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@Cycliste's father has a 403 which he's been restoring since the dawn of time. It's been off the road the decades - long enough that when @Cycliste was 'helping' him by putting pop rivets in holes, she was young enough not to realise that putting a pop rivet in the door lock would not be helpful. Last I heard the work had stalled because the engine block had a crack in it from being stored with water in it. New ones are available, but they're £6k+ for an unmachined block.
I always had a soft spot for the Bristol Fighter with the Viper V10 engine. But if I had that sort of money to spend on a quirky British sports car, I'd prefer a Morgan Aeromax. Manual, titanium grey, with side pipes. I was tempted to buy one many years ago, but decided to pay off the mortgage instead. Doubt I could afford one now.
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Brommers
I noticed today the Bristol showroom in Kensington was all closed up, and seems they went into liquidation earlier in the year. Can't say I'm surprised, I've never seen anyone in the place, I'm amazed they kept going as long as they did.
Its lockdown, its Monday, I'm bored, so lets play 'nice arse, shame about the face', which could be written on the Bristol cars tombstone. That is based on the ones I've seen.
The earlier cars were better looking, and always better looking from the back. Two arses but only one winner here.
The front is good for a Bristol, but not a nice as the rear.
A later version with little fins on the rear.
Again not as nice at the front, this was the only 4 door one they made.
Whoever was in charge of the exterior styling of the cars over the years, seems to have been ordered to concentrate on the good looking bits to make them look shitter, and slowly design all the beauty out of it until eventually you're left with a total dogs dinner.
In the 70's the cars started looking like the front and the rear ends were designed by two different people. They still looked alright from the rear....
But they stumbled upon this gopping front end look, thought they'd nailed it, and decided to keep it for decades. The front and rear proportions just look all kinds of wrong.
They kept fucking with the arse end, again looking slightly worse but still passable.
The front still looks wrong, this car looks like a Hillman Avengers fat older brother.
And today I saw the culmination of this automotive evolution of a minger. It took many decades but they finally achieved a car that looks shit from both the front and rear, and undoubtedly the most hideous one they ever made. The most modern Bristol I've ever seen in the wild, from 2001, yes honestly, behold....