Today I turned up Ray Williams’ own record of the engines he built personally on the sports engine line at Filton 1953 onwards. Incidentally he was told “ if Tony Crook comes in and you speak to him you are fired". Presumably TADC was seen as a rival on the hunt for hot tuning tips…… Continue reading Bristol Sports Engine Line Builder
Author: Richard S
The 401/2/3 buck in light restoration
The Heritage Trust has in its custody the front end of the buck on which your own 401 and 403 were coach built. It is made of sculpted hardwood and high quality ply. The nose section was obviously detachable to enable fine detail panel work. Tinsmiths would cut and shape aluminium panels to fit using… Continue reading The 401/2/3 buck in light restoration
Perhaps a 405 prototype!
In this iteration, Bristol have contemplated their first, four door model, presumably the precursor of the 405. Its vertical rear window flanked by spectacular fins shows how they addressed the rear end, perhaps consistent with current streamlining principles and a compromise with Kamms cut-off tails. And at the front, that tall long stroke engine is… Continue reading Perhaps a 405 prototype!
Bristol 401 streamliner model
This hand made prototype streamliner (we presume from the early 1950s) has a same or similar roofline as the 401 - but the droop nose recalls Porsche’s 356 , Panhard’s Dyna, or the Citroen DS. The model is 11” long x 4 1/2 “ wide x 4” high (28 x 11.5 x 10.2). The second… Continue reading Bristol 401 streamliner model
BRISTOL BEACH – Recollections of a Brief Affair with Chassis 319
Bristol 400 Chassis 319 circa 1966 Perhaps it was the morning I had spent on Bondi Beach that made me particularly aware of curvaceous bodies that fateful day. I was only eighteen after all in March 1965. Perhaps it was a sudden access of good taste that led me to screech to halt in my… Continue reading BRISTOL BEACH – Recollections of a Brief Affair with Chassis 319
Bristol model – What might have been…
The Bristol owners Heritage Trust, with the aid of some very generous sponsors, raised a splendid sum of funds to enable us to rescue key items from the wreckage of this once proud firm in their final iteration at Windlesham. This is one of the prototype concept models we bought from the liquidators . It… Continue reading Bristol model – What might have been…
Concorde – First To Last – The Complete Film History
Concorde – First To Last tells the complete history of the supersonic airliner as the UK prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the last flight on November 26. The 2.5 hour film, containing rare archive footage, has been sponsored by ten members of the Bristol Aero Collection Trust, the charity behind the Aerospace Bristol… Continue reading Concorde – First To Last – The Complete Film History
401 Buck under Restoration
The Heritage Trust has just commissioned a light and sympathetic restoration of the 401/403 buck we bought at the Windlesham debacle. It is made from hardwoods and marine ply. Every aerodyne of this style was made upon it, using the English wheel and incredibly skilled gas welding by the coachbuilders. We are hoping that it… Continue reading 401 Buck under Restoration
Bristol 400 and Zagato 406 at the Brabazon hangar
Here is a nice video with Stefan Cembrowicz and Andrew Blow having fun in front of the Brab hangar back in November 2016. https://youtu.be/tRSmXOEUijI
Bristol 400 in The Automobile magazine
In the November 2022 issue of The Automobile… NO ORDINARY BRISTOL Ordered new by the chairman of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, then driven for a decade by arch-enthusiast Christopher Balfour, then uprated and campaigned in hill climbs and sprints by its next owner, this 1948 Bristol 400 is now in the hands of a young enthusiast. Toby… Continue reading Bristol 400 in The Automobile magazine
Bristol Owners Heritage Trust 