Iconic Bristol car brand revived for 21st century

An iconic British car brand is being revived and remastered for the 21st century, restoring part of Bristol’s heritage and proving a boost for the city’s manufacturing sector.

Select models from the classic Bristol Cars™ range will be remastered following the acquisition of intellectual property rights for the historic British car manufacturer by entrepreneur Jason Wharton.

Bristol Cars™ owner Wharton aims to re-engineer the distinctive vehicles on a build-to-order basis through his company Bristol Manufacturing Limited – with the creation of a new battery electric vehicle among his plans. The aim is to attract further investment to revive the marque into a leading British Electric Vehicle (EV) company by the time it marks its 80th anniversary in 2026.

Externally, the remastered vehicles will benefit from a mild facelift, but under the bonnet they will be re-engineered to 21st homologation standards. Each car will be fitted with a new 6.4 litre naturally aspirated Hemi Chrysler V8 powertrain, eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, while suspension, electrical architecture and interiors will be newly updated.

Initially, three limited-edition series of eight remastered cars will be produced – the Bristol 411 Series 8, the Bristol Fighter™ and the Bristol Speedster™ – these are to be the final internal combustion engine Bristol Cars™ ever to be manufactured, as the entirely new Bristol Buccaneer™ will be a battery electric vehicle (BEV), scheduled for a start of production in 2025 in Filton, Bristol.

Work is due to begin on the first remastered vehicles this year, with road homologated prototypes likely to be ready towards the end of 2021, when an extensive testing regime will be undertaken.

Orders are being taken now for the remastered series of vehicles which will be delivered to customers in 2022 and 2023.

Bristol Cars™ was originally formed in 1945 as the car division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The business was renowned for creating a series of premium, elegant two-door, four-seat saloon models from the Bristol 400™ saloon of 1946 to the Bristol Blenheim, before a radical departure with the two-seater Bristol Fighter™ supercar, unveiled in 2004.

In its heyday, Bristol Cars™ had a factory in the Filton area and had an exclusive showroom in Kensington High Street where it showcased its collection of refined grand tourers.

However, the original company was placed into administration and wound up in 2011. It’s assets were purchased a month later, but over the last decade has remained largely inactive and when in 2020 it went into liquidation, it appeared a British motoring icon was lost forever.

But Wharton, the owner of a Bristol Fighter™ and a Bristol 411™, both of which will be used to build the remastered prototypes, stepped in, spent an undisclosed sum on acquiring the intellectual property rights to Bristol Cars™, certain chassis jigs, and patterns and a new worldwide domain which will provide a new digital online customer platform.

The appointment of a chief executive, head of engineering, and two non-executive directors is also planned for spring 2022, when a significant capital raise will also take place.

Wharton plans to eventually resume manufacturing at Filton, creating an ‘Atelier’ style final assembly and brand centre, close to the original site and to reopen a new London showroom.

He said: “Bristol is a quintessentially British brand that was renowned for creating luxurious and distinctive vehicles. We want to revive and reinvigorate this iconic marque, preserving its heritage, while fully remastering it for the 21st century.

“This country has a remarkable tradition of creating low-volume, hand-manufactured vehicles, and Bristol Cars™ has for far too long been unable to fulfil its potential. We want to change that.

“I see myself as a long-term investor in this iconic British brand, so part of my role is to take it forward and develop it so it can finally become sustainable as a premium automotive business, hence our need to move with the times, and introduce a fully battery electric model.”

The remastered vehicle series will retail at around £495,000 plus VAT. A temporary landing page for the revived Bristol Cars™ brand can be accessed here: www.bristolcars.com.