The Bristol 411 is an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

which was built by the British manufacturer

Bristol Cars Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built luxury cars 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, the car division ...

from 1969 to 1976. It was the fifth series of

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...

d Bristol models. The car was rated highly for its comfort, performance and handling by contemporary reviewers. With the 411, Bristol, for the first time since the 407 was introduced, made a change of engine. Although they were still using a Chrysler V8 engine, the old A type engine was gone. Replacing it was the much larger

big-block A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and use ...

B series engine of - as compared to the 5,211 cc of the 410. This much larger engine gave the 411 an estimated 30 percent more power than had been found in the 410. The 411 was capable of 230 km/h (143 mph). To cope with this extra power, a

limited slip differential A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts. Limited-slip differentials are often known by the generic tr ...

was fitted. The interior showed a number of important changes from the

Bristol 410 The Bristol 410 was the fourth series of Chrysler V8-engined models from British manufacturer Bristol Cars. It was the last Bristol to use the 5.2-litre (318 cubic-inch) engine originally found in the Bristol 407. With the 410, Bristol ...

. The traditional Blümel twin-spoke

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

was replaced by a more practical three-spoked leather-wrapped wheel, which as a result of the traditional Bristol badge being removed from the front of the car, was the ''only'' place where this badge was retained.

Changes

Over its seven years in production, the 411 showed a number of changes. The 1971 Series 2 added self-levelling suspension and a

metric Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathem ...

odometer, while the Series 3 from a year later had a lower compression ratio and completely revised styling. This edition was the first Bristol to possess the four-headlamp layout that was oddly anticipated by some of the company's earliest models, and to power this a bigger alternator was used. For the Series 4 of 1974, the compression ratio was reduced dramatically (from 9.5:1 to 8.2:1) but this was compensated by using a larger version of the B series engine with a capacity of . The rear lights were also changed using vertically mounted rectangular Lucas clusters, that carried over to the early 603 models. The Series 5 made from 1975 to 1976 had the original Bristol badge restored and was the first Bristol to feature inertia reel

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

s. In the 2010s Bristol Cars offered a modernised version of the Bristol 411, the Series 6. Bristol 411 Series 6 This was a refurbished version based on existing 411s. The only engine is the fuel injected 5.9 litre V8 as used in the later

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

, allowing for up to depending on the customer's desires. File:Bristol 411 Series 1 (1970).jpg, Series 1 interior File:Bristol 411 S1.jpg, Series 1, rear view File:Bristol 411 .jpg, Bristol 411 Series 4, with quad headlights File:Bristol 411 Series 6.jpg, Series 6

Notes

External links

Bristol Owners Club, Bristol Type 411
{{Bristol Cars 411 Bristol 411 Cars introduced in 1969 Sports sedans Rear-wheel-drive vehicles