All you need to know about Bristol
Born: 1910 Nationality: British
The genesis of the Bristol Car Company was prior to the Great War, when what was to become the Bristol Aeroplane Company was established. Names like the Bristol Fighter, the Blenheim, the Beaufort, and engines powering planes ranging from Vulcan bombers to the Concorde are benchmarks in aviation history.
It was because of a need to provide its highly skilled workforce with jobs at the end of the second World War that Bristol added a Car Division. It was aimed specifically at the quality car market, and adapted designs from BMW, which had been acquired as part of war reparations. A 2-litre Type 400 began the Bristol car saga in 1946.
That first 4-seat saloon was joined rapidly by the 401 five-seater, then the 402 drophead coupé and finally the 403, another five-seater. The BMW origins of this series is visually unmistakable.
The 404 2+2 of 1953 changed all that, and Bristol developed its own identity with that and the 405 saloon and drophead coupé derivative produced two years later. Bristol was still building its own engines, and did so up to the 406, for which model the capacity was expanded to 2.2 litres.
In 1953, Bristol entered a factory team in the 24-hour race at Le Mans, comprised of the Type 450 "road race car", an open two-seater. The results were poor, but the next year it won its class and also the team prize. Good results were also achieved in 1955, the year Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh lost control and was killed, along with 81 other people. Bristol withdrew from racing then, but continued to provide engines and gearboxes for other racers, including Frazer-Nash, Cooper and Lotus.
In 1960 British government pressure forced a "marriage" of Bristol and a number of other aircraft makers to form the British Aircraft Corporation, later British Aerospace. The Car Division was acquired by Sir George White, the grandson of the original Bristol founder, and former Grand Prix driver Tony Crook.
In 1961, the 407 began an enduring association between Bristol and Chrysler, with the first use of Chrysler's V8 engines. It also began the long era of automatic-only Bristols, as the cars came fitted with Chrysler's Torqueflite automatic transmissions.
Bristol marked its progress through the '60s with a series of evolutionary models, the 408, 409 and 410. Then, in 1970, the 411 gained a distinction as the "fastest true four-seater touring car", its 6.3-litre engine capable of 140 mph, its occupants able to appreciate such performance while cocooned in the height of luxury.
The 412 was also the first Bristol car to be given a name rather than a number, the Beaufighter, recalling the company's military aircraft heritage. The 400 series ended in 1975 when the 603 was introduced in the ethos of the original Bristol design maxim: that it should be "able to carry four six-footers and all the luggage they would need for a fortnight's travel". In 1994 the 603 S4 Blenheim was introduced. The Blenheim 2 of 1998 dropped turbocharging in favour of a computerised direct injection version of the core 5.9-litre Chrysler V8. 1999 was the year that the first two-seater Bristol for 40 years was announced, the Fighter. A 200mph-plus car, it would break new ground also by offering a five-speed manual or a four-speed autobox. It was launched in May of 2003 and is powered by a 525 bhp version of the 8-litre V10 used in the Dodge Viper.
Best Car: Probably the Fighter, because it is the most modern. Otherwise the 403 of 1953.
Worst Car: The Blenheims, purely in stylistic terms, as the Rover 420 coupé looked better.
Weirdest Car: The current Blenheim 3G. How can anything so ugly command such a price?