Dear Readers,
So! Our very first blog entry. First of all: we hope you like our new website which has been designed to be quick and simple to access, strong on visual content with as many professional images as possible, and to give you an eclectic oversight of the background and heritage of, not only the Bristol car but also those who designed, built, tested,inspected, engineered, repaired, rebuilt, owned, serviced and bought and sold them. As time goes on we will be building up a body of historic material about this remarkable car, surely in its heyday the most advanced vehicle ever built in the United Kingdom.
We will be giving you access to video clips both contemporary and historic, to as many historic images as possible (and we do have something like 3000 very high quality factory photographs from the 1950s), and to owners’ and enthusiasts’ narratives about the triumphs and disasters, joys and perils, thrills and spills of owning and living with these cars. We have made over 20 video recordings of key people associated with Bristol cars from the shopfloor to the racing circuit to the sales room to the company owner’s office to the restorer’s workshop.
We also have a large collection, which we think must be very nearly complete, of sales brochures, handouts and pamphlets. There is also some fascinating and indeed priceless correspondence, a considerable amount of motor racing documents, handbooks, manuals, and over 500 contemporary engine dynamometer test bed cards, mostly from sports and racing engines.
Our aim is to digitise all of this automobilia to make it available to all, whether in specialised publications, in the archives or on the AV screens of Aerospace Bristol, (where we our deliver our very beautifully finished display model 403 next month), or online via this website and our social media.
All of this costs money, and we are not supported in any way financially by the Bristol Owners Club, as a registered charity has to be autonomous and cannot be run by another body. So we’re very grateful to all those who support our efforts by making a Standing Order payment to us, or by donating some very generous lump sums. You’ll find details of our CAFbank account, and a Gift Aid form, elsewhere on this website.
Yes, We are a registered charity, and this does mean that HMRC will lessen your tax burden if you’re a higher rate taxpayer. Leaving us a legacy in your will is also tax effective.
Welcome aboard!
Dr Stefan Cembrowicz
Chair of Bristol Owners Heritage Trust.
Bristol Owners Heritage Trust 