Bristol Cars goes bust after 65 years

[thebrochureman]

Bristol Cars has gone bust. The administrators have taken over. They say they might be able to salvage something, but as of now, bang goes another slice of the expensive and the oddball in Britain's car tradition.
Bristol was so eccentric it made Morgan look positively mass-market and mainstream.

Its top-end car was the Fighter T. Powered by a turbocharged Dodge Viper V10, the spec sheet shows more than 1,000bhp. It's got gullwing doors. But no driver aids. Or airbag.
They did sell a few of the original non-turbo versions of the Fighter, which was probably quite fast enough anyway.

A car this outlandish was the bitter end for the company. It was trying to build ultra-fast gentleman's GTs, but that put it in head-on competition with the might of Mercedes AMG, with the SLR and SLS.

OK, in contrast with AMG's brashness, the Bristol gave you a nice throwback British reserve. But in return for that you had to pay a huge sacrifice in actual ability and equipment. Anyway, there's always Aston and Bentley if you want to wave the Union Jack.

348891

Its strange that the press was almost never allowed to drive Bristols, its like they don't what people to find out what their car were like.
I think its a shame that Bristol goen bust, another british car companey gone.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/bristol-cars-goes-bust-2011-03-03 (http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/bristol-cars-goes-bust-2011-03-03)

[Ferrer]

That's sad.

There's something utterly cool about a Blenheim. I want one.

[NicFromLA]

Cars are unlike any other of man's creations because they're so like us: they have eyes (headlights) and mouths (grills) and they live in a combination of fuel, air and water that is all linked together via electrical impulses. I think we select them as representations of who we want to be, I never had any desire to own a Bristol, but I'm sad that future generations will never be able to put on that suit of an eccentric Englishman. Much like with MG, Triumph, TVR, etc, no one will ever get to be that eccentric Englishman ever again, and that makes me sad.

Rest in peace.

Good luck Aston Martin, Morgan and Lotus. You're going to need it.

[thebrochureman]

Cars are unlike any other of man's creations because they're so like us: they have eyes (headlights) and mouths (grills) and they live in a combination of fuel, air and water that is all linked together via electrical impulses. I think we select them as representations of who we want to be, I never had any desire to own a Bristol, but I'm sad that future generations will never be able to put on that suit of an eccentric Englishman. Much like with MG, Triumph, TVR, etc, no one will ever get to be that eccentric Englishman ever again, and that makes me sad.

Rest in peace.

Good luck Aston Martin, Morgan and Lotus. You're going to need it.

Yes it’s sad Bristol’s gone. I think Morgan is one of the strongest English car company’s still going, probably because their waiting list is so long. I think if Morgan keeps their design they can't go far wrong. Oh well, let’s hope other English car company’s don’t go bust, we’ve also still got have Caparo and Invicta.

[Man of Steel]

Oh yes Invicta and Caparo. They make one single model or so? I can hardly believe those manufacturers can still survive.

Let's hope so though.

[henk4]

Oh yes Invicta and Caparo. They make one single model or so? I can hardly believe those manufacturers can still survive.

Let's hope so though.

last time I heard anything about Invicta was 2007....

[092326001]

By the way, has Marcos gone bust?

[henk4]

By the way, has Marcos gone bust?

indeed

[Ferrer]

last time I heard anything about Invicta was 2007....
And did they make a car at all.

Britishness can still be had in a Jag for a much lower price though.

[henk4]

And did they make a car at all.

Britishness can still be had in a Jag for a much lower price though.

yes, I have seen at least two different ones.

[thebrochureman]

last time I heard anything about Invicta was 2007....

Probably because they only make 50 cars a year, I am surprised they are still going. They should bring a new car out.

[henk4]

Probably because they only make 50 cars a year, I am surprised they are still going. They should bring a new car out.

where did I say what you are implying? ;)

since 2007 I heard nothing from them, neither did I see any car anywhere.

[thebrochureman]

Last thing i heard from them was when i order my Invicta S1 brochure, i had to write by hand to order my brochure.