Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built
luxury car
A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars.
The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...
s
[ headquartered in Bristol, England. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020.
After the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the car division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company was formed, later becoming Bristol Cars Limited.
Bristol had only one sales showroom, on the corner of Kensington High Street and Holland Road in London.
It was always a low-volume manufacturer; the most recent published official production figures were for 1982, which stated that 104 cars were produced in that year.
The company suspended manufacturing in March 2011, when administrators
Administrator or admin may refer to:
Job roles Computing and internet
* Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database
* Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum
* N ...
were appointed, 22 staff were made redundant at the factory in Filton
Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
, Bristol and subsequently the company was dissolved. In April 2011, a new company was formed by the administrator to sell the original assets to Kamkorp
The Kamkorp Group was a privately held holding company, encompassing a wide range of businesses but operates mainly as Frazer-Nash Research Ltd. It was owned by UK-based Indian businessman Kamal Siddiqi. Over the past 25 years, the Kamkorp Gro ...
. Since 2011, the company has been restoring and selling all models of the marque while a new model was being developed. The company had revealed a desire to return to automotive production in 2018 with an all-new model, called the "Bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
", initially dubbed "Project Pinnacle". The car was first revealed to the public on 26 July 2016, and homologation was set to have begun some time in 2018.
History
The British aircraft industry suffered a dramatic loss of orders and great financial difficulties following the Armistice of 1918. To provide immediate employment for its considerable workforce, the Bristol Aeroplane Company undertook the manufacture of a light car
The term light car is used in Great Britain since the early part of the 20th century for an automobile less than 1.5 litres engine capacity. In modern car classification this term would be roughly equivalent to a subcompact car. There are numero ...
(the single-seat Bristol Monocar, powered by a motorcycle engine), the construction of car bodies for Armstrong Siddeley
Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines.
The company was created following t ...
and bus bodies for their sister company, Bristol Tramways
Bristol Tramways operated in the city of Bristol, England from 1875, when the Bristol Tramways Company was formed by Sir George White, until 1941 when a Luftwaffe bomb destroyed the main power supply cables.
History
The first trams in Brist ...
.
On the outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Sir George Stanley White, managing director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company from 1911 to 1954, was determined not to suffer the same difficulties a second time. The company now employed 70,000 and he knew he must plan for the time when the wartime demand for Bristol aircraft and aircraft engines would suddenly end. The company began working with AFN Ltd, makers of Frazer Nash
Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed t ...
cars and British importer of BMWs before the war, on plans for a joint venture in automotive manufacture.
As early as 1941, a number of papers were written or commissioned by George S. M. White, Sir Stanley's son, proposing a post-war car manufacturing division. It was decided to purchase an existing manufacturer for this purpose. Alvis
Alvis may refer to:
*Alvis Car and Engineering Company, British luxury car and military vehicle manufacturer which later became Alvis plc
* Alvis plc (formerly United Scientific Holdings plc), a defence contractor which acquired Alvis Cars and bec ...
, Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
, Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...
, ERA
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Comp ...
and Lea-Francis
Lea-Francis was a British motor manufacturing company that began by building bicycles.
History
R. H. Lea and G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing in 1903 and motorcycles in 1911. Le ...
were considered.
Beginning
A chance discussion took place in May 1945, between D. A. Aldington, a director of Frazer Nash then serving as an inspector for the wartime Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP), and Eric Storey, an assistant of George White at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It led to the immediate take-over of Frazer Nash by the aeroplane company.
Aldington and his two brothers had marketed the Frazer Nash BMW before the war, and proposed to build an updated version after demobilisation. This seemed the perfect match for the aeroplane company's own ambitions to manufacture a high quality sports car. With the support of the War Reparations Board, H. J. Aldington travelled to Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and purchased the rights to manufacture three BMW models and the 328 engine.
By July 1945, BAC had created a car division and bought a controlling stake in AFN. A factory was established at Filton Aerodrome
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, north of Bristol, England.
Description
The airfield was bounded by the A38 road to the east, and the former London to Avonmouth ...
, near Bristol.
