Bristol cars in administration.

carchaeologist

Saw this on Pistonheads..

Bristol Cars has gone into administration and the hunt is on for a saviour to keep the company afloat.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday evening, receiver Tom MacLennan has been reported thus: "While there have been a number of immediate redundancies due to the financial position of the company, we are maintaining the sales and service operations so customers will continue to be supported.
"We would urge any interested parties to make contact with us as quickly as possible and are confident that we can secure the future of this iconic British brand."
Bristol has made cars at its Filton factory since 1946, after starting life as an aircraft manufacturer. For much of its history as a car maker the company was owned by former racing driver Tony Crook - who shunned media attention and reportedly only sold cars to customers that he liked. More latterly Bristol was owned by enthusiast of the marque Toby Silverton who bought the company in 2001.


While early cars were renowned for engineering excellence (thanks in part to the company's aviation heritage), a lack of ongoing investment meant it survived in later years using outdated technology and the goodwill of a handful of enthusiastic customers who appreciated its unique handcrafted appeal. The launch of the Viper V10 powered Fighter in 2004 brought a short-lived resurgence of media interest, but actual sales numbers are not clear.

Sad to see this, anyone here run a Bristol?

Bigus

I'm surprised it lasted this long, good article in Autocar or car recently about them

johnos1984

Great cars especially the 411 but I've never seen one in Ireland

VolvoMan

Never really saw the appeal of this brand. Ugly, thirsty and expensive cars.

Bigus

VolvoMan wrote: »

Never really saw the appeal of this brand. Ugly, thirsty and expensive cars.

I agree

Ah yes, but you'd see things differently if you were a blue blood Brit, sure aren't all the other brands gone to the Germans !

alastair

Bristol made some handsome cars in their day. My Da had a 406 for a time, and it wasn't a bad looking car, but the 405 and, particularly the 404 were attractive by any measure. All were extremely aerodynamic. The 400 - 403 were more than a touch BMW inspired admittedly.

Big Nasty

There's one floating around Dublin that I posted before, can't find the pic now but it was this model:

Spotted it again (presume it was the same one) a week or two back in Merrion.

kev1.3s

MCMLXXV wrote: »

There's one floating around Dublin that I posted before, can't find the pic now but it was this model:

Spotted it again (presume it was the same one) a week or two back in Merrion.

Yeah I spotted that some time ago on the Arklow by pass, horrendous looking thing with more than a hint of cottage industry about it which I suppose it is, but still for the money I'd expect something a little more coherent in the design department!

Big Nasty

Found the pic:

Hermy

Beat me to it.

G Luxel

johnos1984 wrote: »

Great cars especially the 411 but I've never seen one in Ireland

I know of someone whose parents owned a mid to late 50's convertible on original irish plates, but I dont know where it is now.

68deville

a friend of mine knew of a 403 i think down in tipperary that was for sale
some time ago,devoid of its engine if im not mistaken.

johnos1984

68deville wrote: »

a friend of mine knew of a 403 i think down in tipperary that was for sale
some time ago,devoid of its engine if im not mistaken.

Where in Tipp. Thats where I'm from and I'd love to have a look at it

rugbyman

about forty years ago when visiting scrapyards was my hobby( still is) there used be a yard full of old (then) cars on the Slane Road out of Drogheda,
the yard ran down a slope towards the river.
the owner had a Bristol, they always had a sort of a BMW grille, as pointed out above.

I often wondered about this car.

imo, bristols are a true classic and i find it strange that anybody could think differently, diff strokes /folks

Regards Rugbyman

I would not be surpised to find that car still exists. the yard was cleared about 20 years ago

2cv

There's a guy in Montenotte in Cork that has one.... it's a wine coloured 1972 Bristol 408 if i'm not mistaken...

kev1.3s

The older ones are fine its just that investment seemed to be lacking during the 70's 80's and 90's and they were content to just produce updated versions of past it designs, I know this is similar to morgan's philosophy but for some reason for me they seemed to do it so much better. What is sad however with the new fighter the company seemed to be trying to drag it's heels into the 21 century and it was a genuinely exciting car but ultimately it probably killed the company!

johnos1984

I believe the company was actually forced to close by its accountants for tax reasons. They had enough orders on the books to keep going but couldn't cover the taxes which were owing. I don't think they are gone forever either

pburns

Has anyone ever seen the showroom on Kensington High Street? It's seriously run-down looking! Looked it up on Google Street view the other day.

Big Nasty

pburns wrote: »

Has anyone ever seen the showroom on Kensington High Street? It's seriously run-down looking! Looked it up on Google Street view the other day.

Linky-link-link?

johnos1984

If you want an short entertaining read about Bristol, its owner and its showroom have a read of this

http://www.evo.co.uk/features/features/229293/bristol_fighter.html

I find it rather humerous that Bristols owner will not let any TopGear people test drive his cars after Clarkson made somments about the glovebox in one of the cars. He obviously doesn't know who Richard Porter is....

pburns

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Linky-link-link?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Kensington+High+St,+Hammersmith,+W14+8,+UK&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.410045,86.572266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Kensington+High+St,+Greater+London,+United+Kingdom&layer=c&cbll=51.49677,-0.206029&panoid=t0jYAEDxIOuKi9WkRNiz2Q&cbp=12,235.26,,0,-6.84&ll=51.496775,-0.206015&spn=0.007187,0.021136&z=16

Big Nasty

pburns wrote: »

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Kensington+High+St,+Hammersmith,+W14+8,+UK&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.410045,86.572266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Kensington+High+St,+Greater+London,+United+Kingdom&layer=c&cbll=51.49677,-0.206029&panoid=t0jYAEDxIOuKi9WkRNiz2Q&cbp=12,235.26,,0,-6.84&ll=51.496775,-0.206015&spn=0.007187,0.021136&z=16

Does look a little poo-poo in fairness!

G Luxel

according to todays Daily Telegraph, Bono is an owner.......and they only make 20 cars a year compared to 200 more than 20 years ago.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8363561/Bristol-Cars-the-British-motoring-institution-goes-into-administration.html

alastair

G Luxel wrote: »

I know of someone whose parents owned a mid to late 50's convertible on original irish plates, but I dont know where it is now.

That was/is probably the white one that the fashion designer Sybil Connelly owned when new? It was up for sale a year or two ago.

rugbyman

possible follow up on that old bristol in drogheda.

Got a phone call fom a friend who was at a n Auction in Co Louth last week.

An old Alvis Limerick reg ,I think, in pretty poor condition was sold. it fetched 6,000 euro.

It may be the same car as i saw in Drogheda 30 years ago.

Regards,Rugbman

Kevin_Herron

rugbyman wrote: »

possible follow up on that old bristol in drogheda.

Got a phone call fom a friend who was at a n Auction in Co Louth last week.

An old Alvis Limerick reg ,I think, in pretty poor condition was sold. it fetched 6,000 euro.

It may be the same car as i saw in Drogheda 30 years ago.

Regards,Rugbman

AIU100. Its a 403 in need of lots!!

68deville

did they have aluminium bodywork?that alone would cost a bomb to repair.

_Conrad_

2cv wrote: »

There's a guy in Montenotte in Cork that has one.... it's a wine coloured 1972 Bristol 408 if i'm not mistaken...

I think my father and i may have met and spoken to that man in dublin several years ago. Is it green? I'm sure that man was from cork. Was on business in dublin with my father and he was really taken with the car so started talking to the man who was sitting in it

Blue850

kev1.3s

I think this one is in Ireland!

Ballykine43

This one is in Lisburn. I think its about 1954