Bristol Cars

Here are some notes for part of Book III:

"Bristol cars had begun production after the Second World War, as a result of a down-turn in the need for airplanes which the Bristol Aeroplane Company had produced to that point; including the Brisfit, the Blenheim and the Beaufighter. Their Olympus engine, originally designed for the Vulcan bomber, was later famously modified for Concorde. The first Bristol motor car was the Type 400. However, the car division became a wholly owned subsidiary of the main company in 1956. It was taken into private hands in 1961 by Sir George White and Mr T. A. D. Crook (Mr Crook is the owner of Bristol Cars Ltd still) - and this independent, British motor car company continues to this day; producing (and selling, direct, with no dealerships), a small number of handmade, elegantly under-stated, performance touring cars; the latest of which are the Blenheim 3, 3S and SG but there is also the sports Bristol Fighter, which began production in 2004 and reaches approximately 210 mph with a V10 7,996 cc engine and has an acceleration from 0-60 in 4 seconds. There is also the more powerful Fighter S. There must be worse ways in which to spend well over a quarter of a million pounds. The Bristol Fighter T is also now in production, with a claimed top speed of 270 mph.

Zagato-bodied Bristol motor car: the Bristol 406 (some with coachwork by the Italian coach-maker Zagato) was the last Bristol motor car to carry the 2 litre Filton-built engine (stretched to 2.216 litres). There were six special-bodied saloons and one coupe on which Zagato made the coachwork.

Bristol Blenheim Speedster: this is a modern interpretation of a 1950s prototype sports car, known as the Bullet. The original was never put into production. However, the car was used for tests until the 1970s, when it was laid up and forgotten. Re-discovered in the 1990s, it was restored. Bristol Cars will make a small number of up-dated reproductions to special order. The price is not advertised. Like so many great things, if one needs to ask the price, one probably cannot afford it. The new car is called the Speedster and is based on the Bristol Blenheim chassis and drive train. The car carries a 5,900 cc V8 engine, accelerates from 0-60 in an impressive 5 seconds and has a top speed of 160 mph. The photograph shows the Fighter T and is a Bristol Cars' photograph"