Quote from Geoff on 20 December 2018, 00:11

Sadly I have no photographs of my first Bristol 401 which I managed to crash, my second 401 was bought initially as spares the idea was it would provide a nose section most of the front wings bumper and cross member to repair the damaged car, none of the local repair shops wanted to know as for me enthusiasm for the project was totally outweighed by lack of skills, tools facilities and ultimately cash, plan B was to try and do something with car number two bought from Tony Mitchell less its terminally frost damaged engine and dragged out of a field next to his workshop, it was reasonably solid but some clown had painted it yellow fashionable at the time but badly done and awful to look at.

A summer with nitromors,an autumn painting and filling the chassis with oil and somehow the project just fizzled out, that was in 1976, the car sat in various dubious sheds and then along side the house for 5 years of so until the cover was almost terminally rotten.

Things came to a head because just before Bristol Cars went bankrupt I had bought an 85C engine off them to put into a 403, another story but as I decided that car will be sold not a good idea, a search for a suitable recipient for the engine did not yield anything of promise until Brian May offered me a partially restored rolling body shell  it was though more stripped down than I wanted and although all the weldind had been completed to a very high standard it was a case of one step forward four steps back and the car along side the house would have finally been laid to rest for the project.

A choice had to be made a good solid lump hammer was used on a merciless attack on the chassis which apart from the passengers side rear had held up rather well to years of neglect, the metal work around the spare wheel tray had always been bad but things were still hanging on literally, it is surprising the strength in rusty metal of this period.

So the first photograph of the car with no lights was taken in 2015 as it was being moved back into my workshop 39 years after I bought it, the second photograph was taken early this summer when it had retuned from its first or second run on the road since the early 70's. 

In the interim with he help of my good friend ace welder and mechanic Mike Moss, all structural repairs to the chassis were completed, a new braking system was installed, all the bullet connectors on the loom were replaced,the original gearbox was checked and we fitted a remote gear change lever  the replacement engine was installed with a new clutch and mountings, a new exhaust system, rebuilt rad, I fitted a Winterburn Capacitor Discharge Ignition System. New petrol flap control cables, new bonnet control cables , new ventilation flap control cables , we fitted a replacement bonnet frame a huge number of parts being salvaged from a spares car bought less engine and gearbox from Ted Chick which together with spares accumulated over the years including bits kept from the first crashed car made this a very finacially viable project, but I did not cost my own time!

Because of other commitments the weather and a few joint problems plus things like Dorset steam fair to attend the car has only done 3 trips so far totalling 90 miles, I had hoped to start getting more of the paint off but for that I need it out of the workshop so I am hoping for a mild spring. All this workshop activity however came at a price I have not been using other cars enough and with another 401 on the lift being refitted things are not looking good for next year either, sadly therefore I may have to part with one or both of my R Type Bentleys one manual one auto, a 411 and 403 I doubt I well get round to but before that after Christmas I have to find a home for a friends 403 two photographs of which I managed to upload onto the site earlier today.

If someone wants to make us both happy however I am open to offers on my 403 so that I can buy my friends car!

One final thing to mention on the 401/403 front another friend an excellent coach trimmer carpenter Dave Ralls has made a jig to reproduce the wooden frame for the back windows of these cars it was based on an original frame I bought from Bristol Cars 40 years ago,they were supplied oversize due to the variations in size of the frame in the body and the trim finisher Dave has therefore done adjustment to make the trimming and finishing tasks a bit easier, they are made to order for around £105 to £110 plus p&p.

Geoff.