1955 Bristol 450S

This car competed in the Champagne Charles Heidsieck Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993, and I photographed it early in the day in a very overcast and rain-soaked paddock.

It's the sole surviving example of the three Bristol 450S cars that were built primarily to contest the Le Mans 24 Hour race, in which they competed with three different body styles in 1953, 1954 and 1955. The cars ran in the under 2 litre class and were powered by the 1,971cc straight-6 Bristol engine derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. The 1953 car had a coupé body with an unusual looking nose which had two headlamps, two spotlights, and a series of air intakes including a strange series of slats in the bodywork where the grille of the car would normally be. The rear of the car was swept back with a fin on either side of the rear window. Two cars were entered for the 1953 Le Mans race but both retired before the race was half way through. For the 1954 race the body was altered, retaining the rear end of the 1953 car, but having the new nose as seen on the 1955 car in the above photograph. Three cars were entered at Le Mans and they finished seventh, eighth and ninth in the overall positions, and first, second and third in the 2 litre class. In 1955 the cars were given the open body as seen above, and again finished seventh, eighth and ninth overall, and in the first three places in the 2 litre class. After that race Bristol withdrew from racing, in part because of the terrible accident there, and the best parts of the three cars were used to build one car, the rest being scrapped. The owner of Bristol Cars, Tony Crook, kept the car until 1992 when he sold it to Simon Draper who entered it for this race at Silverstone, where it was driven by Stephen Archer. It has been taken along to several historic race meetings to sit alongside the cars of other members of the Bristol Owners' Club, but as far as I'm aware this meeting at Silverstone in 1993 is the only competitive outing it has had since that 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

Bristol 450S

This car was alongside several other Bristol and Bristol-engined cars at the Bristol Owners' Club's area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's a 1955 Bristol 450S, the last remaining example of the Bristol cars that competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1953, 1954 and 1955. The original Bristol 450S was constructed around the chassis of the 1952 ERA G-Type and was powered by a straight-6 Bristol 1,971cc engine. Three body styles were used, two different coupe versions in the first two years and the open version as seen above in 1955. Two cars were entered in the 1953 race but neither finished, but in each of the following two years a three-car team finished in 7th, 8th and 9th places overall and in the first three places in the 2-litre class. After the dreadful accident in the 1955 race Bristol withdrew from racing and dismantled all but one of the cars, the one seen above, that was kept by Tony Crook for 30 years before passing to Simon Draper who owned the car when it appeared at this Silverstone meeting.

On 2 October 2013 I showed photographs I took of the car when it competed at the Coys meeting at Silverstone in 1993 where it was driven by Stephen Archer.

Bristol Cars

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000, and I presume that the cars belong to members of the Bristol Owners' Club.

From the left the cars are:

SMT 259 - A 1947 Pininfarina bodied Bristol 400 Cabriolet with the inline 6-cylinder 1,971cc Bristol engine and 3 SU carburettors.

1951 BT - This is a Bristol 401 with bodywork by  Beutler Brothers of Switzerland. It also has the 1,971cc Bristol engine, and I've seen it's year of manufacture given as 1950, 1951 and 1953. The DVLA record says 1953.

265 HYL - This is the standard Bristol 400 and is a 1949 model, again with the 1,971cc BMW-derived Bristol engine.