The Bristol 409 was the third series of cars from British manufacturer Bristol Cars powered by Chrysler

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 u ...

s. It was actually introduced before the older Bristol 408 went out of production and only gradually supplanted that model after a year. There were a number of major changes to the chassis of the 409 compared to earlier Bristols. The springs were much softer than of the 408 or

407 __NOTOC__ Year 407 ( CDVII) 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 Honorius and Theodosius(or, less frequently, year 1160 ' ...

, so that the ride quality was much better. Following on from Chrysler's pioneering work in the early 1960s, Bristol fitted an

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alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gor ...

in place of the traditional

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...

, which had proven difficult to drive at high engine speeds. Also a follow-up to previous work on the 408 was an improved safety lever to prevent anyone from putting the

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

in gear accidentally. There was also an altered differential fitted with a slightly higher (''i.e.'' numerically lower) ratio. The styling was almost unchanged from the 408, though the radiator

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...

was now altered into a

trapezoid A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eu ...

al shape rather than the precise rectangle of the 408. The engine was also altered slightly – remaining at but providing slightly increased power and torque. The 409 was the first Bristol to be offered with power steering, initially as an optional extra but after June 1967 as a standard feature. The 409 was the last Bristol V8 to feature dashboard transmission selector buttons. The subsequent Bristol 410 sported a central transmission shift lever, as well as a more streamlined frontal design.

References

External links

Bristol Owners Club, Bristol Type 409 – 5.2 Litre Saloon
{{Bristol Cars 409 Cars introduced in 1965 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Sports sedans