Luxury coachbuilder Bristol Cars is set to make a return in time for its 80th anniversary as it sets out plans to release its first new model in over a decade, which is due to arrive in 2026.
But while many motorists will love the reboot of the post-Second World War car maker, some might be put off by the new direction the heritage brand has decided to go.
Because Bristol Cars has announced it will be a ‘British Electric Vehicle company’ in two years’ time.
In a rather low-key return to manufacturing and the public eye, Bristol Cars announced its resurrection via social media.
CEO Jason Wharton posted on LinkedIn that the company’s vision is ‘to revive Bristol Cars as a contemporary coachbuilder for connoisseurs of luxury grand touring automobiles and experiences worldwide in time for the 80th anniversary of the marque’s founding in 2026’.
With very little to suggest what will be rolling off the Bristol assembly line, the only visual hint to go on at the moment is a single concept sketch.
The image uploaded to social model suggests the first production car will be a retro-styled coupe largely resembling Bristol’s 1970s 411 car, with two-tone (potentially grey/white) paint, chrome accents and updated vertical slit headlights.
A LinkedIn commenter asked whether the new limited-edition Bristol Fighter ‘will be electric, hybrid or old school fossil fuel?
Wharton replied: ‘all three of those means over time, but in reverse order!’ So, far that’s our only clue as to which powertrains will be used.
But if the new Bristol Cars stays true to its heritage then the quality should be exceptional.
A very brief history of Bristol Cars
Bristol Cars was founded in 1945, and brought out its first model, the BMW-derived Bristol 400 2+2 fixed-head coupe.
As a subsidiary of the British Aeroplane Company, Bristol Cars was born out of a chance meeting of minds between Frazer Nash directors and Bristol Aeroplane directors, and the quick acquisition of Frazer Nash by Bristol.
Bristol Cars wanted to make high-quality sports cars, and the 400’s reveal at the Geneva Motor Show in February 1947 was met with international acclaim.
The 400, along with the Jaguar XK120 became the sports cars of the era.
Freddie Gordon-Lennox, the 9th Duke of Richmond, opened the Goodwood Motor Circuit on 18 September 1948 in his 400.
The ’40s, ’50s and into the ’60s saw the succession through the 401, 403 and 404 (the first to have the Bristol Jet-esque aerodynamic air intake), 405 and 406 – the last Bristol to have its own six-cylinder motor.
In 1960 Bristol Cars became independent and was sold.
In 1973, chairman and founder George White – who’d had an accident in his 401 in 1969 – decided to sell his majority share to Bristol distributor Tony Crook.
Crook’s Bristol Cars produced six models with aeronautical names including the Beaufighter, Blenheim, Britannia and Brigand.
Following Crook’s decision to sell 50 per cent to Toby Silverton, Bristol Cars went on to produce the Speedster, Bullet, Blenheim and 411 Series 6, until Silverton and the Tavistock Group took full ownership in 2002.
2011 saw Bristol go into administration with the Filton factory shut down.
Until 2015 the company only restored old Bristol models, when it then announced a petrol-hybrid ‘Project Pinnacle’. However while a prototype made an appearance at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the planned 70 examples were never made.
In March 2020 Bristol went into court-ordered liquidation and in 2021 the intellectual property were bought and registered by the now CEO Jason Wharton.
Yet there are some remaining questions over the rights as liquidation practitioners said in 2021: ‘We can categorically state that whilst [Jason Wharton] has purchased certain tooling and spares at an auction of the company’s assets, he has not purchased any IPR [intellectual property rights].’
However that hasn’t stopped Wharton going public with the revival of Bristol Cars ‘8.0’ so let’s hope it’s all sorted out before the new model order books open.
The love for Bristol Cars – is it still going strong?
Initial reactions have shown there’s still a strong love for the old British brand.
‘Very exciting, there is something very special about a Bristol’, while another said it’s ‘a brand that has always oozed quality, style, imagination and class’.
‘My dad once took me to Bristol showroom in London and the salesman asked us in purely to stop me smearing the windows with my hands and face pressed against the glass. Bristol has always stood for innovation and engineering genius.’
However there’s been concern over time scales and some elements of the design.
‘I really hope you can manage to make this happen, time scale seems very tight but fingers crossed for you.’
One user isn’t sold on the ‘greenhouse’ saying: ‘That certainly modernizes the classic 411 look (a good thing), but to my eye there’s something jarring about the greenhouse.’
But overall nostalgia seems to be winning: ‘As a young boy I used to dream of one day owning a Bristol Beaufighter. Best of luck with reviving a dream!’
