Tag Archives: Greenwich

Wacky and Bertone – Arnolt Bristol Bolide #404X3086

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In 1906 Stanley Harold Aranoff was born into a family of bookbinders living in Chicago. After studying engineering he changed his name to Arnolt as part of an unsuccessful bid to break into the motor industry in 1936.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

While looking for business opportunities he bought the rights to the Sea Mite Marine engine which he attached to a 13 ft rowing boat and sailed from St Joseph in Michigan across Lake Michigan to Chicago as part of a publicity stunt which earned him his “Wacky” nickname.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

The Sea Mite proved a wise purchase after “Wacky” Arnolt won a contract to supply the motors to the US NAVY for their small vessels during the ’39-’45 war.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

After the war “Wacky” held franchises to distribute MG, Riley and Morris cars and at the 1952 Turin motor show a MG TD with bodywork designed by Franco Scaglione form the financially struggling Bertone Coachworks caught his eye.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Wacky immediately placed an order for two hundred of the distinctive Bertone MG’s and Mr Bertone apparently nearly fainted. Only 103 Arnolt MG’s were built because MG switched production to the new TF model.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Impressed with the sales of the Bertone MG Arnolt, “Wacky” commissioned Bertone to develop a body for an Aston Martin and a total of eight these cars are thought to have been built by which time Aston Martin has long pulled the plug on the project.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Wacky then commissioned a one off Bertone Bentley for his personal use before entering an agreement with Bristol to supply 200 type 404 chassis with 125 hp six cylinder Bristol motors which would then be shipped to Bertone for the bodywork as seen on today’s featured 1954 example chassis #404X3086.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Today’s featured car, which is seen at the 2012 Bristol Concours d’Elegance at Greenwich, was the original European demonstrator and was displayed at the 1954 Motor Shows held in Geneva, Turin, Brussels, Munich, and finally Paris where it was sold to an American owner.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

To help market the Arnolt Bristol “Wacky” entered three cars in the 1955 Sebring 12 hours and they finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in the 2 litre / 122 cui class with John Panks and Ernie Erickson sharing the honours. The following year the team finished second in the Sebring 12 hours to a Ferrari and in 1957 the team withdrew from the race after team member Bob Goldrich was killed during the race.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

In 1960 Max Goldman and Ralph Durbin shared a second Sebring 12 hour class win driving an Arnolt Bristol which finished 14th overall. Other class and race winners driving Arnolt Bristol’s included team owner Wacky himself, Ed Rahal, Carl Grassman and Tom Payne.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Production of the Arnolt Bristol is thought to have come to an end in 1959 with 142 vehicles built, of those 12 were destroyed on Wacky’s premises in a warehouse fire.

Arnolt Bristol Bolide, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Three versions of the Arnolt Bristol were built striped down Bolide like the one seen here, several Bolides also had aluminium bodies, Deluxe Roadster with Connolly hide seats full windscreen and full weather protection and a couple of coupes. At least one Arnolt Bristol is known to have been sold new as late as 1966.

Thanks for joining me on this Wacky and Bertone edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first of this months Indy Cars. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Unparalleld Vision – Bristol 603 E

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When Bristol replaced it’s faithful 411 models in 1976 it came out with all guns blazing launching the Targa topped 412 and today’s featured model the 603 which owed little to it’s older sister apart from a familial face with four round head lights.

Bristol 603 E, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

The 603 was launched in E and S form’s, the E like the 1977 example seen here was supplied with a 145 hp 5.2 litre / 318 cui Chrysler V8 while the S was fitted with the 170 hp 5.8 litre / 360 cui motor.

Bristol 603 E, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

Since it left the factory today’s featured car has been fitted with a stroked 360 Mopar to bring it up to 375 hp 6.6 litre / 408 cui spec. An Edelbrock carburetor and special inlet manifolds helping to more than double the cars original horsepower numbers.

Bristol 603 E, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

The official rest to 60 mph time for the more powerful S variant was a sprightly, for 1976, 7.6s with a 1/4 mile time of 18.2 seconds, one would imagine with double the horsepower these numbers would take a significant dive.

Bristol 603 E, Bristol Concours d'Elegance, Greenwich

The 603 is noted for it’s slim window pillars which offered unparalleled vision, and yet this did not give the car in anyway an overly futuristic glass house look, the 603 was very much of it’s time and it’s variants remained in production until the one off Blenheim S4 was built in 2009.

Thanks for joining me on this “Unparalleled View” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an agricultural pick up. Don’t forget to come back now !

Tony Crook RIP.

It was with sadness that the motoring fraternity learned of the death of Tony Crook earlier this week.

Tony had a long and successful racing career which included driving two Bristol powered cars in the 1952 and 1953 British Grand Prix, run to Formula 2 regulations.

Tony went on to become an agent and later the sole agent for Bristol Cars in which he took a 40% stake when Bristol Cars became independent of it’s parent the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960.

In 1973 Tony bought out Bristol Cars founder Sir George White to become sole proprietor and distributor of Bristol Cars until 1997, when he sold a 50% stake to Toby Silverton which became 100% in 2001.

Tony continued working for Bristol until 2007.

We offer sincerest condolences to Mr Crooks family and friends.

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Unlisted – Bristol Blemheim S4

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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.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

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.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

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 !

