Bristol: The Inside Story

[Ashley James]

I do think that the early history is what's needed and so far not
appeared thanks to Mr Crook's intransigence, assuming records exist.

Ash

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Ashley James

I do think that the early history is what's needed and so far not
appeared thanks to Mr Crook's intransigence, assuming records exist.

Ash

I believe the early history is quite well documented, there are even different accounts of what happened at the beginning depending on which book you read. Mr Crook had much less influence back then, when he was first a racing car driver then one of numerous Bristol dealers.

It seemed to be only when Mr Crook became an owner of the company that the secrecy began and Bristol shunned all of it's dealers. That coincided with the beginning of the V8 cars, which is not what I would call their early history.

To my mind there are a number of distinct eras in Bristol's car making history, as follows;

1. AFN/Bristol Aeroplane Company
2. Bristol Aeroplane Company
3. Bristol Cars - White/Crook
4. Bristol Cars - Crook
5. Bristol Cars - Crook/Silverton
6. Bristol Cars - Silverton

Hopefully this new book will shed more light on eras 3,4 & 5. Production numbers would be a good starting point!

As for build sheets, I'm sure RR and Bentley had just as many if not more high profile customers as Bristol.