Fair Comparisons

[jimfoz]

Originally Posted by 408Berlin

I wonder why people treat the quality of Bristols so high. They rust like any other car, they have technical problems like any other car. If I look at my Mercedes 220 SE from 1960 I see no difference in the quality compared to a Bristol. I guess the value will rise if Bristol is willing to open themselves a little bit more to the public like other companies producing such expensive cars like Königsegg or Wiesmann.The funny thing in Germany - I raise far more notice with my frog or my Rover P4 than with my Bristol 408 because nobody knows the company and has no idea about the car. A DB5 is well known from Bond - so people know what to expect. Hans

You wouldn't see any difference in quality. Mercs were built to last in those days and you really could see the vast difference in quality compared to any other car on the road. It no doubt equalled or even exceeded the quality of Bristols. You could also tell the difference in price. Even if your 220SE was the saloon, it was probably twice the price of a 3.4 Mark2 Jaguar. Coupe's were perhaps three times the price! Today however, other manufacturers have caught up as quality control has become much more importance and good quality parts can be produced more cheaply. It's well known that Mercedes have almost taken a backward step in this field as people's perception of Mercedes Benz quality has gone downward and you get many 'They don't make them like they used to....' comments.
I borrowed an ML a few months back and the quality of the interior palstics was risible and out of place in a £45k car.