Bristol 400

The Bristol 400 luxury car was the first automotive product of the British Bristol Aeroplane Company. After World War II, BAC decided to diversify and formed a car division, which would later be the Bristol Cars company in its own right. BAC subsequently acquired a licence from Frazer Nash to build BMW models.

Based on the pre-war BMW 327, the Bristol 400 featured a slightly modified version of BMW's 6 cylinder pushrod engine of 1,971cc (bore 66 mm, stroke 96 mm). This engine, considered advanced for its time due to its hemispherical combustion chambers and very short inlet and exhaust ports, developed 80 horsepower at 4,500 revs per minutes and could carry the 400 to a top speed of around 148 km/h (92 mph) with acceleration to match. The gearbox was a four-speed manual with synchromesh on all forward ratios — at the time, synchromesh on first gear remained far from standard.

The car featured independent front suspension with a transverse leaf spring and and live axle with A-bracket and longitudinal torsion bars at the rear. It featured a lengthy 2895 mm (114 inch) wheelbase and a very BMW-like grille at the front of its long bonnet. The passenger area was very short, with the spare tyre mounted in the boot and visible externally.

[edit] External links

• Buying a Six-Cylinder Bristol