The usual suspects gathered on the first Sunday of September in a quiet backfield of the enormous, neo-brutalist Celtic Manor hotel, overlooking the verdant, golfer-riddled Welsh countryside. Ignoring deceptive signs to the Concourse, I steered instead for the Concours and parked my 400 in the back row, as the judges were not yet ready for my preferred degree of patination.
Visual highlights of the day for me included the perfectly wrapped 603 in a golden pink, with driver, passenger, deckchairs and their glasses of rosé all breathtakingly colour coordinated.
My hero of the day was Antipodean Paul Hickman, whose 403, stripped of paint like some record-breaking Supermarine Spitfire, had survived and thrived on the Peking to Paris rally. Respect!
And my next favourite had to be the stunning yellow 400. Not to mention the one fitted with a Stirling Moss cylinder head. Vroom, Vroom indeed.
By 11 o’clock one was feeling, to quote Winnie the Pooh, it was Time for a Little Something. Fortunately Joanna White kindly produced a very large cake, of which only memories remained after a busy 10 minutes. The Heritage Trust had arrived Tentless and Master of Ceremonies, Turplin, kindly allowed us to put our display table with the two, ultra rare factory models of the Bristol 160/220 out for display.
The Heritage Trust had bought these at the liquidation sale at Windlesham, and they, with several others, will be placed in acrylic display cases for future such events.
This is the “Bristol that Never Was”; a radical, entirely Filton designed four-door saloon with all independent rubber suspension, massive inboard rear disc brakes, magnesium alloy chassis and a 3.65 litre 170+ bhp aluminium straight six powerplant. All beautifully engineered to Filton’s standards, this had reached the stage of engine and road testing and had covered 50,000 miles when the mother Bristol Aeroplane Company came under financial duress and had to pull the plug on the whole project. We describe the saga of what became of it on our website here.
The lightest of showers drifted in as predicted by Google without dampening anybody’s enthusiasm as the judges adjudicated, picnic lunches were eaten, awards were made, and prizes presented. Photos were shot, drones trundled overhead, then, tired but happy, we fired our engines up, those with clutches let them in, and all proceeded homewards in great good humour.
Stefan Cembrowicz, September 2024
Bristol Owners Heritage Trust 
The last picture is, I think, Sam Frost’s drone with which he took some great pictures before nearly losing it by crashing into the hillside!
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