[Hervas]

I'm the current custodian of a 1972 Bristol 411 Series 2 which over eleven years was restored to concours standard by a west Yorkshire based Bristol specialist for the previous (sixth) owner, painted opalescent gunmetal grey and reupholstered in maroon leather. The quality of the cosmetic and mechanical restoration was superb and this 411 must be one of the best on the road.
I'm in correspondence with the three surviving previous owners. The first owner was the late Victor Gauntlett, at the time the chairman of PACE petroleum (which is an ideal job if you want to run a 6.3 litre Bristol). Mr Gauntlett was later chairman of Aston Martin.
The fifth owner commissioned a top end rebuild by Bristol specialists TT Workshops. They rebuilt the cylinder heads, machined and lined the exhaust ports, fitted new exhaust valves and increased the compression ratio. The Bristol was rated at 366 BHP on a rolling road which explains why it feels so quick.
During the recent restoration, the interesting decision was made to do away with the chrome side strips and bumper level rubbing strip so the flanks of the car are now largely uninterrupted. The 411 series 1 & 2 already had less side adornment than earlier variations of this body shape (from the 406 to the 410). Later variations of the 411 (series 3 onwards) retain the bumper level rubbing strips.
I wonder what other Bristol enthusiasts think of this exercise in removing the chrome strips and rubbing strip? I'd have done same the same thing myself if I'd commissioned the re-spray.
A few years ago I commissioned the restoration of a Citroen DS23 efi Pallas. The Citroen's colour was changed and I asked the body shop to leave off the side trims even though they're a particular feature of the most desirable 'Pallas' variant.
I used to drive a 1978 Porsche 928 which being an early model was unadorned with the side strakes which on later variants detract from the purity of the shape.
My daily driver is a 1972 BMW 2500 which has side strips. When the model was first introduced in 1968, the flanks were clean. If I ever need to have this car resprayed I'll remove the side strips. It's very subjective but to my eyes most cars look generally look better without them.