Bristol Cars Goes Bust

[homeforsummer]

The V8 was an oddity - always confused me. It was as if they bought too many modular V8s for the XPower SV and needed to use them up.

I do remember they previewed a V8 version of the ZT at the same time as all the other XPower stuff appeared.

From what I remember hearing, the V8 project was given the green light when everyone at MGR realised it was going down the pan whatever they did and they had nothing really to lose. As ways to go out on a bang go, cramming a 4.6 litre Ford V8 into a frumpy FWD saloon and then making it rear-drive is quite a good one. Must have been a fun project for the engineers, and it went down well in the press too.

Interesting fact(s) about the RWD-ing of the 75 platform: Contrary to opinion, it wasn't designed to be RWD from the start (as people had claimed thanks to the BMW link). The large central tunnel was a BMW thing, but it was their way of creating a stiffer chassis and just happened to be suitable for sticking a gearbox and driveshaft in. And the 75 did have a BMW-style Z-axle rear end, which also happened to be perfect for slotting a rear diff in between. It was essentially a FWD car that happened to be perfect for converting.

So there you go...

 

[sumbrownkid]

I'm sure Tata pondered on buying another British car company. (The Indian take over of England continues.)

 

[designate-19L]

Fare thee well Bristol.
And your ridiculous business plan.

Hang in there, Morgan.

Oh, don't you worry about Morgan, they're better than fine. The order books are choc-full, there's like a two year waiting list. Remember that Morgan has genuine environmental credentials - the traditional range (4/4, plus 4) are lighter than the Lotus Elise, the fuel economy is very impressive. And they continue to announce new models (God I want the new Threewheeler).

I cycle past the Bristol showroom every other day. Dunno what's happening, they still have models sitting in there, though mostly older ones. Mixed feelings, really. Their cars have always been a acquired taste. Shame to see the Bristol name go through this, though. A long history...

 

[Tornado]

Morgan also is in the business of actually building and selling cars. Quite unlike whatever Bristol was doing.