Even by the higher requirements of eccentricity set by Britain’s tiny sports-automobile makers, Bristol was always in a class of its personal. This is the carmaker that created Morgan look like Mitsubishi.
Bristol’s former boss, Tony Crook, refused to let journalists drive its cars for a lot of years on the (possibly affordable) grounds that they “wouldn’t recognize them.” The firm final published production figures in 1981, when it constructed 104 vehicles, and the leisurely pace at which the company operated at in its later years was demonstrated when thieves stole many body presses from its Filton factory, and it took many days for the theft to be noticed.
So there was sadness, but small surprise, when the firm folded in 2011.
Now it is coming back. The Bristol brand was bought by a subsidiary of the Frazer-Nash engineering consultancy (itself evolved from an only slightly less-eccentric British sports-vehicle maker), which has now announced plans for an all-new Bristol model next year.
The way things utilized to be—Bristol 411 Go far enough back and Bristol started out as an aircraft organization. The poor news is that Bristol’s former recipe of lightweight aerodynamically efficient bodies propelled by huge American-sourced engines has been abandoned, for now at least. We’re told the new car undoubtedly won’t owe something to preceding models such as the Beaufighter, Blenheim or the spectacular Fighter—the final old Bristol, which used a Viper V-10 engine. As an alternative the new car—currently becoming developed in the UK below the codename of Project Pinnacle—will be a “range-extended electric grand tourer.” Beyond that, and a single teaser image that reveals little far more than some leather bonnet straps, we’ve got to use our imagination.
Frazer Nash’s involvement implies we should definitely take the project seriously. The business now specializes in engineering electric drivetrains—it put one particular beneath the Giugiaro Namir concept back in 2009—and has also developed a new electric London taxi that’s slightly significantly less ugly than Nissan’s NV-primarily based version. The fact that Bristol is both renovating its classic showroom in Kensington, London—one of Europe’s most pricey areas—and preparing to expand to one more unit on the same streets proves there’s some serious investment behind the prelaunch. The company also confirms that the new auto will be designed for each key marketplace, which includes the U.S.
Bristol Fighter had a Dodge V-10 engine but sold in tiny numbers “The brand’s reputation was broken throughout the last years below the old management,” Common Manager Julian Ramshaw told us. “It’s been by means of some tough occasions but we’re determined to construct it back up with Frazer Nash. We’re very conscious of how essential the brand’s heritage is and we’re working quite closely with the Owners’ Club.”
That leaves the burning question of what Bristol’s classic purchasers are going to think of a new vehicle that runs on this new-fangled electricity. Wouldn’t they rather just have a large V-8?
“If we made a automobile like that then there are individuals out there who would purchase it,” admits Ramshaw, cautiously. “but the luxury-automobile industry is changing and we want to be element of that alter.”
Bristol Vehicles Returns From the Dead
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