Bristol Company builds up business in both aeroplanes, cars and commercial vehicles

The Bristol Aeroplane Company, formed in 1910, at Filton, was originally known as the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company. As one of the first British aviation companies, over 70 years, the company designed and manufactured airframes and aircraft engines.

During WW1, it manufactured the well known Bristol Fighter, followed, in the 1930s’ by the Bristol Bulldog and during WW2, the Beaufighter, Blenheim and Bolingbroke. Post war they moved into designing airliners, including the Britannia, the massive Brabazon and later in 1963, as a joint venture with Aerospatiale, they designed and built Concorde.

Bristol Fighter

Concorde

On the automotive side, following the end of WW1 and a turndown in aircraft production, the Bristol Aeroplane Company undertook the manufacture of a light car (the Bristol Monocar), the construction of car bodies for Armstrong Siddeley and bus bodies for their sister company, Bristol Tramways. Following the end of WW2 with a considerable workforce in place, the company took over Frazer Nash Cars and produced a new design the Bristol Type 400. This was the start of Bristol manufacturing hand built luxury cars, sales coming through their one showroom in Knightsbridge, West London. They also produced the Bristol Fighter (no not the aircraft) but the V10s, luxury sports car.

The famous Type 400 built 1946 – 1950 (Ferenghi http://www.carsaroundadelaide.com, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Bristol V10s ‘Fighter’ built 1999 – 2001

In March 2020, Bristol Cars went into receivership.

Why not visit Aerospace Bristol (www.aerospacebristol.org), to see their collection of cars and aeroplanes? Since opening in 2017, the museum has been shortlisted for ‘Best Attraction for Group visits outside London’.