Vehicle Story
The late LJK Setright, that flamboyantly bewhiskered and knowingly eccentric doyen and grandee of motor journalism, regularly opined that Bristol made the world’s finest automobiles. (In later life, LJK bestowed the title of world’s best car upon the Lexus LS400.)
This was an opinion held by LJK Setright, all owners of Bristol automobiles and hardly anyone else.
And yet it’s the very contrariness of that opinion that is the key to understanding the quiet devotion to the marque shown by Bristol owners.
Ownership of a Bristol has always said something about the owner. It says that here is a free thinker, an iconoclast, a contrarian; someone who ploughs his or her own furrow, takes the road less travelled and is resolutely beyond the reach of anything as vulgar as fashion, fancy or whim.
Yes, for a similar amount of money in 1953 you could have bought a Rolls-Royce, Bentley or Lagonda, but to the Bristol-buying demographic these choices would have been too ostentatious, too caddish and too aggressive, respectively.
And, worst of all, you would have looked just like everyone else with a bit of money. You know, like some arriviste social climber with more cash than taste.
The Bristol 403 was manufactured from 1953 to 1955 by the Bristol Aeroplane Co., which later became Bristol Cars.
As with its predecessors in the 400 series, it had the highly distinctive ‘aerodyne’ shape that helped it slip through the air like an oiled otter.
In common with all the early Bristols it was way ahead of its time when it was launched and was fabulously modern - in design, in engineering and in features.
Even 68 years later you can still see the imagination of the aircraft designers and visionary engineers behind the aerodynamic, flowing, sculpted aluminium body, push-button doors, internal bonnet/boot releases, fresh-air or recirculated heating/ventilation, automatic reversing lights, multi-adjustable seats and an alloy petrol tank.
It must have made other cars of the time seem positively antiquarian.
It looks like a car that’s been designed by people who’ve never been shown previous examples of what a car looks like, where the levers and switches are ‘meant’ to be and how things usually work. And it’s all the better for that, in our opinion.
Powered by the legendary, BMW-derived pushrod straight-six ‘328’ engine, the 403 was also a revelation in terms of performance and handling. Capable of 106mph in an era when very few cars were, the car’s low weight, supple suspension and light steering gave it remarkable degree of agility, sophistication and liveliness.
Bristols are not and never were for the common herd.
They are for people who inherit their father’s Savile Row morning suit and their grandmother’s dinner service. They are bequeathed, handed down, entrusted.
Or they are bought by rock stars, actors, writers, artists, designers or other similarly one-off individuals.
They are not part-exchanged or parked on a dealer’s forecourt with a price stuck on the windscreen.
And Bristols are very rarely advertised for sale – which can make buying one something of a challenge.
So, the question is, do you feel it’s time to give external expression to your inner contrarian?
Are you ready and willing to join the ranks of illustrious Bristol owners and drivers past and present - people such as Jack Brabham, Paul Smith, Jay Leno, Richard Branson, Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Mike Hawthorn, Bono, Liam Gallagher, Stirling Moss and Tina Turner?
(We’re willing to bet those last two have never appeared in the same sentence before.)
If so, we can help you realise that noble dream with this magnificent 1953 Bristol 403.