George White and Reginald Verdon-Smith of the aeroplane company joined the new Frazer Nash Board, but in January 1947, soon after the first cars had been produced, differences between the Aldingtons and Bristol led to the resale of Frazer Nash. The Bristol car division became an independent entity.
Independence
Bristol Cars was sold after its parent joined with other British aircraft companies in 1960 to create the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), which later became part of British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
.
The car division originally merged with Bristol Siddeley Engines
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of t ...
, and was marked for closure, but was bought in September 1960 by George S.M. White the chairman and effective founder. White retained the direction of the company, but sold a forty per cent shareholding to Tony Crook, a leading Bristol agent. Crook became sole distributor.
New ownership
In September 1969, only a month before the unveiling of the new Bristol 411 at the Earl's Court Motor Show
The British International Motor Show is an annual motor show held by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders between 1903 and 2008 in England, and as The British Motor Show since 2021 by Automotion Events.
Initially held in London at Th ...
, Sir George White (as he had become) suffered a serious accident in his Bristol 410. The car was only superficially damaged, but he suffered severe trauma.
As time passed it became clear that he would never regain his health sufficiently to return to full-time work. To safeguard the future of his workforce, he decided in 1973 to sell his majority shareholding to Crook. As the ties with the White family were severed, British Aerospace requested the company to move its factory from Filton Aerodrome and it found new premises in nearby Patchway
Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bra ...
. The showroom on Kensington High Street became the head office, with Crook shuttling between the two in Bristol's light aircraft.
Under Crook's direction the company produced at least six types, the names of which were largely borrowed from Bristol's aeronautical past: the Beaufighter, Blenheim, Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
and Brigand
Brigandage is the life and practice of highway robbery and plunder. It is practiced by a brigand, a person who usually lives in a gang and lives by pillage and robbery.Oxford English Dictionary second edition, 1989. "Brigand.2" first recorded us ...
.
End of the second era
In February 1997, Crook, then aged 77, sold a fifty per cent holding in Bristol Cars to Toby Silverton, with an option to take full control within four years. Silverton, then son-in-law of Joe Lewis of the Tavistock Group
Tavistock Group is a Bahamas-based private investment organization founded by Joseph "Joe" Lewis in 1975. Lewis is the primary investor in the company. The company is headquartered in the offshore financial center of The Commonwealth of The Ba ...
and son of Arthur Silverton of Overfinch
Overfinch is a company that customises Land Rover and Range Rover cars and is based in Leeds, England. In 2005, Overfinch won the Ford "Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Design" award for the SuperSport styling package.
Hist ...
, joined the board with his father.
Crook and Toby Silverton produced the Speedster, Bullet, Blenheim and 411 Series 6, though 2002 saw the transfer of Bristol Cars fully into the ownership of Silverton and the Tavistock Group, with Silverton in the chair and Crook remaining as managing director. Together they developed a V10 engine
A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...
d two-seater named after the first Sir George White's First World War two-seater aircraft, the Bristol Fighter.
Crook finally relinquished his connection with Bristol Cars in August 2007. In March 2011, it was announced that Bristol Cars Limited had been placed into administration; it was that company that was renamed and subsequently dissolved by the administrator.
Pre-war BMW designs, Aldington brothers and early cars
HJ Aldington, a director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company affiliated AFN (BMW's pre-war concessionaire in the UK), used his British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
connections to visit the bombed BMW factory in Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
several times post-war. In 1945 he took plans for BMW cars back to Britain, and BMW chief engineer, Dr. Fritz Fiedler
Fritz Fiedler (born Potsdam 9 January 1899: died Schliersee 8 July 1972), was an automotive engineer. His projects included the BMW 328 sports car, the ex-BMW Bristol straight-six engine, and the BMW New Class sedan.
Career to 1945
Fiedler began h ...
was also employed. Its first car was the Bristol 400
The Bristol 400 is a luxury car produced by the Bristol Aeroplane Company of Great Britain, its first. After World War II in 1947, BAC decided to diversify and formed a car division, which would later be the Bristol Cars company in its own ri ...
, prototyped in 1946 and introduced at the 1947 Geneva Motor Show
The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...
