Wheels of the sporting gent

Wheels of the sporting gent

Sep 8 2009 Ian Johnson

Wheels of the sporting gent

A TRUE classic treasure is the Bristol 406 which was produced between 1958 and 1961 by the Bristol aircraft company whose car division would later become Bristol Cars.

The 406 was the last Bristol to use the BMW-derived pushrod straight-six engine that had powered all cars built by the company up to that point.

The 406 was a real looker with its traditionally British way of going about things with a front radiator grille that was almost Italian in styling and of timeless beauty. Indeed the latest Jaguar XF which has no relationship whatsoever with the Bristol 406, sports a grill of similar style.

In its day, the 406 provided the sort of stylish carriage that the sporting British gent yearned for. Its pricetag of £4,244 in 1960 made it very exclusive. Indeed it was even more expensive than the Aston Martin DB4 which in those days was the car many sporting motorists aspired to.

And it was full of good ideas such as housing the spare wheel inside the wing, so creating more boot space. Also Laycock overdrive and servo-operated disc brakes were just some the features of its advanced specification.

Pierced disc wheels and a clarity of line made the 406 one of the benchmarks of design in those days, but it did have one drawback.

The engine although of of three-carb hemi-head type was just not enough to keep up with the demands of the drivers who would buy this car. Although it would top 100 mph and cruise at 85, it was just not enough to whisk this weighty motor to the heights of driving pleasure.

Things were happening fast on the engine front and competitors were flexing their muscles.

Although Bristol was working on a new six cylinder engine it became clear that any six it could develop could not compete against the big American V8s. And so the company decided to use the big Chrysler V8 in the 406's successor, so creating and engine-car marriage that really was made in heaven.

But the 406 was special in its own way. It looked stunning but retained a lot of traditional features from the 1950s. You really could not call it a sports car because it was more of a big luxury tourer that did everything in style.