About this specific vehicle
THE MODEL
- Produced between 1953-1955, the Bristol 403 was the company’s fourth post-war production model, following on from the 400 & 401 saloons and the exceedingly rare 402 cabriolet.
- It featured the same 1,971cc BMW-derived pushrod ‘straight six’ as its predecessors, but by enlarging the valve and main bearing diameters, Bristol were able to increase power in the 403 to an impressive 100bhp.
- This additional power and torque necessitated the introduction of a front anti-roll bar to improve road holding, as well as uprated ‘Alfin’ brake drums.
- Note: Early production 403s had Alfin drums fitted all-round, but after deciding that this level of ‘stopping power’ was surplus to requirements, later models resorted to standard drums at the rear.
- In terms of styling, the 403 was largely identical to the 401. Its slippery ‘Carrozzeria Touring’ inspired body was constructed in true ‘Superleggera’ fashion using a combination of steel and aluminium panels.
- In all, Bristol produced just 281 (or 287, depending on where you look) examples of the 403 during its 2 year production run – a rare thing indeed!
THIS CAR
- This Bristol 403, chassis #1356, was delivered new in 1953 with engine number 100A/3053.
- As was the case with many 403s, the car’s original engine was later transplanted for a higher performance variant of the BMW-derived straight-six – in this case the 100B2 series (#100B2/4204).
- The car’s current owner – a knowledgeable and well-known enthusiast, collector and member of many car clubs – has looked after the car for the last several years, carefully maintaining and upgrading it when required.
- In the last 5 years alone, well over £10,000 has been spent improving the car, with some of the major works including (all invoices can be seen in the Documentation section below):
- Brake system overhaul
- Cylinder head rebuild @ Classic Performance Engineering
- Full interior retrim in premium leather
- What’s more, the beautiful Burgundy paint has just been treated to a 2-stage paint correction, and so presents really rather well.
- With only 281 examples ever produced, and certainly fewer on the roads today, these 403s really are a rare and fascinating piece of British motoring history, development and design.