Bristol 404 and 405
Bristol 405 Sports Saloon. Links in the background: A Bristol 404
The Bristol 405 was a sports car of the British car manufacturer Bristol Aircraft Company (later: Bristol Cars ), which was offered as a four-door sedan and two-door convertible as. The 405 came in the fall of 1954 alongside the two-door sport coupe 404, the " Gentleman's Express", and has been for several months produced parallel to the established Gran Tourismo 403 before he became the only model of the brand in 1956.
Model history
The 405 was based on Bristol's uncut standard chassis, which had been used with the exception of the 404 in all previous models of the brand. Then rested a wooden frame supported by a body, the Bristol 404 corresponded to the A-pillar. As on the Coupé also the spare wheel was housed standing sideways in a compartment between the left front wheel and the front passenger door.
The drive technology
The drive technology corresponded largely to the Bristol 404 The car was designed by the well-known 2.0-liter six-cylinder of the type 100B (405 Drophead Coupe and 404 ) and 100b2 (405 Sports Saloon ) propelled by a compression ratio of 8.5:1, the 105 bhp / 106 PS / 78 kW at 5000 rpm made in two variants; The maximum torque was 167 Nm at 3750 rpm.
The highly compressed, 127 PS / 93 kW Engine type 100C, the optional stand available in the 404 was not offered in the factory 405. However, the manual four-speed transmission was now fitted with an overdrive Laycock de Normanville, which was operated via a switch on the dashboard. The fuel tank was positioned above the rear axle. This positioning of a helping hand, to optimize the weight distribution of the vehicle as well as the volume of the trunk; On the other hand, the tank was in the case of an accident housed comparatively safe here.
The 405 Sports Saloon
Volume model of the 405 series was the four-door sports saloon. Its composition was, starting with the A-pillar, independently. He was supported by a massive structure made of ash wood, which was reinforced by a steel structure in the B-pillar. The four front -hinged doors were narrow, but could be opened almost at an angle of 90 degrees. The roof line went smoothly into the trunk lid. The rear window was severely bent and should give the impression of a panoramic screen. In fact, it not was a one-piece disc; rather, it was composed of three differently sized elements. Unlike the 404, the 405 had a separate, externally accessible trunk, which had failed unusually large with a volume of about 501 liters. About the rear fenders wore the 405 Saloon small rear wing that has picked up the design of the Bristol 404 again.
Inside, the seats were completely lined with leather. In the footwell a wool carpet was laid; the instrument panel consisted of polished burl wood.
The engine of the type 100b2 differed from the Model 404 is essentially two three-armed exhaust manifold (instead of a six-armed ), which resulted in two separate exhaust pipes of relatively small diameter ( instead of a single exhaust pipe with a larger diameter ).
The 405 Sports Saloon weighed 1330 kg Kerb. Given the aerodynamically favorable body he reached a top speed of 175 km / h.
The selling price of the 405 Sports Saloon was in October 1954 £ 2250 plus an almost fifty percent "purchase tax". He was priced between £ 100 cheaper 403 and the £ 100 more expensive 404
By 1958, created 265 copies of the Sports Saloon.
The 405 Drophead Coupe
Coinciding with the Sports Saloon put Bristol in the autumn of 1954 a two-door, four-seat nearly 405 Cabriolet ( " Drophead Coupe " ) before, which established the British body shop Abbott of Farnham with factory support. Unlike the 404 Drophead Coupé, which Abbott in 1953 produced on the basis of short sports car as a single piece, the 405 Cabriolet had the unabbreviated standard wheelbase. Thus, the doors could be made wider. Stylistically, the 405 Cabriolet was also in the area at the rear independently: It had a saloon, the rear fender had indicated small tail fins, and a large trunk lid. When closed, the soft top closed immediately adjacent to the driver's door; lateral discs were not in the area behind the door. On the drive side corresponded to the Drophead Coupé the saloon; as the engine of 100B was alone available.
The selling price of the Drophead Coupé was the same as that of the saloon. Until 1958 created 43 copies of 405 Drophead Coupé.
Revival 2010
2010 Bristol introduced her to a customer 405 Drophead Coupé, the body - unlike the original vehicle of the 1950s - was based on a steel frame. The technically modernized vehicle used, inter alia, a heavily revised six-cylinder engine. In the same year a two-door coupe version of the 405 with a fixed metal roof was built. One such version had not been there during the series production of the 405.