Bristol: The Inside Story

[lansdownplace]

A very Private Car is beautifully produced but is priced at a level
that pretty much restricts it's appeal to someone who already owns a
Bristol. Mine took a good six weeks to arrive which suggests that it
wasn't 'on the shelf'. Perhaps they send the already printed sheaves
off for individual binding when you order?

Bristol: A Private Car, is a limited edition of 1000 books (of which
100 are in leather at a pretty big premium). At #300 each the project
revenue would be #300,000. Give say 50k to the author and 25k to the
photographer, and say 30k for the printing the break even point comes
up after 350 sales. It is a similar proposition to the offerings of
the Franklin Mint in that respect. My book is No. 616 so the project
is a good one!. That book was a bit of a one off in that it was
written by a nationally known magazine car writer who had a widely
publicized lifelong association with the marque combined with portrait
photos of all the major cars in a coffee table book. It was aimed at a
small niche and will probably take 15+ years to sell out. I doubt
there is room for a direct competitor book. Although that said it
would be interesting if there was a series of books, one per model
with a very specific history of that particular car.

I am looking forward to the Balfour book, which from what I have heard
will contain a lot more of the facts than we might expect, or even
hope for!. It is priced at a level which opens interest in it up to
more than just owners. As we don't actually know until next year we
can but speculate.

One benefit of using Haynes is that they have a distributors like
Borders and WH Smith on their lists, this in turn means that there
might just be a Bristol Cars book to choose in the automobile section
which in turn might increase interest in the marque.

I have always thought that what is really needed is a history of the
company. not based on it's products but as a business. It is one of
the most unusual companies in the country in terms of it's niche
position, business model, resilience, the longevity of the staff and
cast of characters. Especially where the man who wired the very first
400 still works full time as a Director. The film rights to such a
story would be worth a fortune.

Paul

[geo]

Originally Posted by lansdownplace

Give say 50k to the author and 25k to the
photographer,
Paul

If only!! Paul, I think you risk being trampled to death by the rush of authors and photographers wishing to work for you.

Geo

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by lansdownplace

A very Private Car is beautifully produced but is priced at a level that pretty much restricts it's appeal to someone who already owns a Bristol.

It was reading this book that got me interested in Bristols, before I bought one

Originally Posted by lansdownplace

Mine took a good six weeks to arrive which suggests that it wasn't 'on the shelf'. Perhaps they send the already printed sheaves off for individual binding when you order?

Maybe they do that with some of the leatherbound versions, but going on my personal experience with Palawan it is unlikely that they do that with the clothbound versions. I've bought a number of their books, both for myself and as presents for other people. None of them have taken more than a 48 hours to be delivered in the UK or two weeks if being shipped to Australia.

Quite a few of their titles have sold out in at least one format but it would be possible to have a guess at which books are more likely to sell out and only get all of those bound.

However, I can't help wondering if a company that produces a book titled "The Atlas of Rare Pheasants – Vol I and Vol II" at £2500 really cares whether it has a few unsold volumes on the shelves!

[Ashley James]

Philippa

The problem is that Setright's book has mistakes in it and this de-
values it. I also think that it is only recently that the earlier cars
have started to catch others that qualify for the important Early Post
War events. This is crucial to the future of the Bristol name.

Ashley

[TLF799R]

Kevin,
If I were more technically minded I would do the "quotes thing" but the way
it arrives on my email means there is no obvious way to do it.

On the book front perhaps you are lucky enough to be much better off than
some of us?

On the numbers front perhaps I am cyncial enough to assume that they mix
the numbers up somewhat?

Philippa

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by TLF799R

Kevin,
If I were more technically minded I would do the "quotes thing" but the way it arrives on my email means there is no obvious way to do it.

I am writing an explanatory message about this which I will send to all members of this site. The key to success is to log into the site and use the graphical user interface (use the Quote button then delete unnecessary text between the quote tags as required). You can also apply styling to the text and there's even a 'preview' function so you can see what your post will look like!

Even I don't reply by email if I am quoting - it's far too fiddly!

Originally Posted by TLF799R

On the book front perhaps you are lucky enough to be much better off than some of us?

No, you're confusing me with people who have their vehicles restored and modified by Bristol Cars ;-)

Jokes aside, I doubt very much whether I am better off than the average Bristol owner, but I collect automotive literature. So while others might spend money on other hobbies or past times, I spend mine on books. If I were wealthy I would have one of each of the Palawans books (except the Pheasant book), but sadly I don't.

Originally Posted by TLF799R

On the numbers front perhaps I am cyncial enough to assume that they mix the numbers up somewhat?

Takes one to know one eh?

I haven't detected any fiddling with issue numbers. Indeed quite the opposite. They once told me I was the first person to order one of their books when it was announced pre publication. Sure enough, when it arrived some time later my copy was issue No.1. So it seems they allocate book numbers to customers as and when they are ordered. If you think about it, mixing the numbers up could in fact backfire, and it would also make it more complicated to keep track of how many you had left of each book.

Anyway, as the publisher has what must be the largest collection of Bristols in the world, perhaps you will meet him at a BOC function one day and you can ask him!

[Anthony]

After reading all the material about the new book I have decided to buy a copy (in advance) and look forward to reading it.
Does anyone have a way of contacting the author since I have material about 401´s that may be of interest to him for future editions.

Anthony

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Ashley James

Philippa
The problem is that Setright's book has mistakes in it and this de-
values it.

Would you care to list the mistake Ash? (I assume you are talking about A Private Car)

Originally Posted by Ashley James

I also think that it is only recently that the earlier cars have started to catch others that qualify for the important Early Post War events. This is crucial to the future of the Bristol name.

Qualification for high profile motoring events should help values of some early Bristols, but how is that "crucial" to the future of the Bristol name?

Kevin

[geo]

In response to

Originally Posted by Ashley James

The problem is that Setright's book has mistakes in it and this de-
values it.
Ashley

Kevin responds with:

Originally Posted by Kevin Howard

Would you care to list the mistake Ash? (I assume you are talking about A Private Car)
Kevin

Which, to my mind might just be missing the enormous strengths and weakness of LJKS as a writer. He was a most engaging personality who nattered away with just about anyone he met, this combined with his comprehensive knowledge of the industry (much more technical than most writers on the subject) and his ability to tell a good tale means that his books make a really good read. Now, one cannot hope to write as comprehensively as he did and be in a position to verify every single fact, thus many popularly accepted notions are perpetuated.

From my own experience with one or two specific points I asked him about, he would be happy to research the point further then come back with the full detail — or if it was not available, say so and then say whence the only extant information came and how reliable or not he thought it to be.

George