Bristol 400

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

 The Bristol Aeroplane Company moved into car production to ensure continued post-war employment for their workers. Their first model appeared in 1947 – the 400, a clever re-modelling of BMW’s hugely impressive pre-war cars.

The 400’s two-litre six-cylinder engine turned out 80bhp and gave the car a top speed of 92mph, with correspondingly impressive acceleration. Lightweight, with impeccable handling, the 400 not only sold well but had a fair degree of success in competition and competed in the 1949 Mille Miglia – a fact which makes them eligible for the modern retrospective event.

VXS 248 was completed on 6th July 1948 and sold to a customer of Pusey Garage in Wiltshire, a Mr J. Livingstone. At some point during the 1950s, the car moved to Italy and nothing is known of its history at that time, not helped by a later office fire which destroyed the original buff logbook and other documentation.

The car returned to the UK in 2010, after it was taken in part-payment for a Bentley - the exchange taking place somewhere in deepest France. The car was kept in storage until 2016 at which point it was re-registered and, after a little attention, put back on the road.

It is believed to have been re-painted in Italy and has had a recent re-trim in this country, with the seats and door cards being professionally finished in premium oxblood and cream hide.

The vendor tells us that the car drives well and is absolutely comfortable in modern traffic. It certainly started easily for our photo shoot, with a minimum of choke required and soon settled down to a quiet tickover.

VXS 248 would make an ideal trans-continental tourer – perhaps to visit Italy again in order to trace its past or, even, participe in the Mille Miglia retrospective?