Bristol 409

Bristol 409

The Bristol 409 was a two-door sedan version of the British car manufacturer Bristol Cars, which was produced 1965-1967. The car was the successor to the Bristol 408 and was broadly in its concept. The 409 was not a completely new design; he differed from its predecessor mainly by a number of technical detail changes. Bristol responded with these modifications to the criticism that had been voiced at the previous models, and tried to accommodate the construction of the wishes of customers.

Model history

Externally, the body of the 408 remained almost unchanged; Only the shape of the radiator grille was slightly modified: Instead of the rectangular design they created was now slightly trapezoidal, and the corners of the grill were rounded.

The drive system of 409 corresponded to the being introduced in the autumn of 1964 408 Mk.2. New Bristol was the alternator, its weight was lower. The previous Dunlop brakes were replaced with more powerful parts of Girling in 409. Other changes related to the suspension, which was now set a bit softer, and noise insulation. An individually adjustable power steering, which had been developed by ZF in collaboration with Bristol, was included as standard from 1966. Overall, the Bristol 409 was noticeably lighter than the 408, which are noticeable especially in the performance: He was some 12 km / h faster than its predecessor and reached factory specifications a top speed of 212 km / h ( 132 mph ).

Reception and distribution

The car was well received by the British press. Generally, he has been described as a useful improvement of an high quality vehicle. The external appearance was evaluated cautiously, driving performance and drivability but convincing. In a newspaper report from 1967, the Bristol has been described as " not a very attractive car, but as long as you are in him, he's great ."

The Bristol 409 cost 4849 pounds at its launch. By the fall of 1967 about 80 copies were made ​​. His successor was the Bristol 410

Competitors

• Alvis TF
• Aston Martin DB6
• Jensen Interceptor
• Maserati Mexico
• Mercedes -Benz 300 SE Coupé