1954 Bristol 401

With the introduction of the 401 - the first of its exquisitely styled Aerodynes - Bristol began to move away from the pre-war design the company had inherited from BMW. Carrozzeria Touring provided the Superleggera method of body construction that overlaid alloy panels on a tubular-steel framework, while the low-drag shape was honed in Bristol's wind tunnel. It had been intended that the Milan-based Carrozzeria would build the first 200 cars, but this idea was abandoned after a mere handful of prototypes.
The 401 continued to use the BMW-based, 2.0-litre, six-cylinder engine with its ingeniously arranged, pushrod-operated inclined valves, paired to a 4-speed gearbox. The 401's aircraft standard of construction did not come cheap however - at £2,270 it cost as much as an Aston Martin DB2 - and only 611 of these exclusive cars found customers between 1948 and 1953.

On offer here from the Bunbury Collection is a right-hand drive Bristol 401 that has been part of our vendor's family since the late 1980s. After inheriting it years later the current private owner decided to restore it in 2017. The restoration was carried out by Andrew Fraser and there are many invoices and items of correspondence with Andrew in the file detailing the level of work that was involved including invoices for over £35,000 worth of labour alone before any parts. We really do recommend interested parties to come and see the car and the file at Race Retro.

Offered at a very competitive estimate when you consider the car and how much has been invested into it, this is a reluctant sale from the owner of the Bunbury Collection purely due to ill health.

Photo Credit: Tom Wood