Toby Silverton interview in Octane

[lansdownplace]

That must have hurt

Next thing you know we'll have Philippa sticking up for me as well ...
---End Quote---

Steady on old boy!!

[FighterFan]

OK, we've endured a week of bickering over copyright law, but has anyone got anything interesting to say about the article?

[John Keighley]

Yes, possibly.
Good to see that Bristol Cars is likely to survive for the interim. The inevitable succession of custodianship has happened and it's reassuring (from my point of view anyway) that the aviation links continue (Silverton's background). There's no doubt that the touch of eccentricity and the discreetly bespoke nature of Bristols are substantial portions of the reasons we are all attracted to them. This is all apart from the fact that we can reasonably expect to get into a Bristol, drive and arrive at the other end without suffering the indignity of breakdowns and other no-go confoundations that some other exotics are well known for! In 1979/80 and in the late eighties, I frequently passed the Bristol Showrooms and they always struck me as quaintly fitting the Bristol ethos perfectly and the article seems to confirm this today.

The publication Car (I think is was) had what seemed to be an even more interesting article on the service division and its 89 year-old manager - several copies of which my local newsagent had in stock. As luck would have it, I had forgotten my wallet and by the time I got back there two days later to get one, they had infuriatingly returned these back to the distributors so it looks as I've missed out there.

Incidently, I've ordered Christopher Balfour's new book. He's an excellent writer, a long-term owner of a 406 and well qualified to produce something on Bristol. It should be a good read and apart from the Brookland's Portfolio, it's the first Bristol book since the LJKS 'A Private Car'.

[Rubbond]

You're absolutely right. It would be an infringement of copyright, period.
Andrew.

[Rubbond]

Can anyone let me know the correct name of the Bristol aircraft I used to
fly to France in as a child in the early 60's, from Hurn Airport to
Cherbourg?
It took 3 cars and 12 passengers and had very strange wing cross-section
that was almost oval, and flapped up and down on take off?
I thought it was called a Bristol City, but I think I'm confused this with
some Cockney rhyming slang.
They had leather seats then, as did all cars at the time, maybe Lancaster
bombers too.
Rgds, Andrew.

[penman]

Hi Rubbond
Probably a Bristol Freighter, could have been Silver City Airways.

[browning l]

Originally Posted by rubbond

Can anyone let me know the correct name of the Bristol aircraft I used to fly to France in as a child in the early 60's, from Hurn Airport to Cherbourg?
Rgds, Andrew.

Balfour's book refers to a Silver City Airways Bristol Freighter on pg 113, also showing photographs of the first 400 shipped to Sweden in such a craft, pg 40, as well as a Beutler 406 being delivered to the UK, pg 241, in the same aircraft in 1957 (photo pg 278..

There is another reference to transporting a car to Europe for Tony Crook's 1950 Montlhery testing on pg 176.

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s_wayfarer.jpg"
will show you a couple of drawings of the basic aircraft.

Balfour also makes reference, pg 8, to "...Wayfarer, the passenger version of the Freighter..."

[browning l]

John Keighley...supposedly I am being mailed a copy of the CAR (also not available on any local magazine racks) article...assuming I get it, how could I best get you a copy of the article, if you would like one?

An interesting reply from the subject of the OCTANE article, after I emailed him that I had it, and enjoyed reading it and hearing about his odd socks, among other things:

"Hello there, LL,
I may have odd socks but they seem to be trying to portray me as an eccentric! How unfair. TS"

You can rest assured TS's tongue was planted firmly in his cheek when he replied.

What caught my eye in the O story were:

1. "The product line had been essentially static for years." - DD, editorializing.

2. "We've also tried to make the cars to a higher quality and more efficiently, and a lot of quality has been added where you can't see it." -DD, quoting TS.

3. Addressing "the adversarial relationship that had grown up between Tony Crook and the media... (DD, editorializing.)"
"Tony was so secretive that it always seemed he was covering up something bad, and therefore even people who are interested in Bristols are often quite sceptical about us; at times we've had journalists write bad reviews of the cars who have never sat in one." DD, quoting TS.

