401 cutaway
I have a copy of the The Motor Year Book 1949 which has, in the section 'Technical Drawings of the Year', a full-page cutaway drawing of the 401. There are also drawings of the Hillman Minx (The New Generation), Morris Minor (Miniature Example) and Austin A70 chassis (The British Way).
The Bristol drawing is captioned:
"HIGH SCHOOL
This drawing shows the body-chassis construction of the latest Bristol Saloon (Type 401) which is a high-performance car of advanced design. The body is of particular interest as it has been developed in collaboration with the famous Italian specialist coachwork company, Touring of Milan, and has an unusually light, exceedingly strong, steel tubular framework. As on all modern cars, the width between the doors is virtually equal to the track of the car."
The drawing is looking down, almost side-on, slightly to the rear, and shows the network of tubes in the body frame very nicely, as well as the rear suspension and rear bumper mountings. It's a bit vaguer round the nose and engine. It's signed 'Cresswell'. A quick search suggests that this is Leslie Cresswell, who is credited with the cutaway drawings in Laurence Pomeroy's 'The Grand Prix Car' (Pomeroy and Rodney Walkerly are listed as editors of my book).
It's a fine drawing, and I'd be happy to scan it and post the image, but I think that would be a copyright violation. I could certainly make it available as a reference for Douglas Newton's project.
As a 403 owner, I'd be interested in buying a new drawing, but I'd hesitate at the price, though I can see that it might be a fair reflection of the work involved for a limited market.
Hugh
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