B ISTO ARS

[pompei]

Andy Davis out of Stackridge has two Bristols

[Jozza]

Was the Bristol bus company any relation?

nope

 

the car company grew out of the aircraft company and the bus company grew out of the tramway company!

 

Just to be very pedantic for a moment:

 

There is a connection between the companies. Sir George Edwards, owner of Bristol Tramways, founded the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a seperate business but using many of the same managers and engineering/design staff (apparently saying to the Tramways board "I wish one day to make buses that can fly" which is apt since the BAC had ended up as an outpost of Airbus). From then on it's as you said ; the aircraft/engine builder spawned Bristol Cars and the Tramways company began building its own buses.

 

Both companies (aircraft and buses) used the same logo despite being seperate entities.

[Cavcraft]

Don't you have to apply to Bristol if buy a new one then they sort of interview you to see if you fit their requirements?

[Inspector Morose]

Bristol commercial vehicles was an offshoot of the Bristol Tramways Company, the local operator at the time. Bristol cars, on the other hand was an offshoot of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. (Shit, way too late)

 

I had a Bristol once. This.

 

It eventually ended up looking like this:

[CreepingJesus]

Don't you have to apply to Bristol if buy a new one then they sort of interview you to see if you fit their requirements?

 

That's what the comment right at the start, about not getting back in the showroom was about. You go into the Kensington showroom, and if (IIRC) the company's owner Toby Silverton doesn't like the look of you; you are shown the door, and there'll be no shiny new Bristol for you!

That applies to any used motors they're selling, altho' obviously you could buy one elsewhere. Whether you'd still be persona non grata in Bristol circles, I'm not sure. They're a tight-knit bunch, so I wouldn't bet against!

[andrew e]

It was Tony Crook that booted you out, not Silverton - hell I got brochures* (well photocopied sheets!) last year. I will lob in this quote mind: I had dropped the Mrs and Kids off at some god awfull screamy teenage west end show so cruised round rather than pay Dick Turpin's ancestor to park. I chanced the BM on the kerb outside B_ISTO _ARS and tentatively headed inside where the sales gentleman (It wasn't Silverton) was sliding the doors shut (so I gave him a hand). Obviously clocking that unless I won the lottery there was no chance of a sale, I was humoured. I asked had the recession impacted sales at Bristol?

 

The reply was "Not at Bristol Cars sir"

[Des]

http://www.bristolcars.co.uk

Looks like they've updated their website, note that they are now quoting performance figures, times are changing, rather than fuel bar-room bullshit, performance would have been quoted as adequate. I've noticed a steady rise in Bristol prices, very hard to find anything but a crock under 10K now, and they're kind of losing their anonymity, which helped make them so very attractive.

[lovejoy]

Most enjoyable read on a Sa turd ay mawnin, chaps !! So Bristols are on the up & up eh?

loved the anagram site as well, so can I mention " GORDON KEEBLES" in the same thread ??

(I wonder if Pete-M has experienced one of those too -- i was custodian of one some years back alongside my Tiger)

c'mon Pete - they have the 327 Vette block in a hand-built British birdcage chassis....

[Pete-M]

Most enjoyable read on a Sa turd ay mawnin, chaps !! So Bristols are on the up & up eh?

loved the anagram site as well, so can I mention " GORDON KEEBLES" in the same thread ??

(I wonder if Pete-M has experienced one of those too -- i was custodian of one some years back alongside my Tiger)

c'mon Pete - they have the 327 Vette block in a hand-built British birdcage chassis....

 

There was one that used to park on my route to school as a kid, but no, I never got a go in it. I was 14ish when it was there, and it's not been back since.

 

My kinda car though.

[warren t claim]

Those missing letters reminded me of the opening credits to Fawlty Towers. So I decided to see what happened if I put BRISTOL CARS in an anagram maker.

 

My favourites were SCRIBAL ROTS and SCROTAL RIBS.

 

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/

 

Mark.

 

19,559 anagrams for "summer funshine" I was WAY short of winning a TR7 back in 1978....