401/2/3 Front Valances
 

I have noticed that some cars have valances under the front bumper. Mine (a '54 403 doesn't but I like the look. Does anyone have any details of the history of the valance. What was it fitted to in period? And any details of the part, please.

fairing 401
 

The 401 had a couple of different front bumper fixings. Both had fairings although they weren't that deep. My car was a resto project and came stripped down with a very mangled fairing. A friends '53 403 had no fairing and he tells me it was original spec.
Perhaps in Bristols parts juggling there were some configurations without a fairing but I suspect that as a thin low hanging aluminium part, it is likely they got damaged frequently.

401/402/403 front fairings
 

As I understand it all aerodynes had a front fairing fixed to the bottom edge of the front bumper. The parts book for the 403 describes it as Part No. N702097.
The earliest 401s and all 402s had a deep item ( approx 4") but still bolted to the bottom of the bumper, whereas the later 401s and all 403s had a shallower item (approx 1.5" deep).