Aston DB4

[Kevin H]

Sam,

I can't recall seeing any reference to this, which is a bit odd. Was it
perhaps Feltham rather than Filton?

It would be rather ironic given that it would have been shortly after
that when Bristol sub contracted out their own body manufacture, to
Jones in Willesden (?) and it remained 'outsourced' until the 411.

Aston had significant union related delays in production of the DB4 in
1959 after announcing they were moving to Newport Pagnell. So I suppose
it isn't out of the question that they had bodies made elsewhere but I
would like to see the proof!

Kevin

[penman]

Hi
Bulletin 134 Page 25
Quantity given as around 75

[geo]

I tried investigating the Jones (Willesden/Park Royal?) connexion
with the bodies of the 406 and got nowhere at all. I did query this
with the late LJKS and he, at the time (must have been the early
1980s), did not have the necessary concrete evidence - anyone now
know better?

There was a lot of strange deals on pressing panels and
assembling/building bodies in the 1960s/70s. Whilst researching the
background to the financing of the former Rootes Linwood factory with
the Pressed Steel Linwood one, I came across requests that prior to
Volvo's agreement to have the P1800 panels made at the the Linwood
factories and then assembled by Jensen, it was Bristol Cars which was
their initial first choice. I could not establish whether Bristol was
only going to assemble the P1800 or was contemplating producing the
panels as well.

It is a perilous occupation interviewing the former staff of some of
these firms, for example, I was assured by one of the principals of
an extremely good vehicle painters near the old AFN factory in
Isleworth (Duralac?) that they had painted a number of Bristols
(1950s or 1960s) and that some of these had been bodied/built at AFN.
At the time I presumed that these were specials that had been fitted
with the Bristol engine, but who knows?

George

[Kevin H]

I don't get the Bulletin - no longer a BOC member.

Does it say where the photo is from originally ?

[412usa]

Bristol also made the Lotus Elite (original) body as part of there
sophisticated fiberglass work. The side panels and trunk of the 412 also
have a fiberglass sub-frame.

[Kevin H]

George, LJKS mentions this in A Private Car and given his embarrassment over his mistakes in Bristol Cars and Engines I can't imagine he would have mentioned it if is wasn't true. It wasn't conjecture in A Private Car, it was stated as fact - the 406 was made by Jones Brothers in Willesden. With the 407 body production was moved to Park Royal in Acton, where it remained until the 411, which was made at Filton.

As for the Astons. If there were bodies made at Filton in 1959, I would imagine David Brown would want to keep it pretty quiet given he would have been circumventing union action which was preventing them being made at Newport Pagnell. However, demand for the DB4 was very strong from France and the USA so it would have been very tempting, because the DB4 platform chassis was produced at the David Brown Corp works at Huddersfield. Also, although the DB4 is known as a "Newport Pagnell car", apparently "a lot" were made at Feltham.

Apparently Touring made the body tooling and the aluminium body panels were produced on a rubber press made by Dowty Bouton Paul.

One coincidence in all this is the number, 75 - that's how many DB4 GTs were made.

I would really like to see this photo if someone can scan it and send me a copy, or post it on here.

[Richard]

The Lotus Elite fibre-glass bodies were of course made under a sub-contract to the Plastics Division. I remember as a Bristol Aircraft apprentice in the early 60's spending some "irritating" weeks rubbing down and making good holes and inclusions in the bodies after they had come out of the moulds. "Health & Safety" would have something to say about that today!
The DB4 bodies referred to in the photo from the Dave Allen archive may well have been made under a sub-contract to the Aircraft Division. Certainly during my time in the early 60's going around the works there was not a lot going on. Britannia production was just coming to an end and Bristol was doing a lot of sub-contracting to keep the workforce busy. I even remember having to sort through piles of heels for stiletto shoes during my time in the press shop!

Richard

[UK6]

Richard,
One could say that the company was really down at heel!

Brett

[geo]

Yes, I am also sure that both the 406 Jones and 407 Park Royal are
true, it is just that I could not find out any information about the
Jones contract and when I asked LJKS in 1980, he was sure of these
facts, but uncertain at that time of the source. As he then repeated
this information in his later book, I assume that he had found his
sources.

It is nice to have Richard confirm the Lotus Elite information - I
unearthed some references to this with the Volvo/Rootes information I
posted before, but had not previously realized that Bristol had been
involved and a Lotus chum assured me that it was unlikely to be true.
I shall enjoy enlightening him as he does not have a high opinion of
Bristol after the 403!

George