. Derived from immediately pre-WW2 BMW products (thanks to a connection to BMW through Frazer Nash), the chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
was based on the BMW 326
The BMW 326 is a medium-sized sedan produced by BMW between 1936 and 1941, and again briefly, under Soviet control, after 1945. The 326 was BMW's first four-door sedan.Odin, L.C. ''World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile produc ...
, the engine on the 328, and the body on the 327. Even a variation on the famous double-kidney BMW grille was retained. Bristol, however, did a thorough examination of the car's handling and ended up with performance "only matched by outright purpose-built competition cars". Seven hundred of the Bristol 400 were built, 17 of which received "handsome" drophead bodywork from Pininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930.
On 14 December 2015, the Indian ...
.
In 1949, the 400 was joined by the five-place 401. Bodied by Touring, it was aerodynamically
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...
sleeker, accelerated better, and had higher top speed. It was joined by the drophead 402
__NOTOC__
Year 402 (Roman numerals, CDII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arcadius and Honorius (or, less frequent ...
, of which just 24 examples were built.
The 403 followed in 1953, which featured improved brakes, gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
, damper
A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to:
Music
* Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments
* A mute for various brass instruments
Structure
* Damper (flow), a mechan ...
s, heater, and engine (a detuned racing motor, in fact). Bristol would use this same engine in the 450, entered at Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
in 1953; it broke its experimental crankshaft, but despite being less than aerodynamically ideal proved fully five seconds a lap quicker than the competition. Bristol withdrew from racing two years later.
Along with the 403 was the 404, on a shorter wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
, with a more powerful engine and styling reminiscent of the 450. The 404 introduced a concealed front wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
-mounted spare wheel and battery. It was built to extremely exacting standards, and the price reflected it; this, plus newly introduced "punitive taxation", meant only 40 were produced.
The 405, which entered production in 1954, was much more successful, not least for being Bristol's only four-door. It remained in production until 1958, with 297 saloons
Saloon may refer to:
Buildings and businesses
* One of the bars in a traditional British pub
* An alternative name for a bar (establishment)
* Western saloon, a historical style of American bar
* The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...
and 43 drophead coupés produced in all.
Bristol debuted the 406 in 1958, and it remained in production until 1961.
V8 cars
The 406's replacement, the 407, was powered by a 5.2-litre V8 provided by Chrysler of Canada.
It was followed in 1963 by the 408
__NOTOC__
Year 408 (Roman numerals, CDVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Philippus (or, less frequentl ...
, with drastic restyling as well as improved suspension. This was succeeded by the 409. Many buyers preferred the crisp steering and gearbox of the earlier six-cylinder cars.
The 410, introduced in 1966, was a return to the high-performance touring tradition, offering the same top speed as the 409, and superior acceleration, with the same powerplant. It also saw Bristol become a private company and marked a return to quality to the exclusion of output: no more than three cars a week were to be made.
In 1969, the Bristol 411 appeared, with a new 6.2-litre Chrysler V8 (still rebuilt and modified by Bristol, as before) delivering higher top speed and even better acceleration.
Engines
Until 1961 all Bristol cars used Bristol-built derivatives of the BMW M328
The BMW M328 is an overhead valve straight-six petrol engine which was produced from 1936 to 1940. It was a high-performance development of the BMW M78 engine that was produced alongside the M78.
Compared with the M78, the M328 has an aluminium ...
2-litre six-cylinder engine. These engines also powered a number of sports and racing cars, including all post-war Frazer Nashes (apart from a few prototypes), some ACs, some Lotus and Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
racing cars, and several others.
In 1961, with the launch of the Bristol 407
The Bristol 407 was a sports tourer car produced by British manufacturer Bristol Cars between 1961 and 1963.
It was the first Bristol model to be made by the company after separation from the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which had built all previo ...
, the company switched to larger Chrysler V8 engines, which were more powerful than Bristol's own, BMW derived 2.25-litre 6 cylinder engine. The Chrysler V8s could be bought off the shelf from Canadian Chrysler without the startup costs of Bristol's own 3.65-litre all alloy 6 then in development. All post-1961 Bristols, including the later Blenheim and Fighter models, used Chrysler engines.
