Touring-Bodied Bristol

Posted on April 5, 2023 by classiccarweekly

1949 Bristol 401 by Touring

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | April 8, 2023

Here is, however unlikely, another coachbuilt Bristol 401. When Bristol switched from aircraft to cars after the war (or at least, partly), they had a guy on board named H.J. Aldington, formerly of Frazer Nash. Frazer Nash was the British BMW importer before the war. So it’s easy to see how BMW influenced these early Bristols.

Aldington wanted Bristol to use Touring’s Superleggera coachwork on their new cars. Approximately 10 were bodied by Touring before Bristol decided to just use their old-school ash framing. That said, the factory-bodied 401s looked pretty much like this. Touring also reused parts of this design for the Alfa Romeo Freccia d’Oro.

Power here is from a 2.0-liter inline-six that made about 85 horsepower. This car has been mostly restored but has a little work left to do. You can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold.

Beutler-Bodied Bristol

Posted on March 29, 2023 by classiccarweekly

1951 Bristol 401 by Beutler

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | April 8, 2023

The Bristol 401, which was the company’s second automobile, is rare enough as it is. Just 611 were produced between 1948 and 1953. Remarkably, this makes it the most common Bristol product. Most of them were bodied as two-door coupes by the factory.

This car, and one other, were shipped as bare chassis to Beutler in Switzerland to get custom coachbuilt bodies. The factory 2.0-liter inline-six remained unchanged and was rated at 85 horsepower.

After being bodied, it was sent to its first owner – who ordered it this way – in Sri Lanka, of all places. It returned to England with its second owner in 1960 and has resided there since. It was later restored and fitted with a later Bristol engine. No estimate is posted, but you can read more about it here.

Update: Not sold.

Bristol 401

Posted on April 2, 2018 by classiccarweekly

1950 Bristol 401

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | April 8, 2018

Photo – Artcurial

When WWII ended, it left some companies wondering what they were going to do – especially those who were focused 100% on wartime production like the Bristol Aeroplane Company was. But if you’ve mastered production of vehicles (be it airplanes or trucks), cars are a logical next road to go down. And that’s just the path Bristol took.

Their first car was the 400 and this 401 two-door sedan was their second automobile. The first Bristols were sort of based on BMW models, which is probably why this thing looks a lot like a BMW 327. The 401 was available from 1948 through 1953 and a convertible variant, the 402, was built in 1949 and 1950 only. Only 611 examples of the 401 were built.

The aluminium body is by Touring and the engine is from the BMW 328. It’s a 2.0-liter straight-six making 85 horsepower. Bristol is still out there, barely, as one of the most exclusive car companies on the planet. To get your hands on this one will run you between $50,000-$75,000. Click here for more info and here for the rest of Artcurial’s lineup.

Update: Sold $38,167.