Every once in a while I stumble across a car that stands out from all the others of the marque for no discernible reason that I can accurately pin point. The Bristol Blenheim S4 pictured below at the Bristol Owners Club Concours d’Elegance last year, is one such vehicle that ever since I have seen it I immediately associate with the Bristol marque in much the same way as I associate big red buses with London.
Bearing a superficial resemblance to earlier Blenheim models this S4 has subtle alterations to every single panel, each shaped in aluminium with an english wheel, save those at the front and rear which are made from kevlar.
Power comes courtesy of a 5.9 litre / 360 cui dual fuel Chrysler derived V8 good enough to propel this nearly 4000 lb vehicle from rest to 60 mph in around 6 seconds, considerably less time than it took me to write this sentence !
Yet for all of it’s impressive size and performance it would be so easy to simply not notice the car at all, it simply refuses to scream it’s presence in the way an Italian car with similar capabilities would almost certainly do, and that is perhaps why I love Bristol Cars so much they are understated yet more than a match for most.
The interior of the S4 is significantly tidied up over previous Blenheim models with a walnut dash and Connolly leather seats.
The S4 is the only Blenheim to feature rear proprietary lights from Audi, giving the rear end a fresh look. Amazingly the S4 is no where to be found in Bristol Cars Sales literature, it is a one off ordered and built to the customers exacting specifications in 2009, this S4 represents a zenith on the arc of development for the Blenheim which traces it’s ancestry back to the 603 model first built in 1976. A unique car regrettably with a terminal place in the production history of Bristol Cars.
Thanks for joining me on this ‘Unlisted’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !
