It’s a little-known story but Bristol Cars saved BMW of Germany from ruin in the years after the Second World War. Bristol Cars and BMW are rivals today in the dignified but ferocious market for luxury, up-market cars. But they were once partners and, according to one of BMW’s most famous designers, could have produced a world-beater together.
BMW — it stands for the German equivalent of Bavarian Motor Works — started making aircraft engines and motorcycles — and British Austin Sevens under licence! But its own cars, especially the sports models, were classics. The Second World War left BMW in ruins and its factories split by the division of Germany into East and West. It might have folded — except for Bristol Cars.
BMW's had been imported before the war, by the Aldington brothers company, AFN, and sold as Frazer Nash BMW's. The Arlington's renewed links with Munich when the war ended, but it was obvious BMW would be unable to supply cars for some time. But Bristol Aeroplane Company was thinking about turning to car building to replace the aircraft orders it would lose with the end of the war. One of the Arlington's had a BMW Mille Miglia sports car — and Bristol fell for it. BAG bought a majority stake in AFN and engineers visited BMW in Munich, officially to inspect high-altitude test facilities. But they quietly brought back technical details of the BMW 326, 327 and 328 models, plus two engines.
It was the start of a remarkable Europartnership, years before the Common Market. The car plans became an official war reparation and BMW engineering director Fritz Fiedler was invited to Bristol.
The first joint model, unveiled in Geneva in 1947, was the Bristol 400, which bore a remarkable resemblance to the BMW 327, right down to the grille and badge. The 400 reached 70mph in a less-than-blistering 30 seconds, and cost £2,723. The very first one off the line was later bought by Tony Crook, the former racing ace who took over the company in 1973. Almost every component was made at the Filton works — and made to aircraft quality. The 400s, of which just 700 were made, were noted for their road holding and won a number of world class rally events. Bristol soon gained its own strong identity, still with BMW engineering at its heart. Bodies, were styled by top designers and the emphasis was always on quality.
Baron Alex von Falkenhausen, a leading light of the modem BMW, now regrets that the BMW-Bristol link wasn’t developed. ‘The Bristol company made the BMW engine with better materials and it was very successful — especially in Formula B racing, with Cooper. The best thing for AFN would have been for the Arlington's to supply Bristol engines and for me to make the cat. It would have been unbeatable.’
The 400s success in rallies led to Bristol opening a racing department. A coupe was developed in the Filton wind tunnel which did 142mph on the Brabazon runway. Better results followed, but by 1955, the engine had had its day and the racing department closed. Bristol cars became more luxurious and less sporty, and in 1963 turned to American Chrysler engines for its new 407.
Bristol engines had been used in a number of other sports cars, especially the Cooper Bristol in which Mike Hawthorn made his name. The last car with the Bristol-BMW engine was the 1956 AC Ace — a true classic.
The cars are almost entirely hand-made and Bristol Cars turns out no more than three or four a week. It also restores all older models. All are very strong, yet very light for their size, thanks to a solid chassis coupled with aluminium body. And the latest model, the Blenheim, manages 30mpg despite its enormous 5.9 litre Chrysler VS engine. It costs £110,000 with a top speed of 150mph and acceleration of 60mph in just 6.9 seconds.
Former Tory Cabinet ministers William Waldegrave and John Patten were both big Bristol fans. Patten described the marque as ‘the archetype of Bristol discretion’ and added: ‘This discreet reverence is followed even in the correct naming of parts. The hubcaps are called nave plates, the badges crowning them roundels, as though this was the great Sir Nikolaus Pevsner on the crocketed spires of Huntingdonshire.
‘Indeed some of the best Bristols were wooden framed, though in car-makers’ ash, not the oak of cathedral builders. 'With Bristols, discretion is the overriding virtue. Name plates are so small they can hardly be seen'.
William Waldegrave, former MP for Bristol West, owns a classic Bristol 402 convertible. ‘It was always my ambition as a boy to own a Bristol and I managed to buy one for £600 in 1973,’ he said. ‘My 402 is my pride and joy. I would never sell it and I will get myself a 404 if 1 ever win the lottery.’
The Bristol Blenheim brochure keeps the same spirit, advertising the car as ‘dignified express travel for four six foot persons and their luggage.~By 1963, when the last Ace was made, BMW was back on the road again and has never looked back. But without the help from Bristol, in the dark days after the war, one of the world’s best-known cars would be little more than a memory.