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

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.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

The interior of the S4 is significantly tidied up over previous Blenheim models with a walnut dash and Connolly leather seats.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

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 !

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‘It should be a convertible !’ – Bristol 407 Viotti Convertible

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Among the many tales in Bristol Cars folklore several are connected with the actor Peter Sellers who one day after filming at Shepperton Studio’s approached Tony Crook, Bristol Cars sole retailer, with a Buick asking if some improvements could be made to the handling, when Tony replied that he couldn’t do much with the Buick Peter said ‘Well I’m going to leave it here.’

Bristol 407 Viotti, Greenwhich

Eventually Peter Sellers bought a Bristol 407 coupé but he soon returned to Tony with it saying ‘It should be a convertible !’. Tony went to some lengths to explain that Bristol Cars did not make any convertibles, though in fact he was preparing one with coach work by Viotti for his daughter Carol.

Bristol 407 Viotti, Greenwich

Legend has it that Carol Crook was part of the London ‘in’ crowd and counted among her friends Britt Ekland, who posed with the Viotti 407 at Earls Court. Peter some how found out about this car and persuaded Tony to let him become the Viotti 407’s first owner.

Tony Crook says that Peter, notorious for regularly acquiring new cars and leaving them with Tony who had two mechanics and a service bay dedicated to maintaining Sellers cars, ‘drove it a bit – not an awful lot – and then we sold him other cars and we took the Viotti back’. All of this appears to have occurred before Peter Sellers had met the model who posed with the Viotti 407 at Earls Court his future wife Britt Ekland.

Bristol 407 Viotti, Greenwich

The unique Viotti 407 was very much a prototype, the suspension had not been modified to cope with the extra weight of the all steel body, the 88 other 407’s had lighter aluminium bodies, when Peter Sellers had the car, however when Tony Crook got it back the suspension and brakes were upgraded to later Bristol 410 specification, and his daughter Carol owned it for many years when it was seen with the registration number ‘AC 1’.

Bristol 407 Viotti, Greenwich

From what I can work out Tony Vaughan, seen in the Viotti 407 here at last weeks Bristol Owners Club Concours held at Greenwich, is the fourth owner of this car.

The one off styling exercise Viotti 407 appears to have strongly influenced future Bristol designs from the 408, 409, 410 and the early series 411.

Thanks for joining me on this Viotti edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Meridian Date – Bristol Concours d’Elegance

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Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Yesterday I travelled 2 degrees, 35 mins 45.25 seconds East to the Meridian line at Greenwich in London with Florian, my guest from France, to see the Bristol Concour’s d’Elegance, where a fine selection of Bristol Cars and a single Fraser Nash BMW, representing over 60 years of automotive history was accumulating in the grounds of the Old Naval College.

Frazer Nash BMW 321, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Oldest car at the show was this 1939 Frazer Nash BMW 321, Frazer Nash were in partnership with the Bristol Aircraft Company when the latter diversified into the automotive market after WW2.

Bristol 400, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Several Bristol 400‘s, the manufacturers first model, were present all in immaculate condition, this 1971cc, 120 cui six cylinder being maintained by Bristol Owners Club (BOC) member Derek Hughes.

Bristol 402, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Among many Bristol models I saw for the first time was the 402 of which only 23 examples were built, this one belonging to Richard Weale.

Arnolt Bristol, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

I know the father of one GALPOT regular used to race an Arnolt Bristol so it was a particular thrill to see and above all hear this car being started up by Kenneth Andrén who brought his car over from Sweden.

Bristol 406, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

There were several Bristol 406’s, which featured roof mounted indicator lights, present this one belonging to Edward Anderson.

Bristol 407, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Chrysler supplied the motor’s for all Bristol models starting with the 407 in 1961, this is the 6277 cc / 383 cui big block Chysler B series V8 fitted to the 411 Series 2 belonging to Jamie Davenport.

Bristol 603, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

In 1976 the 603 model was introduced a car that owed no heritage at all to the Bristol 407 that had been continually upgraded from 1961 and formed the basis of a succession of new models. This is the cockpit of the 603E belonging to Fergus Taylor-Gregg.

Bristol Blenhiem, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Newest of the Bristol’s present was the 2009 Blenhiem Series 4 of Richard Levine.

Bristol 407 Viotti, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

91 year old Bristol Works Director, until the factory closed earlier this year, the sprightly Syd Lovesy was amongst those who handed out the prizes at the end of the day. Syd is seen here with Richard Vaughan and the unique 1963 Bristol Viotti 407 styling exercise that once belonged to comic actor Peter Sellers.

Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Concours d’Elegance award winning cars included the 400 of Ashley James, the 403 of John Manley, the 405 of Cyril Milward, the 411 Series 2 of Jamie Davenport, a 412, the Arnolt of Kenneth Andrén, and the last one I can positively identify in the line the Fraser Nash BMW 321.

Arnolt Bristol, Bristol C'dE, Greenwich

Car of the day for me was definitely the Arnolt, hats off to Kenneth bring this car over from Sweden, thanks to everyone at the Bristol Owners Club who made this a day for Florian and I to remember.

Thanks for joining me on this Meridian edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow to see how the Aluminium Buick 215 V8 came to impact the British motor industry. Don’t forget to come back nowhttps://www.psychoontyres.co.uk/powered-under-licence-rover-p5b-3-5-litre-coupe/ !

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