Wednesday 14 May 2014
Out and About
It was nice to get out and about in the sunshine today. I know it was only round the corner to Holland Park Mews but it felt good all the same. Hopefully someone will snap me up soon so I can have more days out like this.
Saturday 15 February 2014
Looking for my New Owner!
Here I am for sale on the Bristol Cars web site. While
I have been resting the fine fellows at Bristol's have done a bit more work on me
including new floor boards, carpets and interior woodwork - but I’m still the
same old Bertie.
They say I’m a “pleasure to drive”, so what are you waiting for – come and get me and let’s have some adventures together!
They say I’m a “pleasure to drive”, so what are you waiting for – come and get me and let’s have some adventures together!
Sunday 23 June 2013
Keep Bristolling!
“I’m just taking you down for a quick MOT and
service”, he said; but little did I know the Bristol Cars Showroom had taken an
interest in me and Neil was speaking to them about how much he might sell me
for! A few telephone calls later and the deal was done, bringing a very happy
10-year relationship to an end. I am now nervously waiting to see what they
will do to me before I am offered up for sale again.
So this could be my last posting on this blog. Perhaps
when I find a new owner they might provide a voice for me and continue recording
my adventures.
In the mean time, thanks for reading and keep
Bristolling!
Monday 18 February 2013
For Sale – 1967 Bristol 410
After 10 years ownership, I am preparing to sell my
Bristol 410, chassis number 410-7412, and the subject of this blog. It is the
12th 410 built and one of only 79 made.
410’s have a Chrysler 5.2 litre V8 engine and a
3-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission, together with power steering and
power assisted brakes. This makes for relaxed but purposeful driving, which
belies the car’s size and weight, offering true 4-seat comfort in classic
Bristol style.
The car was first registered on 18th
December 1967 to the Steel Supply Company (Western) Ltd for their Managing
Director. It then passed through the hands of 10 further owners, before I
bought it in 2003.
A distinguishing feature of the car is the lack of
side trims. This gives it a cleaner profile than the standard car, which is
further enhanced by the dark green paintwork.
I have had it regularly serviced and maintained by
Bristol Cars, and I have receipts going back many years for work carried out, including
at American Car Care Services.
Major work was undertaken in the 1990’s including
an interior re-trim in Connolly hide and a complete body-off re-spray in the
current colour, Connaught Green (for which I have a photographic record
viewable on this blog). Both of these are still in excellent condition. The car
would however benefit from having the dashboard refurbished where the lacquer
has started to peel.
As well as regular servicing, I have had the
following significant work carried out:
- · Engine rebuilt
- · Electric windows installed
- · New alternator
- · New water pump
- · New light-weight starter motor
- · New radiator
- · Heater matrix overhauled
- · New o/s exhaust manifold
- · New brake master cylinders
- · Overhauled rear brake callipers
It sits on 4 Michelin XVS tyres fitted in 2007,
which are still in good condition with a good depth of tread remaining.
The car is well known in the Bristol Owners’ Club
(I am currently a regional secretary and have been for the past 4 years) and at
local classic car rallies.
The car is currently in very good running order,
but I will have it serviced and MOT’d in May before offering it for sale. Enquiries
can be made before this date by leaving a comment below.
Monday 24 December 2012
A Christmas card from Bristol Cars
It was a nice surprise to find a Christmas card
from Bristol Cars included with the Club’s December newsletter.
This is yet another welcome sign of the
manufacturer forging closer links with the club and the owners of their cars.
This started shortly after their acquisition of the company in April 2011 with
a stunning parade of Bristol cars from throughout the marque’s history,
spanning almost every model ever built. Since then they have taken great care
to preserve everything of historic interest from the old factory including
spares, specialists tools and the bucks used to shape the bodies. Regular
features in the club’s Bulletin and sponsorship of a fully catered marquee at
the Club’s concours are further signs of their support.
The card depicts the cover for the 1948 Christmas
issue of the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s in-house magazine, the ‘Bristol Review’.
The watercolour painting shows the company’s headquarters at Filton with an
array of its products; piston and jet aero-engines, aeroplanes (Brabazon,
Britannia and Freighter), the Type 171 helicopter, aluminium pre-fabricated
schools and housing, and of course, 3 Bristol cars; Type 400, 401 and 402.
Bristol’s ambition is to design and manufacture a
new car, capable of equalling the quality and exceeding the performance of the
cars that built the marque’s reputation. The car is being developed in great
secrecy so little is known of the design, but what is certain is that it will
combine Frazer-Nash’s advanced hybrid drive-train technology with the styling
cues that have always made Bristol Cars so distinctive.
So on that note I would
like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and I look forward to what 2013 may
bring.
