New 403 owner

[Claude]

Originally Posted by Hal

Claude,

As a newbie, I found your observations illuminating, especially about Bristol cars not “venerating” their cars, and that the soul of a Bristol is that of an engineer.

These comments seem to make sense to me. Especially, since as you point out that they will happily modernise one of their earlier models to full modern spec. And I accept that a retrofit done by the factory, would be perceived as proper.

But if we start looking at electric, LPG etc, whether factory approved or not, surely it begs the question again of what is it that makes a Bristol. Is it the power plant? the chassis, the design or some other mechanical or design aesthetic that if we see it, we can recognise and identify as uniquely Bristol.

As a new owner, in my “ignorance” I would say that its understated cars, with good British engineering values, and cars for grown ups that are practical, and that on the whole form follows function.

But if “Britishness” is a core value, then how can they use the Chrysler bits without sacrificing this value ?

These are more questions than statements, as the answers I believe will help clarify / pin down what is lets say acceptable and what isn’t.

If it’s just engineering, then surely any and all superior engineering could be added ?

I suspect that my lack of knowledge of Bristol cars and oily bits in general would preclude me from being the one that could talk to Bristol cars. I’d probably make some daft suggestion that would get me shot or make me persona non grata, lol.

Hal

I would say the core value of a Bristol is not Britishness, but singularity, which perhaps may be a British quality. At first it was a way to keep talented aeroplane guys in work. It then became the life purpose for Tony Crook who was perhaps one of the most singular men in the industry, in the mould of Henry Ford in some ways (but not in others). Now Toby Silverton has taken it on, preserving the singularity while injecting new life into the beast.

The number one distinguishing quality of the car is not where the parts come from (remember, it started as German war booty) but survival.

Next it is the boy passion... the absurd idea that you can build your own car, not have it be seen as a kit car or Las Vegas car (like the Excaliber, for example), and keep churning them out decade after decade.

Purity is not there. It would be heresy to put a chevy big block into a Rolls Royce because the factory would not consider such a thing. Tradition would be offended. Chopping the top off a Bristol is called a Special, not a travesty.

The curious thing is because the fraternity (co-ed) of Bristol aficionados is so small, it really can define and redefine what is acceptable. A single individual can make a huge difference - look at S.L. Jones, Andrew Blow or Brian May, for example. If you, Hal, decided to not only convert your car to pure electric, but you did the engineering so it could become a kit, and then you put together a service that started converting every engineless Bristol, you would define the car and change the "reality".

If a Bristol has soul, number one it is the experience first of walking up to it... it's visual, what it looks like (especially the 401-3 models which look like snow sculpted in a blizzard). Next, it is inside the cockpit as the driver. Again, it begins as a visual experience that becomes more pronounced as more cars are plastic moulded. It also is olfactory, the smells of real leather and wool. Then it is the driving experience, which is more about handling than sounds. The old Bristol 6 had a distinct sound, but the V8 sounds depend entirely on what silencers (mufflers) it has. Handling is a big part of the Bristol, as is the ride which varies widely depending on how old the rubber bits are in the car.

Unless a Bristol is seriously butchered, that soul remains despite mechanical variations made. As a historian, I prefer to see variations that are bolt on, or that chop simple sheet metal, such as the bolt on transmission housing, because one day the cars may be worth returning to factory original. There are places like Bruce Pigeon's shop in Christchurch that make factory quality parts, and one of the nice things about Bristols is that most unique parts are relatively simple, since complexity requires too high volume.

So, don't worry about killing the soul of your car by what powerplant you implant, or even chopping the top off, provided you do it very well. I owned a 405 Drophead that required a complete restoration (No. 4510... brilliantly finished by the factory for the fellow who bought it from me). When we looked at the work done by Abbot in making it a drophead, the restoration guy said the Bristol welder belonged in the welder's hall of fame, but the Abbot guys must have been blacksmiths for the crude way they chopped off the top. In his view, the 405s were built as standard and then converted afterwards. Not sure if this is true, but if so, it certainly gives a green light to aftermarket jobs.

Cheers
Claude