Part two.
After the 409 and Rover 2000TC I bought a 1972 Daimler XJ6 in a special order Aston Martin olive green with a tan interior.
Looked and went fabulously when it wasn’t in the garage! The final straw was when one of the petrol tanks on this 4 year old car rusted through from the outside. Hopeless!
I paid £2500 for it and spent £1100 on repairs in 13 months of ownership. Double hopeless!! A BMW 2002 followed
Then Dick Fuggle introduced me to Neville Thompson’s 410. Dick took a small donation for the intro along with a case of his favourite Bell’s Whisky.
The ‘G’ registered car 410 was probably the best Bristol I’d owned and probably the best car I’ve owned too! It was black with an elephant grey interior and was distinguished from other 410s by having very smart single stainless steel strips along the sides rather than the alternating curved design which is standard. I think it was from a 407 and served to make the car seem longer. 185x15 radial tyres were a revelation to the handling and it was much brisker than the 409. I remember a serious dice with an Austin-Healey 3000 which I was surprised to lose at high speed. (I never realised they were that fast although I recently came across this video of one driving at Spa. It’s long but well worth watching as an example of skill. Forward to 14:05 until 16:25 when the red mist overcomes an E-type driver. More fun!
spa on board footage in austin healey 3000 - YouTube )
I looked after the 410 like a baby and despite using it as a daily driver managed to win the Levine trophy in competition with Neville Thompson’s latest 410 amongst others.
As I say, probably my favourite car and I sold it through Dick Fuggle to a delightful attorney named Joe Dickerson from Santa Barbara in California. He had a small collection of cars there including a rare Hooper bodied Daimler Century. As far as I know the 410 is still in the USA although I did see it and the Daimler up for sale maybe 10 years ago.
The Bristol was then followed by a 1961 4 door James Young bodied S2 Bentley Continental.