The Bristoliste’s Bristol? The 411 turns 50.
The Bristol Motor car, from its 1948 inception has always proven to be a rarefied and somewhat piquant recipe. Because for every individual who admires and covets the earthbound products of Filton, there are those who find them ungainly, crude and overpriced. But even amongst the former group, there are Bristols and there are Bristols.
Like so many articles of faith, aficionados of the marque tend to Continue reading “Summer Reissue : Peak Bristol”
A nice pair of Bristols? We go in search of shutline nirvana – by air and by road.
Earlier in the week, we spent a fair amount of time examining shutlines and the lengths to which some carmakers will go to engineer solutions to the issues left by the stylists, not to mention the depths to which the marketing team will descend to cast them in the best possible light.
So it is perhaps timely that we Continue reading “Summer Reissue : Another Country”
We have something of a real rarity here: made in small in numbers in the first place and not merely because rust and lack of interest killed them by the thousand. It has to be a Bristol.
Again, like so many of the photos I took in Dublin in Easter 2018, the grey light sabotaged my chances of getting as striking an image as one might find here. (And many thanks to our Leinster correspondent for the use of the photographic equipment). However, as with a sighting of Loch Ness Monsters, one does not put down one’s camera and wait until the sun beams at precisely the right angle before snapping. If you want to Continue reading “A Photoseries for Sunday: 2000 Bristol Blenheim”
In what seems to be a transcript of a period review, the legendary motoring correspondent Archie Vicar reports on the ‘all-new’ Bristol 411.
This article could well have first appeared in the Sheffield Sunday Post, 25th Jan 1970. Due to the poor quality of the original images (by Douglas Land-Windermere), stock photos have been used.
It’s all change at Bristol. The fast-moving Filton manufacturer has responded to the challenges of the times with a veritable flotilla of improvements to their latest car, the 411. Bristol has many unique attributes to help it stay ahead of the competition in these increasingly competitive times. First among them is the remarkably high level of quality on which they insist: the cars are hand-made by craftsman steeped in aviation engineering and versed in production methods that go back decades. While Rolls-Royce and indeed Bentley have switched to monococque construction – making them little more than Cortinas with wood and walnut, some say Continue reading “1969 Bristol 411 Roadtest”
Quite some time has elapsed since I mentioned I’d write a little about the Bristol Bullet.
This reminds me of the legendary Archie Vicar taking several months to decide what he thought about the Peugeot 505. You can read the general outline here: big engine, light car, Italian retromod styling, carbonfibre body and a big price tag (£250,000). My first reaction is to welcome the existence of the car even if it’s not something I’d want to buy were I to have more of the world’s money than I do. Continue reading “Bristol Bullet (Part II)”
I’ve always been aware of Bristol Cars, but it was only in this century that I started looking at them more closely.
Until then, they were an oddity, but one that, for some reason, seemed to engender goodwill rather than antagonism in me. Bearing in mind its scant production over the past decades, there is a surprising amount of goodwill felt towards Bristol in the world of the motoring enthusiast, though often not accompanied by much actual knowledge. Continue reading “Bristol Bullet (Part I) – Life After Filton?”
The definitive Bristol?
Considering the fact that Bristol Cars employed a variation of the same chassis for half a century, it might seem a little futile discussing the 603 as a stand-alone model. Especially so when one considers how much the end-of-days Blenheim 4S owed to its 1976 forebear. However, the 603 did mark one of those rare evolutionary shifts in Bristol style, one which saw them through the next thirty-or-so years, although in retrospect this may have been unwise.
A replacement for the well-regarded and latterly much appreciated 411 series, the 603 was designed under the supervision of Bristol’s chief stylist, Dudley Hobbs, his final piece of work for the marque. One of the primary aims for the 603 model was ease of build, utilising flatter body panels, making it more straightforward for Bristol’s technicians to Continue reading “The Gentleman’s GT”
With no news at all to report on Bristol Cars, we just give the pot a little stir.