Kamkorp era (2011–2020)
Administration and purchase
On 3 March 2011 it was announced that Bristol Cars had gone into administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
, with the loss of 22 jobs when the factory at Filton, Bristol was shut down.
On 21 April 2011 another new company was formed to sell the assets of the former dissolved company; that company was purchased by Kamkorp
The Kamkorp Group was a privately held holding company, encompassing a wide range of businesses but operates mainly as Frazer-Nash Research Ltd. It was owned by UK-based Indian businessman Kamal Siddiqi. Over the past 25 years, the Kamkorp Gro ...
, which also owns Frazer-Nash Research, a technology manufacturer of electric power systems.
Bristol Bullet
In 2015 Bristol Cars announced the development of a new model codenamed "Project Pinnacle". Initial reports indicated it would be a petrol-electric hybrid with a petrol engine from BMW. However a later media report and a May 2015 press release, indicated that the car would have non-hybrid V8 power.
The car, a two-seater roadster, made its first public appearance, slightly camouflaged, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in l ...
in June 2016. In July, the car was shown undisguised, technical details were announced, and its name given as Bristol Bullet. However, since that date there has been no further news about the car's homologation, and many members of the sales and marketing team have recently left the company. It is said to be powered by a normally aspirated 4.8-litre BMW N62
The BMW N62 is a naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine which was used in BMW cars from 2001–2010. It also remained in small-scale production for the Morgan Aero until 2019. The N62 is the world's first engine to use a continuously variable-len ...
V8 engine (sharing the same drivetrain and chassis as the most recent Morgan Aero 8
The Morgan Aero 8 is a sports car built by Morgan Motor Company at its factory in Malvern Link, England (an area of Malvern in Worcestershire).
The Aero 8 shape evolved in the traditional Morgan way of form follows function and the main playe ...
) driving the rear wheels, has a body of carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
, weighs 1130 kg, and will cost £95,000. The planned production run is said to be limited to 70 cars to commemorate the marque's 70th anniversary.
Winding-up
On 5 March 2020 it was reported that Bristol cars had been officially wound up in order to pay creditors, with court-ordered liquidation under way. The Bristol Owners Club working together with the Bristol Owners and Drivers Association and the Bristol Owners Heritage Trust is reported to be actively engaged in order to preserve the heritage and associated spares for the marque.
Models
Bristol-engined cars
* Type 400 (1946–1950)
* Type 401 (1948–1953)
* Type 402 (1949–1950)
* Type 403 (1953–1955)
* Type 404 (1953–1955)
* Type 404X Arnolt Bristol (1954–1958)
* Type 405 (1954–1958)
* Type 406 (1958–1961)
* Type 450 (1953–1955)
Chrysler-engined cars
* Type 407 (1961–1963)
* Type 408 (1963–1965)
* Type 409 (1965–1967)
* Type 410 (1967–1969)
* Type 411 (1969–1976)
* Type 412/Beaufighter (1975–1993)
**
** Beaufort
* Type 603 (1976–1982)
** Britannia/Brigand (1982–1993)
* Blenheim (1993–2011)
** Blenheim 2
** Blenheim 3, 3S and 3G
** Blenheim 4
* Blenheim Roadster/Speedster (2003–2011)
* Fighter (2004–2011)
BMW-engined cars
* Bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...
(2016, one built)
See also
* Bristol Commercial Vehicles
Bristol Commercial Vehicles was a vehicle manufacturer located in Bristol, England. Most production was of buses but trucks and railbus chassis were also built.
The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company started to build buses for its own use ...
* List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
:''This list is incomplete. You can help by adding correctly sourced information about other manufacturers.''
As of 2018 there are approximately 35 active British car manufacturers and over 500 defunct British car manufacturers. This page lists ...
References
Other sources
*
*
*
External links
Bristol Cars Official Site
Bristol Owners Club (UK)
Bristol Owners & Drivers Association
{{Coord, 51.528775, -2.58914167, type:landmark_region:GB-GLS, format=dms, display=title, name=Bristol Cars factory
British brands
Kensington
Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in Bristol
1945 establishments in England
British companies established in 1945
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1945
Car brands
Formula One engine manufacturers
Sports car manufacturers