(first posted 4/30/2019) CC has looked at the history of the gently eccentric and very British Bristol before, but this example and the photographs taken by Nathan Williams and posted to the CC Cohort deserve an airing.
Bristol cars had their origin in the transfer of technology from Germany, in this case BMW, to the UK after the second world war. Using a certain amount of skulduggery and victor’s swagger, the Bristol Aircraft Company acquired the designs, rights and some tooling for the BMW 328 series sports saloon, and restarted production in Bristol as the Bristol 400 in 1947. These cars were very close to the pre-war German cars.
The 401 was the first British development of the concept, with a body restyled by Touring and which achieved a drag coefficient of 0.39. Production started in 1950, and ran to 1953. The car still used a Bristol built six cylinder 2 litre engine, directly traceable to the earlier BMW design. Bristol was still associated with the aircraft company at this time, hence the pose with the experimental Bristol Brabazon airliner.
Nathan saw this car in Cheltenham, some 40 miles or so from Bristol, and one of England’s larger Georgian spa towns, and still renowned for its elegant streets and facades. Someone, the Bristol seems to fit in.
German-based car with Italian carozzeria styling, sold by the British so soon after the war. Appropriation or reconciliation? Either way it’s gorgeous. Thanks for posting it.
I’ve never seen one of these in person, but it was in my “Big Book of Sports Cars”. I found the headlight arrangement disturbing as a kid.
As an adult I find it marvelous, and perfect for England, yet still troubling…
Never seen one of these. I like it, looks elegant.
I have never understood the lure of Bristols. To me they are butt-ugly at any price. It’s great how different people appreciate diffefent things.
I like em but I drive a Citroen and like those too, and an old Hillman that looks like its just had shock treatment, kinda partial to Exner excess too. YMMV.
There was also a communist version from east Germany. The EMW Eisenach 327-340.
I have a soft spot for ’50’s & ’60’s British car design, but my first thought on seeing this was not ‘elegance’.
The side and right rear quarter views (last two pics) do grow on one though. And I like the (to me) Amazon-esque wheels.
It’s a shame the windshield design wasn’t more consistent with the rest of the car. The grille and headlight design I’m still pondering…
I took a glance at the opening photo and thought “Oh, another early BMW.” Well, I guess I was partly right.
I love the second photo – this seems to be the car’s best angle, a rear 3/4 taken from very low. To me the design is maybe 85-90% there, but there are still some adjustments that would be good.
All in all though, a cool find! And I just love the name “Bristol”. I almost wouldn’t care what one looked like as long as I was able to say “My other car is a Bristol.”
When the driver mashes down hard on the accelerator…
Is he doing the Bristol Throttle Stomp…
Hehehehehe….
I’ve always had a soft spot for these, and it stems from my high school biology teacher telling me that it was his first car after he finished teacher training. As he said to us, it was just a cheap old car when he bought it, but it still was one of his favourites. Thanks Mr Stevenson!!
It’s always been a fascinating feature of early Bristols, that BMW / Frazer-Nash birth. It took Bristol a while before they ditched the double-kidney.
Love that rear end, though.
I walked around and past one a lot as a kid, I still like them.
On further reflection, I do believe that the front of this Bristol may have provided the inspiration for the BMW Z3 M Coupe-the “Clown Shoe” car. The back of that BMW is more Kamm- than fast-back, but the front could certainly pass. And they both had an inline six. OK, I’ll go back to my room now.
I think of these as the British version of SAAB. And that’s a compliment. Both small, quirky companies with aeronautical roots. Both SAAB and Bristol should’ve been bigger players in the automotive industry.
Interesting car. I’ve of course heard of Bristol before, but if I’ve seen any, it’s not this one. As others have noted, the headlights seem wrong, large should be on the outside for some reason. And the BMW twin kidneys. So many of us here in the US forget or are unaware of how hard WWII hit over there, and it was hard to recover from. Which is probably why it kind of looks more like a pre war car.
After all that I like it though. Terribly British in appearance. Almost like a Jaguar with a BMW grill. Probably not a great car even when it was new, but I do like looking at it. A great car for a neighbor to have so we could look and talk about it while having a beer, but without me having any of the ownership complications.
More Bristols of that model turned up in New Zealand than youd expect, farmers spending their wool cheque would be one type of buyer, importing a new car every year or so was profitable after they kept it 2 years they govt waived the tariff, as a kid there were two in my home town one of them I had to walk past to and from school, outside the garage at the end of our street, wow different. it was a driven hard put away wet kind of car and stayed with that guy a very long time, he sold his 40s Jaguars and kept the Bristol until he sold out, it was a dark maroon colour looked nice under the dirt the other was silver at got serviced at that garage
I would never have been allowed to buy a Bristol. I wear slip-on shoes!
From the back, looks like a “30’s”, era ride.
Thank you Roger for sharing such a beautiful car that I have never seen in my 52 years. Somehow I missed your article back in 2019 so I’m only six years late to the party. Lol! The rear three quarter view is so attractive and so is the rest of it.
Thanks again for bringing to light this curvaceous delight.