Citroen, Lancia, the Toyota Crown … those who visit this site frequently will notice that some subjects recur more often than others. One that, surprisingly, doesn’t (at least not since last June) is another of our one-time fixations, Bristol Cars. In November 2010, I spent a very interesting half hour with Bristol’s then head, Toby Silverton, in Bristol’s Kensington showrooms. His enthusiasm for the Fighter was infectious, and I still imagine it would be a worthwhile car to have. Continue reading “Browsing the High Street – Kensington Style”
Economy sounds like a very objective word. It’s to do with numbers and we all agree what they mean, don’t we?
If we assume a person drives for fifty years of their life, is it cheaper to buy a long-lived car or to drive a fuel-efficient but short-lived mayfly? Whilst numbers can be applied to both scenarios, it is really a value judgement about which set we prefer.
In a simple example, I paid £150 (Irish pounds) for a jacket in 1997 and I still have it. The annual cost has been £8.33 per year so far. I expect I will still Continue reading “Theme: Economy – Spend Now Or Spend Later?”
Bristol Is A Foreign Country …
… They Do Things Differently There.
Here at DTW, we have always held Bristol in great respect. If we haven’t written about them that much over the past couple of years, that’s because neither have they. What, if anything, will come from this silence, who knows, but if and when they re-emerge, will they maintain any of their idiosyncratic past?
Bristol, of course, made much of their aviation heritage. I’ve always felt that should be put into perspective. The Bristol Car Company was always a separate entity from the aviation business and, although there might have been some synergy, it doesn’t follow. In truth the aeronautical heritage was more of a marketing tool but, to consider Bristol’s post war aeronautical output, let’s Continue reading “Theme : Shutlines – Another Way”
We trace a direct descendant.
In 1922, against great opposition from his board, Herbert Austin introduced his Seven into a market dominated by the rudimentary cyclecars that had sprung up in the wake of the First World War. The Seven was a proper small car and, unlike other ‘people’s cars’, it had no radical and untried solutions.
It used a small 4 cylinder, front mounted engine, taking drive through a clutch and gearbox to a rear axle. The solid axle was suspended on elliptic springs but, because everything was so light, the springs did not need to Continue reading “Theme : Evolution – Or Metamorphosis?”
Recent reports are suggesting that Bristol is going to return to car manufacture using BMW engines as part of a hybrid powertrain.
The photo shows one of Bristol’s earlier efforts. The new cars are going to be rather different, featuring a bought-in engine from BMW and electric power systems from Frazer-Nash engineering who now own Bristol. As a long-standing admirer of Bristol I am very intrigued by the prospect of the marque’s revival. Two things will be interesting to watch. One is how the new design will reconcile the futuristic or at least fairly modern concept of hybrid power trains with Bristol’s traditional ethos of pretty heavy and old-fashioned design. Continue reading “Bristol Returns To Its BMW Roots”
Via the Bristol Owner’s website I found this nice American take on Bristol cars. The photo is from the Curbside Classics website which I can’t recommend highly enough.
The 411 looks like a combination of the proportions of a Jaguar XJ-6 and the surface treatment of a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. We have had some debate about the British ability to style cars. This one shows that a British car need not be heavily ornate to look good.
This car had been parked discretely somewhere in Dublin 2; it’s only the third Bristol I have ever seen in Ireland.
Bristol Cars’ new owners have announced the launch of the first wholly new vehicle since the Fighter of 2003.
Called the Pinnacle, the new car is to feature a combination of Bristol hallmarks and modern touches. Carried over are the customs of making the bodies by hand (Bristol require a panel beater) and using very high quality materials. New to Bristol will be the use of battery power and range extension technology. There might even be cup-holders.
Also new to Bristol is the notion of merchandising, which to spell it out, is the selling of non-automotive products branded with the Bristol logo. That’s done to promote the brand (something Bristol didn’t try hard to do) and to make money (something Bristol didn’t manage very well towards the end). Continue reading “Bristol Returns: The 2015 Pinnacle”
For the very rich there are two modes of consumption.
One is to buy the latest thing and replace it as soon as something better comes along. The other mode is to buy something that lasts forever like a castle or a Bristol. The Filton-based firm was a small one and prided itself on the quality of its vehicles. And they are cars that last, being capable of almost indefinite service life, much like a castle, as it happens.
Continue reading “Theme : Facelifts – Bristol Cars and Facelifts as a Way of Life”
Driven To Write 