401/2/3 Front Valances

[Antony]

I have noticed that some cars have valances under the front bumper. Mine (a '54 403 doesn't but I like the look. Does anyone have any details of the history of the valance. What was it fitted to in period? And any details of the part, please.

[p5b401]

The 401 had a couple of different front bumper fixings. Both had fairings although they weren't that deep. My car was a resto project and came stripped down with a very mangled fairing. A friends '53 403 had no fairing and he tells me it was original spec.
Perhaps in Bristols parts juggling there were some configurations without a fairing but I suspect that as a thin low hanging aluminium part, it is likely they got damaged frequently.

[robert sands]

As I understand it all aerodynes had a front fairing fixed to the bottom edge of the front bumper. The parts book for the 403 describes it as Part No. N702097.
The earliest 401s and all 402s had a deep item ( approx 4") but still bolted to the bottom of the bumper, whereas the later 401s and all 403s had a shallower item (approx 1.5" deep).