Bristol Cars
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| Private | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1945 in Bristol, United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | Kensington High Street, London, United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Sir George White Tony Crook |
| Products | Cars |
| Parent | Kamkorp |
| Website | www |
Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered on Kensington High Street, London, England.
Bristol Cars Limited is a new company formed in 2011 after the original company, the last remaining descendant of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, a major aircraft manufacturer that at one point employed well over 50,000 people, was renamed BCL 2011 Limited and dissolved in 2011 by a court appointed administrator. After the Second World War, the car division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company was formed, later becoming Bristol Cars Limited.
Unlike most speciality automakers, Bristol does not court publicity and has only one showroom, on Kensington High Street in London. Nevertheless, the company maintains an enthusiastic and loyal clientele.
Bristol has always been a low-volume manufacturer; the most recent published official production figures were for 1982, which stated that 104 cars were produced in that year.
The company suspended manufacturing in March 2011, when administrators were appointed, 22 staff were made redundant, and subsequently the company was dissolved. In April 2011, a new company was formed by the administrator to sell the original assets to Kamkorp. Since 2011, the company has been restoring and selling all models of the marque while a new model was being developed. The company returned to the automotive business in 2015 with an all-new model, called the "Bullet", initially dubbed "Project Pinnacle". The car was first revealed to the public on 26 July 2016, and production is set to begin some time in 2017.
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 Bristol Monocar), the construction of car bodies for Armstrong Siddeley and bus bodies for their sister company, Bristol Tramways.
On the outbreak of World War II, Sir George Stanley White, managing director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company from 1911–1954, 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 voracious wartime demand for Bristol aircraft and aircraft engines would suddenly end. The company began working with AFN Ltd, makers of Frazer Nash cars and British importer of BMWs before the war, on plans for a joint venture in automotive manufacture.
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Wikipedia