Stefano Pasini


 BRISTOL 409 REGISTER


I think that the Bristol 409 is one of the great classic cars of its era, and it's only typical of the styole of this very 'private' Marque that it is still widely unknown even among cognoscenti. This must have something to do with the style of Anthony Crook, the man who was 'Mr Bristol' more than anyone else during its production life, a maverick that very rarely indulged in good relations with the Press and often clashed with potential reviewers. This did no good to the public knowledge of such a good car, road tests being really few and far between. The greatest of them all being LJK Setright's erudite eulogy on the pages of CAR ('as long as you are inside, it's splendid!')

 
Contrarily to what happens most of the time, the 409 did not simply fall in my lap casually, as just another luxurious British Grand Tourer. When I was a teen and I often walked for hours around Central London, I began to get fascinated by those few anonymous, obviously expensive 2-door saloons parked outside restaurants and gentleman's Clubs. Their understated confidence made me wonder why they were so special; why one chap would decide to buy a Bristol instead of his friends' Bentleys or Astons. I studied the case and decided that I needed a Bristol V8 and that amongst the V8 Bristols, the 409 was the one that White and Crook had tailor-cut for my tastes. It had the 'new' 318 c.i. V8, the revised 727 Torque-Flite box and you could find one originally fitted with power steering, but it still retained the 16" wheels, the 'typewriter' gearbox controls and the fascinating Bluemels steering wheel

Bristol 409- The Bristol 409 Register

When considering why such a magnificent motor car had a production run of only 72 examples from 1965 to 1967, one must also consider the 409's formidable price. When this massive, extremely refined 2-door saloon was put on sale, in late 1965, it cost ***; at the end of its production, in 1967, Autocar listed it at £5.373 whilst a undisputably more flashy Aston Martin DB6 cost 'only' £4.068 and an Interceptor £3.743. Ferraris, Bentleys and Lamborghinis were marginally more expensive but they carried a status symbol value that the voluntarily understated Bristol did reject on principle

Bristol 409- The Bristol 409 Register

The concurrence of these factors somewhat obscured the excellent qualities of the 409 (and of all the V8 Bristols, in fact) as splendidly hand-crafted high-speed cruisers built for long hauls in complete comfort and luxury. Four people can sit confortably in the generously furnished interior, the ventilation being excellent even in hot weather, and the boot is enormous, thanks to the peculiar relocation of the spare wheel and tools in the front nearside wheelarch; another endearing feature of every Bristol since the 404

Bristol 409- The Bristol 409 Register

The drawing-room ambience of the 409 is peerless: this is the proper interior of a fast long-range classic cruiser. Plenty of instruments maintain an aircraft connection, fitted on a polished walnut facia; the Bluemels wheel is one of the most typical features of every Bristol up the the 411

Bristol 409- The Bristol 409 Register

Why a 409 Register? The reason is simple: it is always desirable to track the cars produced by a special, noble manufacturer like Bristol, and this seems particularly necessary when the car is rare and the survival rate, sadly, not very high. The attrition rate of the 409 and other Bristols is high because the obscurity of this little firm, almost unknown if not to real connoisseurs, kept their prices going inesorably down to the point where it was not economical to restore them; for this reason a number of them were lost, parked somewhere and forgot or scrapped

Bristol 409- The Bristol 409 Register

I would therefore like to try to find every 409 (and 408) around, trying to get in touch even with the owners that might not be a Member of the main owners' Clubs (Bristol Owners' Club, Bristol Owners' Drivers' Club, Bristol Owners' Club of Australia). Maybe this way it will be possible to track down every surviving example of this noble family, know its whereabouts and save some of the 'forgotten' examples before they are too far gone to be restored (it happened until a few years ago, and it was very sad....)

Bristol 409- The Bristol 409 Register

So, if you own a 409, please be so kind to send an e-mail to my address stefano@stefanopasini.it and I shall add your car to the list. Please do this even if you are already a BOC Member and your car is listed in the Club's archives.
Moreover, if you know of a 409 somewhere that might not be listed, please be so kind to try to contact the owner so we can add his car to the list


 
 409 Specifications and  Road Test

 



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