21 November 2006 - Ten times more powerful than a 1.6-litre Ford Focus, the Bristol Fighter T, a brand new motor from Filton-based Bristol Cars, will have a maximum speed of 270mph - and a price tag of £350,000! - We look into the history of this secretive company
Bristol Cars - celebrating its 60th anniversary this year - says there is no other motor on the market which will match the performance of its new Bristol Fighter T.The sleek, hand-crafted model, featuring a twin turbocharged eight-litre V10 engine, goes from nought to 60mph in less than 3.5 seconds. The Bugatti Veyron, with a top speed of 252mph (and costing £810,000) is currently the most powerful production car.
Tony Crook, Bristol Cars' chairman, said: 'The Fighter T compares with the Bugatti, and the cars are all made in Bristol. 'The main block of the engines is made for us by Chrysler, but we decided to pump up the power - it is our development. 'Compared to the price of the Bugatti, we think it's good value.'
He added that customers had been asking for more power from the existing Fighter models, launched three years ago and which have a top speed of 200mph. Although you don't hear much about the company, Bristol Cars has a solid pedigree stretching back some 60 years. The first model to come out of the Filton factory in 1946 was put together in the very same factories as those sterling wartime aircraft the Blenheim, the Beaufighter and the Beaufort.
After the end of the war, the directors of the Bristol Aeroplane Company became interested in creating a high-class car. As plant, machinery and skilled labour were being freed from the commitments of wartime contracts, they argued, there was an excellent chance of finding a lucrative opening in the post-war market.
Ironically, the firm decided to base its design not on UK classic models, but on the engineering excellence of BMW, whose factories had been smashed to pieces by bomber command. An engine designer from the German firm, Dr Fielder, joined the design team in Filton to begin work on their first car - the Bristol 400. Fielder developed a new two-litre engine based on the already advanced designs of the pre-war BMW 328.
Steel and aluminium panels covered a steel tube framework welded to the chassis. The '400', which cost £2,724, was never intended to be a sports car - it was a high- grade, four-seater saloon which appealed to drivers who wanted something 'sporty'.
The early cars had 80bhp engines, giving them a maximum speed of 94mph and an acceleration to 60mph in under 15 seconds. This combination of robust quality and performance resulted in a number of competition successes - the car won the 14th Polish International Rally in 1948. It also took third place in the Monte Carlo Rally the same year, being the first British car to finish. In 1949, a '400' came second in the Targa Florio and finished third in the Mille Miglia.
Around 700 of the '400' were built before it was withdrawn in favour of the '401' which had a new streamlined body made entirely out of aluminium. Then two events occurred which changed the shape of Bristol Cars' future.
In 1960, Tony Crook took over. A former RAF pilot and racing driver, he threw himself into the company with gusto and, 46 years on, he's still in the driving seat. Three years after Crook's arrival , the company ended its association with BMW which was, by now, firmly back on its feet. Bristol Cars became more luxurious and less sporty, and in 1963 the '407' was introduced. It had a much larger engine, a 5.2-litre, American-made Chrysler V8.
Later models included the Beaufighter, the Britannia and the Blenheim. Once smitten, 'Bristol' drivers remain fiercely loyal to the company's products. Tony explained the lure: 'We do not worry ourselves with the fleeting automotive fashions which govern other manufacturers' designs. 'We crave, instead, integrity of purpose and an unmatched level of engineering perfection. We pursue a mindset that designs and builds our cars with a useful life of many decades in mind. As a result, we continue to enjoy absolute customer confidence and loyalty allowing Bristol to thrive where others failed.
'We are particularly proud that our ownership is British and privately held, providing the absolute independence of thought and action which is central to our purpose.'
Last year, a unique Bristol car, originally owned by the actor/comedian Peter Sellers, came up for auction. The 1962 Bristol 407/410 convertible - made at Filton but with coachwork specially supplied by a Turin company - is the only one of its kind. Tony said: 'While Peter was filming at Shepperton, he passed our showrooms and spotted a 407. He told me that he wanted a convertible, which we hadn't produced and, because of other commitments, were not able to produce.
'But we sent a chassis to Viotti in Italy and they produced the coachwork especially. 'In the end, we sold around 60 cars to Sellers. He used to spot cars in magazines and sometimes rang me at home in the early hours of the morning and told me what he wanted.'
Mr Crook eventually bought back the unique Bristol 407 convertible and for several years it was used by his daughter, Carole. It bore the distinctive number plate, AC 1. First design: The Bristol 400 came out of the factory in 1946.
