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Pulled out of the barn - Bristol 401

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Created on September 15, 2021

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Archiv

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Daniel Reinhard

30

Archiv

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Bristol 401 (1953) - advanced rescue operation

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Bristol 401 (1953) - ready for the revival

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Bristol 401 (1953) - ready for a new life

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Bristol 401 (1953) - in its storage facility

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Bristol 401 (1953) - stored in a barn for many years

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Bristol 401 (1953) - stored between banana boxes and an old trailer

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Bristol 401 (1953) - stored dry

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Bristol 401 (1953) - incompletely covered

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Bristol 401 (1953) - only the front was damaged in the accident, the radiator behind seems to be intact

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the two-door car is almost five meters long

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the protective cloth is removed for the first time in many years

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Bristol 401 (1953) - only one tire is deflated

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the impact left clear marks

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Bristol 401 (1953) - View of the cockpit with the typical Bristol two-spoke steering wheel

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Bristol 401 (1953) - lots of wood and leather in the interior

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Bristol 401 (1953) - getting in and driving off is not ...

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Bristol 401 (1953) - practical rear center armrest

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Bristol 401 (1953) - space for five people

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the air is out

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Bristol 401 (1953) - accident damage from the sixties disfigures the front end

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the traces of long storage

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Bristol 401 (1953) - a lot of dust and straw got onto the hood

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the in-line six-cylinder engine with 1971 cm3 and 86 hp at 4500 rpm

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Bristol 401 (1953) - three downdraft carburetors Solex 32 BI

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Bristol 401 (1953) - ready for transportation

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Bristol 401 (1953) - ready for transportation

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Bristol 401 (1951) - in the wind tunnel, smoke streaks show the air flow and turbulence

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Bristol 401 (1950) - a model undergoes aerodynamic tests in the wind tunnel at Bristol University, wax smoke illustrates the flow pattern

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Bristol 401 (1950) - aerodynamic studies on the Brabazon airstrip - the turbulence is displayed with tapes

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Bristol 402 (1948) - alongside 401 at the presentation at the Earls Court London Motor Show in October 1948

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Bristol 400 (1952) - the last Type 400 side by side with its Type 401 successors in the production hall

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Bristol 401 (1950) - photographed in front of the Brabazon factory in Filton

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Bristol 401 (1950) - Anthony Crook's Bristol photographed at high speed in Montlhéry, resulting in a record of 104.768 miles per hour

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Bristol 401 (1950) - beautiful advertising shot

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Bristol 401 (1950) - it's done, the Bristol completes the last lap of its record-breaking run in Montlhéry, 104.78 miles per hour fast

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Bristol 401 (1950) - the record of 104.78 miles per hour is celebrated, Anthony Crook toasts his Bristol with champagne

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Bristol 401 (1949) - the rounded bodywork cannot deny that it is reminiscent of pre-war BMW vehicles

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Bristol 401 (1950) - twin headlights and BMW-style kidney grille at the front

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Bristol 401 (1950) - elegant and flowing lines

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Bristol 401 (1950) - in the background the London landmarks, the Thames and the House of Parliament

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Bristol 401 (1950) - Anthony Crook's Bristol is loaded into the transport plane on October 12, 1950, to go on a record trip in Montlhéry afterwards

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Bristol 401 (1950) - Anthony Crook, who later became head of Bristol, is pictured here with his wife and other passengers as his Bristol is loaded at Lympne Airport in Kent

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Bristol 401 (1952) - with 1971 cm3 and 85 hp (BHP) at 4500 rpm - Bristol chief test driver A. J. Pegg proudly shows his sports car

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Bristol 401 (1952) - Chief test pilot William Pegg arrives with his two-liter for a routine visit as the engines are launched

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Bristol 401 (1951) - a famous Bristol bridge can be seen in the background

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Bristol 401 (1952) - production of the luxury car - here the accuracy of fit of the sheet metal is checked on a "wooden horse"

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Bristol 401 (1952) - the paint is applied by hand, a total of 14 to 16 coats including primer, over 20 liters of paint and other liquids are used

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Bristol 401 (1952) - the production line for the manufacture of engines, the inspected machine is protected with hot oil before being packed away

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Bristol 401 (1952) - here the crankshaft is balanced on the electronic Gisholt machine - the shaft is controlled with revolutions up to the maximum speed, all unbalances are measured electrostatically

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Bristol 401 (1952) - Testing the shock absorbers

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Bristol 401 (1952) - engine test during production, every engine undergoes this procedure

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Bristol 401 (1952) - here the camber and other settings of the front axle are checked, for this purpose the axle is checked with steel disks instead of wheels in a kind of simulation of real driving conditions

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Bristol 401 (1952) - the Automobil Revue test car

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Bristol 401 (1950) - front seats as individual armchairs

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Bristol 401 (1950) - it holds more than the two obligatory golf bags

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Bristol 401 (1951) - at the 1951 Geneva Motor Show

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Bristol 401 (1950) - Car of the highest driving safety - Geneva Motor Show 1950

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Bristol 401 (1952) - various detail improvements to this car, whose body is built under license from Touring

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Bristol 401 - Reduced drag thanks to borrowings from aircraft construction - shown at the 1951 Geneva Motor Show

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Bristol 401 (1951) - see-through drawing shows, among other things, the platform frame, the steel skeleton (according to the Touring Superleggera method) and the accommodation of the spare wheel, but also the ventilation system ...

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Bristol 401 (1949) - view drawing

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Bristol 401 (1949) - Dashboard with rectangular displays

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Bristol 401 (1950) - Interior of the closed version

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Bristol 401 (1950) - the dashboard including the labeled controls

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Bristol 401 (1952) - Advertisement from 1952

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Bristol 401 (1953) - Advertisement from 1953

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Bristol 402 (1949) - 401 with convertible bodywork

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Bristol 402 (1950) - Actors Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger each bought a Bristol Convertible, the movie stars came to pick up their new car themselves

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Bristol 401 (1953) - the face with the kidney is only just recognizable

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Bristol 401 (1953) - in its storage facility

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Bristol 401 (1953) - partially covered and exposed to dust

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Bristol 401 (1953) - ready for transportation

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Summary

It's not every day that a rare British classic is discovered in a barn and pulled out into the light of day. In the case of the Bristol 401, this rediscovery is a very special experience, as only just under 600 of these streamlined cars were built between 1949 and 1953. They combined Italian design, German engine construction and British carmaking and were among the most expensive passenger cars of the time. This report shows the rescued Bristol 401 in many pictures and tells the story of the car type, supplemented by numerous historical photographs and the sales literature of the time.

This article contains the following chapters

Proven
Fast
Safe to drive, comfortable and well equipped
Shortly before the replacement
Preserved in its original condition

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

It was April 8, 1953 when the Bristol 401 with chassis number 401-1239 received its first license plates and was allowed to drive on Bern's cantonal roads and, of course, other roads as well. The car had been imported into Switzerland just seven days earlier, presumably by general agent Titan, based at Badenerstrasse 527 in Zurich and successor to C. A. Drenowatz, who was in charge of the Bristol import until 1952. Not too much is known about the early history of the burgundy Bristol Coupé, except that it probably changed hands (for the first time?) in May 1963 and was involved in an accident sometime in the 1960s. The result was a smashed front end, but the radiator behind it remained largely undamaged. The car ended up at the Kaufdorf car cemetery, but it was immediately recognized that it was something special and so the Bristol was at least given a dry shelter.

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