The Bristol 401 saloon and Bristol 402

cabriolet A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

are British luxury sporting cars, produced between 1948 and 1953 by Bristol Cars, an offshoot of the Bristol Aeroplane Co.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars 1945–1970, page 39 They were developed from 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 ...

, which continued in production alongside the 401 and 402 until 1950. Although mechanically the 401 and 402 used an improved version of the BMW M328 hemi-head engine and its unusual arrangement of two separate pushrods to operate the exhaust valves (necessitated by the

hemispherical combustion chamber A hemispherical combustion chamber is a type of combustion chamber in a reciprocating internal combustion engine with a domed cylinder head notionally in the approximate shape of a hemisphere (in reality usually a spheric section thereof). An en ...

s and opposite facing valves) used in the 400, the styling was a huge advance on the pre-war bodies of that first Bristol model. It was inspired by the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese designer, Carrozzeria Touring, and its most notable feature was that the door handles were not exposed and to open the doors the owner pressed a button into a groove in the door. The body also was more spacious than the 400 and was a full five-seater. At the front the 401 and 402 were also quite distinctive with their headlights moved quite a distance into the centre of the body on either side of the narrow grille, which resembled BMW a little less than did the 400. They were also deeply curved at the front: this, along with the then-unique door handle arrangement, is believed to give the 401 a drag coefficient of less than Cd 0.36 — competitive even by today's standards and remarkable for the time. The

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

was the same 2-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol unit of the 400, but was upgraded through improved Solex carburettors to increase power by to , which improved the performance further beyond what was achieved by the aerodynamics. The suspension is independent at the front using a transverse leaf spring and wishbones and the rigid axle at the rear uses torsion bars. Steering is by rack and pinion. The brakes are Lockheed hydraulic with inch drums all round. Although the 401's production figure of 611 is still the largest of any Bristol model, the 402 is regarded as one of the rarest classics among cars of its day. In a recent survey, 13 of the 23 produced could be accounted for. A saloon tested by

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

magazine in 1952 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 15.1 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £3532 including taxes. Referring that road test in a subsequent ‘classic car’ feature, the journal summarised the 401 as a “Medium-sized car offering very high standards of comfort and performance”. File:Bristol 400 by Superleggera Touring of Milan (10949500236).jpg, 401 Touring Superleggera (1949) File:Bristol 400 by Superleggera Touring of Milan (10949711543).jpg, Rear view of the Superleggera File:Bristol 401 1950-52 (14698167461).jpg, Rear view of a 1950-52 401 File:Nationale oldtimerdag Zandvoort 2010, 1953 BRISTOL 401, ND-47-88.JPG, Bristol 401 with bonnet open File:Bristol 402 Drophead (8204230536).jpg, 402 dashboard File:Bristol 402.JPG, Bristol 402 File:Bristol 402 1949.jpg, Painting of the Bristol 402 File:1951 Bristol 401 in Maroon.jpg, Aerodynamic shape of Bristol 401 File:Bristol 401 out in Hertfordshire 2018.jpg, 1951 Bristol 401 with 2L 85C BMW derived engine adapted by Bristol

References

External links

Bristol Owners Club - Bristol Type 401 - 2 litre Saloon

Bristol Owners Club - Bristol Type 402 - 2 litre Drophead Coupe
{{Use British English, date=September 2010 Bristol 401

401 __NOTOC__ Year 401 ( CDI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vincentius and Fravitus (or, less frequently, year 1154 ' ...

Sports sedans Convertibles Cars introduced in 1948 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles