Brit carmaker Bristol Cars, known for its exclusive hand-built offerings and which prided itself as being the only luxury car manufacturer remaining in private British hands, went into administration last week. Trading had no longer become possible in the company’s present state, which has as little as 20 cars being made annually, a far cry from the 200 or so per year in its heyday.
Bristol’s spare parts and service operations are still running, but essentially the workforce has been disbanded – 22 of its 27 employees have been made redundant, including all workers at the manufacturing unit in Filton, Bristol.
The company started out life in 1946 when the Bristol Aeroplane Company – which had built the Blenheim light bomber and Type 156 Beaufighter heavy fighter used by the RAF in WW2 – moved into the luxury car market by kicking off Bristol Cars; the car division went separate ways with the parent company in 1960.
Despite its small production volume, the company offered four very distinct models covering a wide range of styles up to the point of closure, among them the long-serving Blenheim – which was the company’s best-known model – and the more recent Fighter, which began production in 2004.
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another one bites the dust
Bristol Cars is officially dead!
R.I.P Bristol Cars (1945-2011)
proton should buy it like lotus …..or naza take it
Yea i agree! Let Proton be the savor of British car industry!
so, Bristol is some kind of car? i thought it’s toothpaste brand or something…
u sure it’s a car?
thanks for the info! bristol rip !
I used to study in Bristol a couple of years back, and the irony was that I hardly saw any Bristols around back then…
And if not mistaken, the Bristol Blenheim [2nd pic] were unique in the sense that their spare tyre was placed in a compartment right behind the front left/right wheel…
of coz you seldom see bristol la, its an exclusive car, not your average myvi la!
R.I.P Bristol Cars (1945-2011)
SECOND!
i hope proton also will become like this..
I hope your typical thinking end up like Bristol cars.
Why the hell involves Proton in this matter?!!! Stupid kids who dont have a license and think he knows a lot about cars!!!
and u know a lot about cars just by typing in this blog?
he know better than u kid..dats y he is not giving idiot comment like u did!
he know better than u kid..dats y he is not giving idiot comment like u did.. come on he just give u some lesson
Proton User is angry…
PROTON RIP !!
Like Bristol car, there are always a different group of customers for different products. The rich and famous drives Bentley, Bugati, RR. Thriving businessmen goes for Audi, Benz and BMW. The wannabe’s goes for American or Japanese. The idiots buy Protons…
‘Enuff said.
not enuff lah , we (the idiot) want more. and give us with subsidy too
Hmmm…. I wonder how many protons you bought. Must be a lot.
Look mate, don’t be a douche ya. I’m no fan of proton, but many in Malaysia cannot afford to drive anything but a proton or perodua.
In Malaysia, Malaysian who buy Proton are not idiot, it’s bcos we got no choice.
In UK, brits who buy Proton are idiot, since they have so many other better brands to consider.
’20 cars being made annually’
Remember, that even Honda’s FD2 Civic type R was taken out of production due to the new exhaust gas regulation EURO6. (VW and Ford had to stop production of some models too).
How can a company with a production of 20 cars per year and four (!) models survive?
They only have themselves to blame
Can I encourage you to read my recent book, BRISTOL CARS, not just to sell same but because I want more people to know the full story of this brave venture. Second edition available from Haynes, Amazon or even cheaper via e-bay. Based on listening to all those involved at Bristol over the last 50 years. I bought my first in 1961 and have been driving them ever since. Two in garage now, one uses LPG. Both high mileage but still driven constantly in England and across Europe. Quite different to a production line car.
They will last a lifetime, there is little or no depreciation, there is simple owner maintenance and that lovely feel for the driver. There are some pre-owned cars not expensive which can often be made very good with a bit of hard work. Lets hope there are entrepreneurs out there who realise this product is still worthwhile.
I’ve never seen one in the flesh before or even sat in one,but i know the world would be duller without them on the roads.I find Bristol cars is not to everyone’s taste.Somehow it has its own charm and character which most modern cars lacking.That’s why I love classic cars.
Hi Chris,
Nice to see a long-time Bristol owner and enthusiast paying us a visit here. Having read the first volume of LJK Setright’s A Private Car at a friend’s place years ago (never got to Vol 2), am sure there’s plenty of anecdotal history in yours. Will be sure to keep an eye out for it.
Thanks for the heads-up. I’m going to check out your book.
Such a pity.England has lost most of its carmaker in the last 50 years.Most of the names left are names only but owned by foreigners.
Off topic,every time an article comes out it never fails to bring out the proton issues in the forum.
.. that is because england are arrogant bunch of ppl, instead of listening to what customers want, they tell customers what they should have! well serve them right now!
unique of the proton, be a punching bag for no brain person.
What’s really amazing is that the company only had 27 employees yet were able to form a team to make and sell cars. Pity that the number is now down to only 5 but that’s still pretty amazing. I’m sure people who drive these are very passionate about the brand. Rest in Peace Bristol Cars.
not very familiar with Bristols but is it true that a brand new Fighter will cost more than 300,000 pounds!?
Creative Destruction. Values change over the years. What was once regarded exclusive, has become common. Others have taken its place. It used to be that many people cherished a hand made car. The auto industry struggles every year to maintain that perceived value. Yet others have more success in churning out products at lower perceived value. The time for high end high value added cars will come to a stop. They struggle to embrace electric vehicles as they perceive it as another cause for Value erosion.
Its the same with flying in an airplane which was once only available to the uber rich. Low Cost Carriers have eroded that exclusivity and now the big name carriers struggle to contain this erosion.
We had vinyl records, 8 tracks, cassettes, cds. Now since being digital and moved around the world faster than anything else, it will make most labels obsolete. Some will become irrelevant.
Well said.
Do you know why I like vintage stuffs?
It is because the new and digital stuffs are too fast…they move too quickly…you could never save those little emotion…
I agree with you. Although vintage stuffs need a bit of work to operate and maintain, the satisfaction is priceless.
Bristol Fighters as far as i know could hit more than 200mph
the company that produce bristol fighter t that have 1012 is out business….wonder if they can can make more powerful car if they still in business
It’s a well engineered car that not much ppl knows about it. Pity that it went dust.
never knew it and never see it before.. thanks Anthony.. just now i read about it.. gotta love the front view of Bristol Blenheim Speedster and Roadster..
Another Made in England gone…..and Jeremy Clarkson should go too….
No more proper, traditional, genuine English cars left.
Sad.
we love jap more,,,
Still got Lotus, technically.
Although owned by Proton, they’re still based in Norfolk, England. Shame that the next-gen Lotuses (Lotii?) are all going to be fat, overweight imitation Lambos.
Yes it is a shame. But values changes with each generation. No matter how your father tries to impose on you, you’d have values and priorities which are different. Companies must be sensitive to market trends to change in order to survive. The American way of marketing leans heavily towards values as a source of profitability. The values cannot change into profits without the volume. The previous leadership of Lotus tried its best to maintain the core values of handmade lightweight cars. They cannot translate that to sales and EBIT.
Every consumer product has a Life Cycle. It will start slow, pick up and then tapers down. Once it is at its peak, companies should be making the replacement product with market knowledge. Its counter intuitive which makes it the biggest challenge.
Next is Honda ( I WISH )
The design is too classic for the generation now, it reminds me of jaguar…
super exp only for the rich…
Any unit running on Malaysia roads wondering.,,
I am from Hungary, I like these cars.
I think it is a pity to say farewell to Bristol cars.
Don’t you have anybody in UK who can save this small company?
Don’t you want save and maintain your traditions?