The British aircraft industry suffered a dramatic loss of orders and great financial difficulties following the Armistice of 1918. To provide immediate employment for its considerable workforce, the Bristol Aeroplane Company undertook the manufacture of a
light car (the single-seat Bristol Monocar, powered by a motorcycle engine) and the construction of car bodies for
Armstrong Siddeley, alongside bus bodies for their sister company,
Bristol Tramways. On the outbreak of
World War II,
Sir G. Stanley White, managing director of the
Bristol Aeroplane Company from 1911 to 1954, was determined not to suffer the same difficulties a second time. The company now employed 70,000 and he knew he must plan for the time when the wartime demand for Bristol aircraft and aircraft engines would suddenly end. The company began working with AFN Ltd, manufacturers of
Frazer Nash cars and British importer of
BMWs before the war, on plans for a joint venture in automotive manufacture. with the Bristol 450 Le Mans cars As early as 1941, a number of papers were written or commissioned by
Sir George S.M. White, Sir Stanley's son, proposing a post-war car manufacturing division. It was decided to purchase an existing manufacturer for this purpose.
Alvis,
Aston Martin,
Lagonda,
ERA and
Lea-Francis were considered.
Beginning In May 1945, a chance discussion took place between D. A. Aldington, a director of AFN Ltd, then serving as an inspector for the wartime
Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP), and Eric Storey, an assistant of George White at the
Bristol Aeroplane Company. By July 1945, the Bristol Aeroplane Company had created a car division and bought a controlling stake in AFN. A factory was established at
Bristol Filton Airport, where Bristol Aeroplane already had substantial premises. Aldington and his two brothers had marketed the
Frazer Nash BMW before the war, and proposed to build an updated version after demobilisation. This seemed the perfect match for the aeroplane company's own ambitions to manufacture a high quality sports car. With the support of the War Reparations Board, H. J. Aldington travelled to
Munich and purchased the rights to manufacture three BMW models and the
328 engine. George White and Reginald Verdon-Smith of the aeroplane company joined the new Frazer Nash Board, but in January 1947, soon after the first cars had been produced, differences between the Aldingtons and Bristol led to the resale of Frazer Nash. The Bristol car division became an independent entity.
Independence Bristol Cars was sold after its parent joined with other British aircraft companies in 1960 to create the
British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), which later became part of
British Aerospace.
New ownership In September 1969, only a month before the unveiling of the new
Bristol 411 at the
Earl's Court Motor Show, Sir George S.M. White suffered a serious accident in his Bristol 410. The car was only superficially damaged, but he suffered severe trauma. As time passed it became clear that he would never regain his health sufficiently to return to full-time work. To safeguard the future of his workforce, he decided in 1973 to sell his majority shareholding to Crook. As the ties with the White family were severed, British Aerospace requested the company to move its factory from Filton Aerodrome and it found new premises in nearby
Patchway. The showroom on Kensington High Street became the head office, with Crook shuttling between the two in Bristol's light aircraft. Under Crook's direction the company produced at least six types, the names of which were largely borrowed from Bristol's aeronautical past: the
Beaufighter,
Blenheim,
Britannia and
Brigand.
End of the second era In February 1997, Crook, then aged 77, sold a fifty per cent holding in Bristol Cars to Toby Silverton, with an option to take full control within four years. Silverton, then son-in-law of Joe Lewis of the
Tavistock Group and son of Arthur Silverton of
Overfinch, joined the board with his father. Crook and Toby Silverton produced the Speedster, Bullet, Blenheim and 411 Series 6, though 2002 saw the transfer of Bristol Cars fully into the ownership of Silverton and the Tavistock Group, with Silverton in the chair and Crook remaining as managing director. Together they developed a
V10 engined two-seater named after the first Sir George White's First World War two-seater aircraft, the
Bristol Fighter. Crook finally relinquished his connection with Bristol Cars in August 2007.
Kamkorp era (2011–2020) On 3 March 2011 it was announced that Bristol Cars had gone into
administration, with the loss of 22 jobs when the factory at Filton, Bristol was shut down. On 21 April 2011 another new company was formed to sell the assets of the former dissolved company; that company was purchased by
Kamkorp, which also owned Frazer-Nash Research, a technology manufacturer of electric power systems. During this era, the company focused on restoring and selling all models of the marque while a new model was being developed. In 2015 Bristol Cars announced the development of a new model codenamed "Project Pinnacle". Initial reports indicated it would be a petrol-electric hybrid with a petrol engine from BMW. However a later media report and a May 2015 press release, indicated that the car would have non-hybrid V8 power. The car, a two-seater roadster, made its first public appearance, slightly camouflaged, at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2016. In July, the car was shown undisguised, technical details were announced, and its name given as the
Bristol Bullet. However, subsequently there was no further news about the car's homologation, and many members of the sales and marketing team soon left the company. The Bullet was said to be powered by a normally aspirated 4.8-litre
BMW N62 V8 engine (sharing the same drivetrain and chassis as the most recent
Morgan Aero 8) driving the rear wheels, had a body of
carbon fibre, weighed 1130 kg, and would cost £95,000. The planned production run was said to be limited to 70 cars to commemorate the marque's 70th anniversary. On 5 March 2020 it was reported that Bristol cars had been officially wound up in order to pay creditors, with court-ordered liquidation under way. The Bristol Owners Club working together with the Bristol Owners and Drivers Association and the Bristol Owners Heritage Trust is reported to be actively engaged in order to preserve the heritage and associated spares for the marque.
Post liquidation (since 2021) In 2021,
intellectual property rights to Bristol Cars were registered by Bristol Fighter Limited, a subsidiary of Bristol Manufacturing Limited, owned by Essex based investor and property developer Jason Wharton, with revocation of 297 defunct trademarks. Wharton plans to transform the company into a "leading British
electric vehicle company" by 2026, the brand's 80th anniversary. The new Bristol Cars would firstly launch "remastered" versions of historic cars with modernised mechanicals on a built to order basis. It was also reported that the new company will subsequently revive the Buccaneer nameplate for an all new electric vehicle. Shortly after this announcement, however, controversy erupted between Wharton and Bristol's
insolvency practitioner Frost Group. The practitioner stated that Wharton had in fact not purchased any intellectual property rights, but had merely purchased certain tooling and spares at the auction of the company's assets. Despite this controversy, plans to revive the brand continued and Wharton announced in 2024 that Bristol would be revived as a contemporary coachbuilder by 2026. ==Pre-war BMW designs, Aldington brothers and early cars==