The Beautiful 1930 Bristol 404 Coupe

Here’s a minor details about the stunning 1953 Bristol 404 Coupe which was on display at the 2022 Concours of Magnificence. What a gorgeous on the lookout car. What attractive traces. A extremely odd fin at the back of the motor vehicle. Have you ever witnessed a car like this. You can see extra Concours of Elegance news, testimonials, video clips and galleries here.

Established in parallel with the Le Mans class-winning Bristol 450, the 404 was a showcase for the finest systems of the working day and a rolling showcase of Bristol’s engineering concepts.

Just 52 Bristol 404s were being made and this is the initial – the authentic prototype.  Prior to the present proprietor, there have been 7 stewards of this fascinating automobile: the initially, Sir George Stanley Middleton White, Chairman of Bristol Autos, who retained the auto as his particular transportation for around a decade.  He insisted that the fin remained in place, even even though it was judged “a very little also flamboyant” for Bristol’s usual consumers. Certainly the current Sir George White fondly remembers currently being driven to and from prep faculty in RAE 345, with its massive rear fin, recalling that it dramatically elevated his kudos and street trustworthiness amongst his schoolboy peers.

RAE 345 performed a critical role in tests the aero fin prospective for the 450 racers and highway-likely 404s that followed.  The decrease entire body blended aluminium and steel, with a honeycomb sandwich design for the rear floor, when the upper framework shaped a canopy from a wooden framework and door pillars, with the full encased in aluminium. The design and style for the nose of the car or truck alone taken from the air intakes of the Brabazon Airliner – at the rear of which sat 8 2650bhp engines, fairly a lot more than the 105bhp in the highway car or truck.

Aero engineering and racing nous discovered their way into the street automobiles – Bristol’s trademark set up of the spare wheel and battery in the entrance wings, first viewed on the 404, were being prompted by the drive to centralise mass, occupying the area established for the fuel tanks in the 450 racers.

This auto became a extremely familiar sight across Bristol’s enormous Filton website since as nicely as Sir George’s day by day transport, the car was used as a take a look at mattress and experimental system.  It went to and from Bristol’s aeronautical and automotive engineering departments for engine updates, braking enhancements and other tweaks. All these developments were documented in the manufacturing facility company records and quite a few of the modern parts fitted, these kinds of as the shorter-ratio gearbox, remain on the automobile to this day.

When the automobile sooner or later remaining the loved ones in 1965 the fin was eradicated.  Fortunately the mounting brackets and inside structures remained, so with reference to a lot of interval visuals and drawings, and with the advantage of modern day CAD technology, the fin was reinstated and created by hand in the conventional manner.