) them to New Zealand and back.

Now you're probably all aware of these things here in the classic car section, but I thought I'd mention it, see if there were any fans with interesting knowledge about the company. Plus I wanted to ask the UK forum members what the car sort of 'means' culturally, how is it thought of, as an institution with such an interesting approach. I don't know if that makes sense, but you're thoughts are welcomed!

And to anyone who, like me, was unaware of their existence, here's a link to the company's website:

www.bristolcars.co.uk

[275 GTB-4]

I had a similar experience...complete surprise to turn the corner and see this lot in Young NSW...whilst I knew straight away what I was seeing (Bristols) it was still quite a pleasant surprise to stop and chat

[John Turner]

Bristols are bespoke, very limited production cars. They have a loyal following and customer base, relying on reputation and word of mouth for sales. Their cars are beautifully built, always have been, but after the mid 50's their styling left a whole lot to be desired and have only just started to recover. The 401 and 403 models shown in the picture above are late 40's and early 50s cars and are lovely things. I think it was L J K Setright who proclaimed them better built than Aston Martins, but I know which I would prefer, certainly of models made by both manufacturers in the last 50 years!

[thejester]

Thanks John.

They certainly looked built to last. There was a great deal of tinkering under the bonnet with the club members, but I think only one had a mechanical issue and the rest were just engaged in loving maintenance!

[johnh875]

A friend of mine has a 401, it is only details like the tall, narrow tyres that give away its age aside from the patina of age on the original leather seats. Bristols are also engineered differently to other cars in many ways - on a trip he managed to lock his keys inside, and because the locks free-wheel when locked it would have been useless to call out the RACV. Luckily one window was open a hair's breadth, and they were able to pull it down a bit more so a fishing rod would fit through and press the interior release button on the other door!

[Osella]

Quite simply, the finest cars on the planet. I've never been in one; but remember an interesting chat with the old bloke who (used to) run them at Goodwood Festy of Speed. He had driven a blue 401 there (I think) - the 'BMW' one - (Bristol got a BMW factory contents as war reparations, IIRC) - which was half a century old and done >350k miles. Never went wrong, and was never likely to, apparently. He said he liked to tell his customers that his cars would outlast them comfortably (though in fairness that could be a consequence of the age of someone who'd managed to accumulate the incredibly vast amounts of cash required). I particularly appreciate the 'practical' aspects of their design: the engines are understressed so more reliable; anyone wealthy enough to own one probably needs some wading ability to traverse their remote estates; they look anonymous (ugly) enough not to attract vandalism (well, except the Fighter - but that'd probably attack you back); they eschew 'barreled' sides in order to make them narrower and easier to drive in traffic. The Fighter has a whole host of aerodynamic features that seem to have gone unexplored by other manufacturers. The only thing missing
is a GT racing program!

[275 GTB-4]

Did Bristol ever make a convertible??

The flowing lines would make an attactive sporty IMHO

[johnh875]

The 402 model was a convertible version of the 401/403 as pictured above (most of the cars) and they look incredible - incredibly expensive too as only a handful were made.

[Pistonbroke]

And they made 43 beooooooooooooooutiful Type 405 dropheads

[Wet marshal]

About eight years ago, I used to deliver parts to Bristol cars in Filton.
Most parts were FORD based, but the hand built craft was unique to the Current mass produced car manufacturer I work for now.