Bristol 412 Wanted

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Robert,

Good luck with your search. I used my 412 daily in the late 1990s and early 2000s and greatly enjoyed using it as my daily transport.

To add to what others have said, the Zagato design (almost identical to the smaller Lancia Beta which was designed at the same time) is something that you either like or dislike — my own feeling was that it rather grew upon me and liked it a lot by the time I sold it.

My 412 was a series 2 version which has the 361cdi engine which is generally more reliable than the earlier larger one, but others might disagree with this. Other than a thermostat giving up at high speed, I did not experience any cooling problems with this engine at all. Along with the different engine, there are a number of other changes most of which were improvements over the series 1.

Problems I encountered did not include any chassis corrosion or more than surface rust on the wing lockers, however, the flimsy box sections that support the boot floor and the boot floor itself required a fair bit of work. The other part that required attention was the metalwork round the front screen under the stainless trim and the metalwork behind the rear lights, particularly where the water sits. The real corrosion problem, and one that should not be underestimated, is the entire rollover section and also where that locates at its base.

If your car has the glass panel above the front seats, this looks better than it is practical in terms of being very heavy so it is not such a simple job to lift it out on a nice day and pop it in the boot. Also, when removed, you must enjoy the feeling of wind in your hair! Both the folding rear roof and its solid version both work well, however, changing from one to the other is an afternoon's work.

As others have suggested, the lights, both front and rear, are difficult to source and if you find the car has the Avon safety wheels fitted, the tyres might be shared with the contemporaneous RR, but they are not always available.

Other than that, not much to put you off and I really miss mine. It is also relatively economical and does not gulp as much fuel as some of the other models of this period.

Do not expect to get the cruise control to work for more than a couple of weeks between attention, but perhaps that says more about my inability than anything else. If you are that sort of person, you will find that you can attend to most of the servicing and repairs yourself.

Good luck,

George