Cars, Planes and Trains

A glorious first Sunday in September and the East Anglian Section of the Bristol Owners’ Club held its summer barbecue.

The day started at Wattisham airfield for a tour of the heritage museum which was opened early especially for the club. The museum contains many interesting exhibits including details of the Bristol Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft that were stationed there in the early years of the Second World War.

The cars, 4 Bristols and an Aston Martin, were then escorted to the other side of the base (it is still operational with an active fleet of Apache helicopters) for a scene straight out of the cold war. The cars were parked outside one of the hardened Quick Reaction Alert Sheds where during the 1950s and 60s live armed English Electric Lightnings were on standby at all times before being replaced by McDonnell Douglas Phantoms in the 1970s. After the massive doors were slid apart we were allowed inside and found a Phantom and Hawker Hunter undergoing restoration.

We then drove through the Suffolk countryside to Battisford near Stowmarket where John and Gwynneth Hogger hosted a Barbeque in the grounds of their beautifully restored farmhouse. John’s impressive Barbecue cooked the food with wood smoke, which was helped on its way by a heater fan from a Bristol car rigged up to a 12v battery.

A door led though to their neighbour’s garden revealing an extensive scale steam railway – the smell of the coal smoke and rhythm of the trains over the tracks transporting everyone back to their childhood as they rode on the various trains all afternoon.

The summer barbeque is also the section’s fundraising event and it does not need to look very far for its nominated charity as one of its members is a Lymphoma Association Buddy. The buddy scheme puts people affected by lymphoma in telephone or email contact with volunteers who have had a similar experience of lymphoma. Well deserved recipients of the £235 raised on the day.

Helmingham Festival of Classic & Sports Cars

31 years of Bristol Cars were represented at the Helmingham Festival of Classic & Sports Cars today. From a 1948 type 400 to a 1979 603 Series 2, 8 cars showed off 7 of Filton’s different models.

This year’s show attracted the largest ever entry of car clubs, and this was the first year that the Bristol Owners’ Club had entered. 7 of the cars were from the East Anglian section, with one car travelling 120 miles from Rugby in Warwickshire.

The show took place in the grounds of Lord Tollemache’s magnificent moated Helmingham Hall in Suffolk with its ancient deer park and grade 1 listed gardens. As in previous years the event raised money for EACH – East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice (last year’s donation paid for the drugs and oxygen at the Ipswich Hospice for over a year).

The full line-up was as follows:

• ·       1948 400
• ·       1951 401
• ·       1951 401
• ·       1955 405
• ·       1967 409
• ·       1967 410
• ·       1970 411 Series 1
• ·       1979 603 Series 2

411s and Fire Engines

Unable to attend this year’s Ipswich to Felixstowe rally due to an engine rebuild, I was delighted that 2 other Bristols were able to represent the marque. Neil went along for the chance to ride in a fire engine (and dress up as a fireman) and saw the 2 411’s lined up in the park; Stuart Risebrow’s newly acquired Series 1 and Martin Bennett’s Series 4 (pictured).

The cold and wet day did nothing to deter people’s enthusiasm for the event and even those in open tourers made it all the way to Felixstowe promenade. The number of spectators on the route was generally down this year but the roundabouts were packed – giving the fire engine an excuse to spin round a couple of times while letting rip with its lights and sirens.

As for the engine rebuild – I should be back in action in a few weeks and I’ll let you know how I feel once I’ve had the chance to gulp in a few cylinder-fulls of air and petrol.

Bristols in Brandeston

I met up with Winston yesterday. Winston is a 1970 411 Series 1, liberated from the Bristol Cars showroom in Kensington and brought to Suffolk. We met up at the Queens Head Inn, at Brandeston in Suffolk, where our drivers and their partners had a very enjoyable lunch.

Winston sports smart British Racing Green paintwork with a red leather interior, and at first glance the 411’s body is very similar to the 410’s. Most obvious is the radiator grille that is less rounded with inner driving lamps that protrude from the radiator grille in chromed shrouds. It also houses a Bristol nameplate instead of the 410’s bonnet badge.

At the rear the style of the boot is simplified being squared off with the loss of the 410’s vestigial fins. There are slimmer bumpers front and rear and a neater single trim line applied to the flanks. Door kick plates are narrower than on the 410. All in all less fussy perhaps but in my opinion it is at the loss of a certain amount of character.

Inside a smaller 3-spoke leather-trimmed wheel with a Bristol badge set into its central boss has replaced the traditional twin-spoke Bluemels steering wheel. The dashboard has also been updated with large rocker switches replacing the 410’s toggle switches all set within a lighter wood veneer.

Perhaps the biggest change is under the bonnet with the Chrysler engine being up rated from 318 to 383 cu in – that’s 6.3 litres! This results in stunning performance but to the detriment of fuel economy, which is typically around 13 mpg.

Hopefully that won’t stop Winston getting out and about and I look forward to seeing him at shows over the coming year.

Caught on Camera

Motor Books have produced a DVD “Bristol Cars on Film” based on 2 16mm films shot by the late Ted Ashman, Chief Photographer of the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the mid-1950s.

The first film follows a Bristol 403 travelling by road and Bristol Freighter from London to Paris in 1954 to demonstrate how comfortable and pleasant such a journey could be. While the second film shows the Bristol team at Le Mans in 1955 finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their class.

As a bonus, footage of the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s Centenary celebrations at Filton in September 2010 is included. This is also where that year’s Bristol Owners Club concours took place (with the largest ever assembly of Bristol cars) and this too is featured on the DVD.

This is where I come in, or rather go out – literally. Forget the aerobatic display of the Airbus A380, spectacular as it is with the massive aircraft seemingly hanging motionless in the air. The highlight for me is when I’m captured on film leaving the site at the end of the day. Neil is in the driver’s seat with Karen next to him, and Neil’s friend John Tanner is in the back. It was a great day that I previously wrote about on this blog, and with the extra films this DVD is well worth looking out for. 

It's going to be a cold, cold Christmas

5 Bristol cars - a 407, a 409 and 3 410s were parked in front of Ravenwood Hall near Bury St. Edmunds while 17 club members sat down for a sumptuous lunch in the hotel’s restaurant. There was also a 401 and a 603 in the car park making a record 7 cars turning up for the East Anglian section’s Christmas lunch.

The record attendance was in no small part due to the excellent weather, which allowed the cars’ paintwork to stay shiny, and gave their ancient heaters a fighting chance at keeping their occupants warm.

The efficiency of our respective heating systems was a popular topic of conversation with the conclusion that drivers of 50 years ago were a much hardier bunch. Neil had blanked off part of my radiator to the extent that some warmth was discernable in the cabin with the temperature gauge reading a steady 75°C when cruising on the A14. I like to run hotter than that so some more experimentation is going to be required to ensure that I’m running at my best and Neil continues to take me out through the winter to stop me getting bored.

Winter running temperatures never used to be such a problem until Neil fitted me with a new radiator core 2 years ago in preparation for a trip to the south of France. However English winters, even mild ones, are another matter entirely.

Banners at Battlesbridge

The East Anglian section managed to muster two cars for the Battlesbridge Grand Motorbillia Day in September. I went along with Neil and was joined by Gwynneth and John Hogger, and Gwynneth's aunt in their 401.

Neil decided that this was enough to constitute a club display so he erected the Owners Club banner. 

Raising our profile with the banner must have worked because it attracted the attention of the judges who awarded 'Highly Commended' to Gwynneth's splendid 401. She then had to take the car into the main ring where it was in the running for best car in show.

Unfortunately it didn't scoop that prize but very well done for being one of only half a dozen cars singled out from amongst a field of several hundred.