The Bristol Aeroplane Company Car Division

The Bristol Aeroplane Company Car Division

A treasure-trove of breathtaking archive photographs, the vast majority never seen before, The Bristol Aeroplane Company Car Division makes a major contribution to the history of the first Bristol cars, those with the firm’s own BMW-derived engine.

From its inception in 1947, Bristol’s car operation fastidiously documented activities at its base at Filton and beyond. From prototypes and design studies to factory manufacturing lines, from publicity images to motor-racing, everything was faithfully recorded by the company’s in-house photographer, Ted Ashman.

In its 400 pages The Bristol Aeroplane Company Car Division showcases over 310 of Ashman’s remarkable photographs, arranged year-by-year from 1947 to 1955. Only recently made available, many were shot on 10×8 or 5×4 glass negatives; as a result, the detail and quality is superb. With authoritative commentary by a consortium of experts from the Bristol Owners Heritage Trust, the marque’s early history is brought alive as never before.

The story of the Bristol-engined cars after the 1955 separation of the car and aircraft divisions is continued in a chapter dealing with the 406 model. Finally, an essay by the current Sir George White, son of the first managing director of Bristol Cars Ltd, recounts his father’s leading role in the establishment of the original car-manufacturing business at the end of the Second World War.

The book concludes with the Car Division’s original production ledger for all the Bristol six-cylinder cars, detailing factory specifications including chassis and engine numbers, exterior colour, allocation information and dispatch dates.