Bristol 400

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The Bristol Aeroplane Company had been manufacturing airplanes and engines since 1910 but turned its thoughts to car manufacture in 1944 to ensure peace-time employment for its workers.

As part of Germany’s war reparations, Bristol obtained a set of blueprints and plans which had been drawn up by BMW in 1939 to update their own model range. The first fruit of this windfall was the 1947 Bristol 400 which used the best features of three outstanding pre-war BMWs, namely the engine of the 328, the body of the 327 and the chassis of the 326. Modified by Bristol’s own engineers to their own exacting aircraft industry standards, all the parts came together beautifully and a most elegant sporting saloon was born.

The six-cylinder 2-litre engine featured an ingenious cylinder head design incorporating hemispherical combustion chambers and inclined valves without recourse to overhead or twin camshafts. Machined from the highest quality materials, it produced 80bhp and could propel the car to a top speed of 95mph with acceleration to match.

To keep weight down, boot, bonnet and doors were in aluminium. Suspension was independent at the front with a transverse leaf spring, and a live axle at the rear with torsion bars. The gearbox was a four-speed manual with synchromesh on the top three ratios and freewheel on first, quite a novelty at the time. The 400 had a fair degree of competition success and successfully completed the Mille Miglia in 1949.

Exact production figures are uncertain but it is thought that perhaps 420 examples were made between January 1947 and December 1950, a fair few of which went to Australia. Today perhaps half this number are thought to survive worldwide, fewer than 60 of which are currently registered with the Bristol Owners' Club, making them a very rare sight on the roads.

As a copy of the original despatch note confirms, this particular 400 was supplied new to AFN Ltd in London on 29th April 1949. It is not widely appreciated that the major sales agent in the UK and abroad for 400s was AFN Ltd (makers of Frazer Nash cars) and not Tony Crook who did not become part owner of the Bristol company until 1960, taking full ownership in 1973.

AFN had marketed the Frazer Nash BMW before the war and acquired the rights to manufacture three BMW models and the 328 engine immediately after the war, selling a controlling stake in the business to The Bristol Aeroplane Company in July 1945. AFN retained sole selling rights for the London area and the British Empire and also rights to sell running chassis to other coachbuilders in Europe.

Sold to its first owner via AFN on 4th May 1949, it was issued with the Middlesex registration number KLX 324 which it retains to this day. The car was originally light blue and was fitted with engine number 85A/1364 but this was long ago changed to an 85C spec engine with Solex Carbs in place of SUs (85C-1026), not unusual with Bristols from this era. It also has the externally mounted spare wheel, housed under an aluminium casing on the boot lid, which gave increased luggage capacity compared to the internally mounted spare on the earliest cars.

The vendor acquired the car way back in 1986 and has looked after it carefully ever since with many bills on file to chart the works carried out to date. This included a full engine rebuild to standard specification by BMW expert Mark Garfitt in 1997/98 when a new set of Cosworth pistons were fitted. The gearbox was also overhauled at the same time and the odometer re-set to zero so the c.7,500 miles currently displayed is the distance travelled on the fresh engine.

Many other bills detail further improvements including a major service by Mark Garfitt in early 2015 and attention to the inner front wing/chassis area by marque specialist Spencer Lane-Jones in late 2015, this being a known weak spot of the 400 range. The braking system has also been recently overhauled.

In late 1993 the car was involved in an accident when it was hit from behind by another car which did not see the small rear brake lights of the 400 in time. Although not extensive, the damage was sufficient to get the car written off by the insurance company as 400 values were then much lower than they are today, the owner promptly buying it back and getting the rear of the car repaired by marque specialists TT Workshops in 1994. It was at this point that it was also repainted in the maroon colour you see today and that larger VW Beetle rear lights were also fitted to forestall such an unfortunate event recurring.

A most attractive looking car in all respects, it is said to run very sweetly and is described by the vendor as “a joy to drive”, certainly firing up promptly and running very nicely as we manoeuvred it for these photos. The cream leather interior is especially charming with that irreplaceable patina that only comes from decades of careful use.

Supplied with an extensive history file, current V5C and an MOT certificate valid until October 2016, this rare and handsome sporting saloon, from long-term enthusiast ownership, is ready for a new owner to enjoy right away. With top examples of this model now changing hands for over £90k, it looks excellent value at the sensible guide price suggested.