Bristol 400
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bristol 400 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Bristol Cars (then Bristol Aeroplane Co.) |
| Production | 1947–1950 487 units |
| Successor | Bristol 401 |
| Class | Sports sedan |
| Body style(s) | 2-door saloon |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Engine(s) | 1971 cc ohv straight-6 |
| Related | BMW 327 |
The Bristol 400 luxury car is 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 1,971 cc (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[1] at 4,500 revs per minutes and could carry the 400 to a top speed of around 148 km/h (92 mph)[1] with acceleration to match. In order to maintain a hemispherical combustion chamber, the valves had to be positioned at an angle to the head. In order to drive both sets of valves from a single camshaft, the Bristol engine used a system of rods, followers and bell-cranks to drive the valves on the far side of the engine from the camshaft. Owners soon found that setting and maintaining the numerous clearances in the system was difficult but vital to keep the engine in tune. 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 a 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] References
- ^ a b Bristol 400. motorbase.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
