Bristol Bullet

Bristol
Bristol Bullet
Bullet
Production period:	since 2016
Class :	Sports car
Body versions :	Roadster
Engines:	Otto engine : 4.8 liters (275 kW)
Length:	4200 mm
Width:	1860 mm
Height:	1200 mm
Wheelbase :	2553 mm
Empty weight :	1100 kg
Previous model	Bristol Blenheim Speedster

The Bristol Bullet is an open two-seater sports car from the British car manufacturer Bristol Cars , which was presented in July 2016. The retro- designed roadster is the first vehicle that the traditional manufacturer is bringing onto the market after the bankruptcy in 2011 and the subsequent takeover by a new investor. With him, Bristol is reviving the relationship with BMW established 70 years ago . The Bullet stylistically quotes some of the specifications of classic Bristol models, but has no technical relationship with them.

History of origin

Fresh start after bankruptcy

Bristol Cars started automobile production in 1946 as a subsidiary of the British aircraft manufacturer Bristol Airplane Company . The company used a chassis and engine design from BMW that, according to some sources, it had received from Germany as a reparation payment. Bristol continued to develop the chassis and engine until 1959 and was also regularly involved in motor racing. After long-time Bristol dealer Tony Crook took over the company, Bristol turned to US engines from Chrysler , but kept the BMW chassis. According to this concept, Bristol continued to produce exclusive luxury vehicles until 2011, which, however, were recently considered eccentric and outdated; of the last model in this series, the Blenheim , only fewer than ten copies per year. 2011 Bristol was insolvent; automobile production came to a complete standstill. With Kamkorp Autokraft, a Swiss investor took over the business. In the following years, Bristol developed a new vehicle together with Frazer Nash Research, which is also part of Kamkorp, which, according to initial announcements, should have a hybrid drive . The company failed to meet this requirement, as did the presentation of the new model, which was initially planned for autumn 2015. Bristol's new car, code-named Pinnacle (peak) during development , was shown to the public for the first time under camouflage at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2016 ; a month later, the press screening took place and the undisguised version was formally presented at the Salon Privé Supercar Show at Blenheim Palace . It is not equipped with a hybrid drive, but with a conventional gasoline engine .

Namesake: A prototype from 1955

The model name Bullet (German: Geschoss) is based on the nickname of a prototype that Bristol had developed from 1955. The original Bullet, which had the internal project code 225, was a further development of the Arnolt-Bristol and was discussed as its successor for a while. Several 225 chassis were created in the late 1950s. One of them was given an open Speedster body, the author of which is unknown. The combination of chassis and body was given the unofficial name The Bullet . Because the initiator of the Arnold Bristol did not like the car, Bristol gave up work on Project 225. The Bullet remained unused in the factory for several years. Around 1970 the body was joined to a new chassis and fitted with a 6.3 liter Chrysler V8 engine . Bristol Director Tony Crook was temporarily considering mass production of the vehicle, which would have been positioned in the AC Cobra market segment , but saw a contradiction to the comfort-oriented models of the 411 series and put The Bullet out of service again. It wasn't until 1999, after Toby Silverton became a shareholder in Bristol Cars, that the car was rediscovered and restored. It received the drive and technology of the current Bristol Blenheim. From 2002, on the initiative of a collector, the Blenheim Speedster model was created in small series , which was remotely based on the design of the Bullet. There were also design elements of the Bristol 404 and Bristol 405 Drophead .

Transitional model

Bristol Cars sees the Bullet as a transitional model. It is said to be the last Bristol vehicle to be powered by conventional petrol. The successor model should be equipped with the hybrid drive already announced for the Bullet.

Model description

Rear end

The Bullet is a two-seater roadster with a neoclassical body. The passenger compartment is set very far back; the seats are just in front of the rear wheel line. The windshield is very low. The short stern has suggested tail fins , which were also found in a similar form on the Bristol 450 racing car that was successfully used at Le Mans . There are chrome-plated roll bars behind the headrests. Unlike earlier Bristol models, the superstructures of which were usually made of aluminum, the body of the Bullet consists mainly of carbon fiber reinforced plastic on an aluminum chassis . There is still no information about the chassis. According to the factory, the curb weight of the car is 1100 kg. The interior can be equipped with either wood or carbon inlays at the customer's request. In addition, a lot of consumer electronics are built in.

The Bullet is powered by a 4.8 liter eight-cylinder V-engine that Bristol gets from BMW. The engine from the BMW N62 series , which is also used in the current Morgan Plus 8 , is not charged and has an output of 276 kW (370 bhp). In Bristol parlance, it bears the name “Hercules”, reminiscent of an aircraft engine. The power is transmitted either via a manually or automatically shifted six-speed gearbox from BMW.

The factory specifies a top speed of 250 km / h (governed) and an acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in 3.8 seconds.

production

In terms of the manufacturing process, there are no longer any links to the earlier Bristol models. The Bullet is no longer produced in the facilities that Bristol Cars had maintained for decades in Filton , a suburb of the port city of Bristol . Instead, the Bullet is manufactured in newly built halls in Chichester . The purchase price is approximately £ 250,000.

Bristol Cars plans to produce 70 copies of the Bullet. Earlier Bristol models also achieved similar numbers. At the presentation in July 2016, a large part of the production had already been sold.

literature

• Christopher Balfour: Bristol Cars. A very British story . 2009 (Haynes Publishing) ISBN 978-1-84425-407-1 .

Web links

Commons : Bristol Bullet  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Bristol Cars website

Remarks

1. ↑ The exact circumstances of the collaboration between BMW and Bristol are still unclear. Deviating from the reparation thesis, other sources suspect criminal acts in a de facto lawless area due to the war. Still other sources assume BMW's approval, because the BMW headquarters in Munich would rather see its own design drawings in the hands of the Western Allies than in those of the Soviet Union, which already had the BMW automobile plant in Eisenach as a result of the war. Going even further is the thesis that BMW consciously cooperated on the basis of long-term contacts and received consideration or commitments in order to be able to restart automobile production in post-war Germany.
2. ↑ Bullet was also the nickname of the Bristol Scout , a successful fighter aircraft from the First World War.
3. ↑ Peter Wilson and Jim Mayers won the 1954 24-hour race in Le Mans in the class for sports cars from 1.5 to 2 liter displacement.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Classic Cars, Issue 10/2011, p. 27: “Bristol's past meets its future”.
2. ↑ Press release from May 2015 on the website www.bristolcars.co.uk ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed June 4, 2015). 
3. ^ ^{A b c d e} Erik Baker: New Bristol Bullet revealed: famous British car-maker returns with £ 250,000 speedster. www.telegraph.co.uk, July 28, 2016, accessed July 30, 2016 (UK English, updated August 1, 2016). 
4. ↑ Uli Baumann: Bristol Bullet: New Roadster from 2017 - auto motor und sport. In: auto-motor-und-sport.de. July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Photo of the 1955 Bristol Bullet (accessed August 1, 2016)  
6. ↑ Christopher Balfour: Bristol Cars. A very British story. 2009 (Haynes Publishing) ISBN 978-1-84425-407-1 , pp. 231, 361.
7. ↑ Herbie Schmidt: Bristol Bullet: Phoenix from the British ashes. www.nzz.ch, July 29, 2016, accessed on July 30, 2016 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Press release of July 28, 2016 on the Bristol Bullet ( Memento of the original of July 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed July 30, 2016). 
9. ↑ Lawrence Allan: New Bristol Bullet unveiled: full details and ride in the 370bhp V8 speedster. www.autoexpress.co.uk, July 29, 2016, accessed July 30, 2016 .