Fighter T

[Ronald G. Stephenson]

The super-duper dream cars are plastered on the walls of 14-year-olds' bedrooms, and as to them ever achieving the means to have such a car are quite remote. We leave the outrageous to the celebrity-sports stars to show off their wealth, not their taste. In my own case, I have had the good fortune to own a few rather rare and exotic marques and can tell you first hand that most are not what they are cracked up to be. After a few miles behind the wheel, the burning question becomes; 'is that all there is?' The car gets parked until a new victim can come along and buy it, and find out for themselves what the car is not. There are thousands of Chevrolet Corvettes that sit in garages everywhere whose owners finally acquired their 'dream machine', only to be disappointed with the overall driving experience, the discomfort and the expense of owning a full-size toy. There is a Ferrari parked a few miles from my home, and it was offered to me for literally pennies on the dollar. The owner has not driven it in at least ten years. The car is beautiful, but I would suggest that he sell tickets to raffle the car off. I am certain a great many others have been offered the car.

[Markus Berzborn]

I wouldn't agree there.
For example, I think old Ferraris are far from perfect, but really a lot of fun to drive (my personal experience is limited to the Daytona and the early 365 GT4).
Just not practical for everyday life.

Regards,
Markus

[Ronald G. Stephenson]

Yes, I think they are an adventure on wheels. My friend had a 250 California convertible (redundant), and I had the pleasure of adjusting the valves. His parents bought it for him, and he drove it every day. Now, that was a lovely car. My dream car in that decade was the 250Gt Berlinetta short wheelbase, and at a paltry $14,000, it may as well have been a million dollars. Years later, I settled for an E-Type that I could afford. Then on to Aston-Martins, a true disaster. So it goes.........

[Markus Berzborn]

Well, the 250 SWB IS in fact a million dollars nowadays. Or even more.

Regards,
Markus

[Ronald G. Stephenson]

Yes, and that proves that there are more people out there with more money than brains. At 14K, that was a reach, even back then......I watched these cars being raced, and bashed about. Ah, those were the days!

[Kevin H]

The Fighter did one thing for Bristol, it took brand awareness to people who didn't even know Bristol existed, courtesy of magazine articles and numerous petrolhead internet forums. Unfortunately probably 99.9% of those new Bristol followers couldn't afford to buy one.

Nevertheless the Fighter delivered marketing value when no one was really interested in the latest incarnation of the Blenheim. It proved Bristol was still alive.

What Bristol also needed, IMHO, was another new car that was more affordable, that would appeal to a wider audience than the Fighter.

As for marketing the Fighter, they should have let Top Gear test a Fighter T. Almost every other supercar I can think of was on the show, which is watched by tens of millions of people around the world. That's hard to beat for exposure.