An Illustrated History (the original book)

[Kevin H]

This book by Charles Oxley is extremely rare and very rarely comes up for sale. Published by Crowood Press in 1990 it is a hardback with 320 pages. It has many images, all black and white. It covers the 6 cylinder cars in much more detail than the V8 cars. Contains numerous tables of data on models, prices when new, and in some cases production numbers.

A very useful book about Bristols!

[406Special]

Curiously what price does the book command today? Must be the only book on
Bristol cars I don't have.

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by 406Special

Curiously what price does the book command today? Must be the only book on
Bristol cars I don't have.

As it happens there is one copy available on abe.com right now at US$308 (although it is located in the UK) http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...tory&x=59&y=17

[Geoff Dowdle]

Originally Posted by Kevin Howard

This book by Charles Oxley is extremely rare and very rarely comes up for sale. Published by Crowood Press in 1990 it is a hardback with 320 pages. It has many images, all black and white. It covers the 6 cylinder cars in much more detail than the V8 cars. Contains numerous tables of data on models, prices when new, and in some cases production numbers.

A very useful book about Bristols!

Kevin and others ,
I bought my copy in the early 90's , it is an updated version of Charles Oxley's earlier book "Bristol the Quiet Survivor " c1988. Both these efforts are reasonably good but I wish he had the text and captions proof read by someone who knew a bit about Bristols before they were printed .
It might seem a bit harsh but a number of inaccuracies can become fact with the passing of time .
A friend in the BOCA was happy to donate his two copies to the BOCA NSW Library as he was disappointed with them .
There are so few Bristol Books ever printed we should be happy with what there is or produce our own.

Geoff

[Kevin H]

Geoff,
I am sure the book is not without it's flaws/inaccuracies. The reason I say it is a "useful" book is because of the ease with which one can find information. It also has lots of interesting information in tabular format.

I believe "A Private Car" is probably the most accurate and definitely the most entertaining Bristol book, however it reads like a story book and can be very frustrating if you want to just look up some facts and figures.

I agree that we are fortunate that we have so many books for such an obscure marque, it is however a shame that they were all written by authors who were Bristol zealots. Although it was good to see Setright correct at least one of the myths contained in his earlier "Bristol Cars and Engine" which had become accepted as fact in the world of motoring journalism.

[seanmcs]

I agree with Geoff about inaccuracy. Looking at the The 1990 edition on page I agree with Geoff about inaccuracies. The 1990 edition on page 162 illustrates the London Motor Show Bristol Zagato 406. The caption refers to fake wire wheels, whereas the picture clearly shows standard Bristol 406 wheels.

Sean