4."Personally, the only questions I won't answer are production figures...The truth is most years our production is set by how many cars we can physically make." - DD, quoting TS.
[DD = article author, Dale Drinnon; TS = Toby Silverton]

I have read my Balfour book twice, very carefully, and as a newcomer to Bristols (21 months since first hearing of the marque), I have enjoyed it tremendously.

[browning l]

Duplicated posting

[Kevin H]

Bob Schmitt started a new thread here which I took the liberty of renaming Bristol Aircraft

Kevin

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by John Keighley

Yes, possibly.
Good to see that Bristol Cars is likely to survive for the interim. The inevitable succession of custodianship has happened and it's reassuring (from my point of view anyway) that the aviation links continue (Silverton's background).

John,
Why do you (or anyone else) find aviation "links" reassuring?

Kevin

[John Keighley]

Kevin,
I have pretty well been in and around aviation all my life. Cockpit and instrument panel layouts are a great source of interest. When an aircraft manufacturer then turns to producing cars and we look at their approach to driver ergonomics - how they have designed the controls, there are alway unique ideas (some may say quirky) incorporated into the design. Saab are another example with driver layout influenced by their aircraft design. I had a couple of Saabs over the years the last being the 900 Aero Turbo in the early 90s. Apart from horrendous servicing costs it was a delightful car. Take the switch gear and the ignition key in the floor between the two front seats. To the unitiated, this may be a silly place but in the dark, your left hand can find it instantly. Everything was within easy reach with space utilised well and logically. Generally in these cars, ergonomics were excellent and some of this would have to have links to their aviation heritage.
Bristol also has this commonality. Switchgear is placed to be easily located without having to look. The instrumentation in the binnacle (404-Blenheim) and controls design in earlier cars has aviation influences.
This can't be a bad thing. What I'm saying is the links can't hurt and are probably a positive for BCL's image as an individual car manufacturer.
Aerodynamics has always played a part in design of Bristols to make them as efficient as possible.
A week ago I met a fellow who grew up in Bristol and he told me that as a boy, he used to watch Bristols being tested on the Filton runway.We've all seen photos of some of the cars with tufts of wool attached to the external surfaces to assist in analysis of aerodynamics on these cars being tested in that very same place. It's nice to see that there's some links to aviation still but I don't expect everyone to necessarily see it from this point of view. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if Silverton uses his aviation background to contribute in some way to the design and development of future Bristol cars.
John K.

[Jervaulx]

Isn't Toby Silverton involved in aircraft parts and not aircraft design? I
also do not see the connection. Even if he owned an aircraft design
company, i'm still not sure what that has to do with making Bristol any more
or less successful as a car company, it didn't with Saab.

I personally have never had an issue finding something in the dark, as it is
only one of a few things you want anyway. You can usually find them without
looking as it is second nature. Of course you could always switch the
overhead light on or leave the door ajar.

I was never a fan of the ignition key in the floor as it attracted all kinds
of dirt into the lock, plus most new cars do not actually have keys anymore.
Interiors on modern cars are generally well lit.

Andrew

[jimfoz]

Originally Posted by Jervaulx

Isn't Toby Silverton involved in aircraft parts and not aircraft design? I
also do not see the connection. Even if he owned an aircraft design
company, i'm still not sure what that has to do with making Bristol any more
or less successful as a car company, it didn't with Saab.



Andrew

Isn't it the perceived idea that because it has an aircraft connection then it is going to be built to aircraft standards (not break down/fall apart as much). Also the design will follow aircraft principles (clear, easy to find switches, good visability, ventilation etc). It may be felt that because there is still an aircraft connection, these principles will continue at the car company where some of the employees (notably Sid Lovesy) originally started their careers designing bits for Bristol Aircraft.

[John Keighley]

Andrew,
I agree that it won't necessarily make them any more or less successful but it does contribute to making them a little different from other manufacturers. Components are different to design, yes, but there has always been some influence translated from aviation to motoring and it would not be in the least bit surprising that ideas continue to do this. Just because you're in the parts manufacturing/supply line doesn't mean that you're devoid of design knowledge. You have to be conversant with design in order to develop or supply the appropriate equipment.
Dirt in a Saab ignition lock? Never heard of it! I cleaned mine. I think there are a thousand reasons why Saab eventually failed but I'll bet that one of them had something to do with management.