THE FIRST BRISTOL CAR DESIGNED BY CAD and not by a quill pen and ink.' The words of Toby Silverton, the man whose baby the Fighter was. And while he may have had his tongue firmly in his cheek, there's no question that the Fighter was nothing if not an audacious break with the past.
Bristol Cars had made its reputation in the post-war years with a series of aristocratic saloons and sports cars - elegant, streamlined machines that combined BMW-derived underpinnings with aerospace standards of construction (the car company originally being a spin-off from the Bristol Aircraft Corporation). Then in the '60s came Chrysler V8 power and a new generation of gentlemen's expresses - fast, discreet, and hand-built in small numbers.
But from the mid-'70s it all began to go a bit pear-shaped - or, rather, brick-shaped. The cars lost their subtle curves, sales began to decline, and eventually, there was no money to develop new models, only to re-skin old ones. By the late '90s, Bristol was building barely a handful of cars a year for a dwindling clientele and the company was on its uppers.
Enter the young entrepreneur Silverton, whose father had founded Land Rover modifiers Overfinch but who had made his own fortune in the jet spares business and was now looking for a new adventure. I'd always been intrigued by Bristol,' he tells me. 'When I was about 15 I was riding in a friend's E-type and we were whistling down the M4 at a steady 110 and something was gaining on us. Turned out to be a 411, being driven by a man with white hair. And when we turned off the motorway he followed us. My friend was a pretty handy driver but the Bristol eventually sailed past with utter ease. Years later, when I told Tony Crook the story, he revealed that about that time he'd lent his demonstrator to [Le Mans winner] Roy Salvadori...'
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