Sunday 9 December 2012
Bristol Owners' Christmas Lunch
A bright, crisp first Sunday in December was the
perfect backdrop to the East Anglian section of the Bristol Owners’ Christmas
lunch at the Ravenwood Hall Hotel in Suffolk.
Driving there along the A14 a familiar shape
appeared in my rear-view mirror as Churchill the 411 closed in behind. As we
made our way up the drive to the hotel we saw several other cars had beaten us
to it and were making an impressive statement parked right outside the
entrance.
I parked next to Churchill and the above photo
shows the Chairman’s 410 nearest the camera alongside Warwick Banks’ 404, Nick
Challacombe’s 407 and Richard Phillips’ 411 - recently the runner-up in Classic
Car Weekly’s Classic Car of the Year competition.
The roads on the way back home were dry but the
temperature was falling and after we had turned off the A14 onto the A137,
bound for Manningtree, we encountered one of Essex County Council’s gritters coming
in the opposite direction. There was an awful racket as it sprayed my bonnet
with grit and rock salt but thankfully there was nothing that Neil couldn’t
polish out.
The good weather had certainly encouraged a good
turn-out with 23 club members arriving in 10 Bristol cars, ranging from a 1948
400 through to a 1979 603. A few more next year and we will be able to take over
an entire room in the hotel!
Here’s to a very happy Christmas and a Bristolling
new year.
Wednesday 3 October 2012
Hunstanton Show Hits the Spot
Classic car owners from across the east of England
descended upon a blustery Hunstanton on Sunday 30th September as part of a day
of activities raising money for the Stroke Association and the Friends of the
Stroke Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn. The classic car
show, which was sponsored by CUP Classic Cars, attracted an eclectic mix of
cars to the green in the centre of the town. This inaugural event was organised
by Richard Phillips, a member of the East Anglian section and a Director of CUP
Classics.
The day started with an early rendezvous with
Churchill in a supermarket car park in Ipswich. We then set off up the A14 to
Bury St. Edmunds where we took the A134 through Thetford, then around King’s Lynn
and on to Hunstanton. Fresh from his Bristol Owners’ Club concours win in his
411, Richard welcomed us to the site, which is situated between the town of
Hunstanton and the sea, and showed us to our position which he had already
marked out with an Owners’ Club banner.
Once parked drivers and passengers immediately
sought refuge in the Tamworth Tearooms overlooking the green where coffee and
very good egg and bacon baps hit the spot as a succession
of classic car owners from the show followed suit.
Back to the show and we were delighted to see that Charles
and Pat Nelson had also made the trip to Hunstanton in their 409. The group of 4
cars made a strong presence that kept the owners busy for most of the day, with
the V8 engines and spare wheel storage promoting the most interest from
visitors.
Mid-morning and it was still blowing a gale so The
Golden Lion Hotel at the top of the green looked like a good bet for coffee. Disappointingly
the hotel staff ignored the 4 visitors as they made their way to the lounge and
took their seats, but desperately in need of a pick-me-up the group decided on
Café Lattes with an added shot of Baileys Irish Cream liqueur.
More inattentive service prompted a trip to the bar
where the request for 4 Baileys Lattes was met with a response of “we don’t do
Baileys Lattes”, so an order duly went in for 4 Lattes and 4 Baileys – you can
guess the rest. Suffice to say the recipe wasn’t complicated. The drinks having
hit the spot, departure was as memorable as the arrival. It turns out the
experience was far from unique and I would recommend seeking out the reviews on
tripadvisor for more of the same and a laugh or two.
Back to the show again, and the four awards that were
given out during the course of the day; Most Original Car went to a very well
preserved Delahaye, Best Car in Show went to a Lotus Elan +2S which had been
the subject of a total restoration, the prize for the Most Appropriately
Attired Owners went to a couple dressed as gangsters in their Excalibur Phantom,
and Furthest Travelled On The Day went to a surprised Neil Turnbull who
together with his wife Karen had travelled 103 miles from their home on the
Essex-Suffolk border.
Final refreshments at Hunstanton were taken at The
Coffee Pot where tea, cheese on toast and toasted tea-cakes were ordered from
the friendly staff and enjoyed for a very reasonable sum.
Returning to the green cars had started to drift
away and so final thanks were made and goodbyes said before I led the way back
towards Suffolk and then Essex. There was however time for one more food stop
and the Foldgate Inn at Stradsett turned out to be a real find. Adnams bitter
and Abbot Ale from the cask and home-cooked roast dinners and desserts that
were too tempting for some!
Churchill led the way on the final leg home and we parted company on the
A14 at Ipswich. Final thanks to the Stroke Association
and Richard Phillips for organising a great day and I hope that it will become
a regular fixture on the classic car calendar.
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