Bristols in south africa

[WINSTON]

I am from Cape Town, South Africa and would like to know if any Bristols or Bristol powered cars are here in South Africa.

[penman]

Hi
If there are, they are not owned by members of the BOC according to the register.
There is mention somewhere in the new Balfour book that the cars with a lot of wood in their construction were unlikely to survive long in Africa (Climate or termites I suppose)

[Geoff Dowdle]

Winston,
its good to hear from a Bristol person in another part of the Southern
Hemisphere.

Eric Glasby of Glasby Motors , Bulawayo, Rhodesia was the Bristol & AC
agents for Southern Africa from about 1951 to 60.
The eldest son Ivan is living in Sydney Australia who I know quite well &
has given me this information some years ago ,
so some of the cars have moved around. This is a list of what was known to
the Glasby's (mostly imported by them )
5 Ace Bristols (1 to Australia, possibly 2 to UK)
1 Aceca Bristol
1 Greyhound (now with Ford 2.6)
3 Bristol 400
4 Bristol 401
1 Bristol 403
1 Bristol 404 (now I believe in Europe)
1 Bristol 405 Saloon
1 Bristol 408
1 Tojerio Bristol (now Jaguar powered)
2 Cooper Bristol front engined (one owned by Bruce Glasby, who still lives
in Zimbabwe)
1 Cooper Bristol rear engined (in Sydney with Ivan Glasby)

If you Google "Eric Glasby Bristol " you can find a little of his extensive
racing experiences in Bristol powered cars during that time

I hope this is of some interest
Geoff Dowdle/Sydney

[legavroche]

Winston

Further to Geoff's post I lived in Rhodesia from 65 to 73. During the UDI years
international sanctions made it both difficult and expensive to import cars from Europe. I only knew of a 400 which was based on a farm near the Mozambique border - miles from anywhere! I suspect most of the cars he listed were exported via South Africa.

Regards

Gavin

[WINSTON]

Thank you for the info. It is much appreciated. I would one day love to own a refurbished 411 ( series 6 ) . After about it in Octane I put it on my wish list!

[Geoff Dowdle]

Gavin,
from the Glasby records the 400 you mentioned is Chassis 400-1-559
Owners
Eric Glasby >Jim Southorn> Deryk Lamb / Tendayi (Mozambique border) > Colin
Morris c1969
Not sure if he stll owns it

Geoff

[dave dale]

Hi Winston,
There is an aerodyne ( 401 or 403 ) in a private museum in Cape province. There are photos at this link - taken July this year. If you are interested, I may be able to find the address.
Picasa Web Albums - xxx - 401 403 in SA
Dave Dale.

[legavroche]

Geoff
Thanks for this information, sadly Deryk Lamb was killed during the bush war.
I didn't know Colin Morris and lost touch with the 400's whereabouts. Incidentally, Deryk's son, called Nigel, is one of the leading aerobatic pilots here in the UK.
Gavin

[Geoff Dowdle]

Dave ,
This 403 is most likely 403/1480 of last known owner Karl Luckow

Geoff

[Rod McVeigh]

I built the interiors of these Karl Luckow cars and have video footage of the cars.

[wkennerley]

Originally Posted by WINSTON

I am from Cape Town, South Africa and would like to know if any Bristols or Bristol powered cars are here in South Africa.

The South African magazine CAR had an article in October 1994 about Bristols in South Africa, some of which are ex Rhodesia - If you want I can see if I have it still land scan it for you - If you look on my website under Bristol, you can see details on the cars as well.

Regards

Wayne

Classic Cars in Rhodesia

[gmorris]

Originally Posted by legavroche

Geoff
Thanks for this information, sadly Deryk Lamb was killed during the bush war.
I didn't know Colin Morris and lost touch with the 400's whereabouts. Incidentally, Deryk's son, called Nigel, is one of the leading aerobatic pilots here in the UK.
Gavin

Hi
I'm Colin's son, now living in New Zealand. I remember Dad buying the 400 in about 1970. It was white and had had a pick-up box installed in place of the boot lid. However, the farmer still had the boot lid and re-fitted it for us when he delivered the car. If I remember right, the car cost $100 at the time. Dad had the car repainted to its original maroon in 1975, shortly before we emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa. I used to drive it often as a teenager and can remember rebuilding the engine and later replacing the clutch. The seats were the original leather, but needed replacing the last I saw it. Dad sold it well after I migrated to New Zealand, probably sometime in the late 1990's or early 2000's. I don't know who bought it, nor where it went. Mum and Dad passed away 3 years ago, so I've no way of finding out. I would love to hear where the car is now.
I do recall one other Bristol in Rhodesia (as it was at the time). Keith Simmonds had a pale yellow 401 that he took to Durban, South Africa when he migrated (some time around 1980, from memory). Keith has also passed on, and his car was sold to another owner in South Africa in the early 1990's (again, from memory, but I may be out on timing).

[Geoff Dowdle]

gmorris ,

Your Dad's 400 was
Chassis 400/1/559
Car 400/A/322
Original engine 85A/1404
Fitted Engine 85A/1459 (ex 400/601)
Original Colour , Metallic Green >White >Maroon

Despatched ex BAC/Filton to University Motors/London 8th Dec 1948
First owner Col. Stuart
2nd owner Eric Glasby /Rhodesia (the Bristol & AC agent for Southern Africa)
3rd Owner Jim Southern (possibly raced by J Southern in Mashonaland 100 in 1957)

poss 6th owner pre 1965 Deryk Lamb/ Tandaai, via Umtali, Rhodesia
7th owner c1969 Colin Morris
8th owner late 90's ???????

I have no idea of its current location or owner

Mr Brian Evans of RSA owned 4 Bristols in the 80's (400 , 401 , 403 & 404 )and could know of 400/559 current owner .
If you look through my earlier posts Glasby imported quite a few Bristol & AC
Attached is the only photo I have of it.


400 559 D Lamb c1967.JPG



Do you have any photos of it when your Dad owned it ??
Regards
Geoff Dowdle/Sydney/Australia
BOC Joint 400 Registrar

[gmorris]

Originally Posted by Geoff Dowdle

gmorris ,

Your Dad's 400 was
Chassis 400/1/559
Car 400/A/322
Original engine 85A/1404
Fitted Engine 85A/1459 (ex 400/601)
Original Colour , Metallic Green >White >Maroon

Despatched ex BAC/Filton to University Motors/London 8th Dec 1948
First owner Col. Stuart
2nd owner Eric Glasby /Rhodesia (the Bristol & AC agent for Southern Africa)
3rd Owner Jim Southern (possibly raced by J Southern in Mashonaland 100 in 1957)

poss 6th owner pre 1965 Deryk Lamb/ Tandaai, via Umtali, Rhodesia
7th owner c1969 Colin Morris
8th owner late 90's ???????

I have no idea of its current location or owner

Mr Brian Evans of RSA owned 4 Bristols in the 80's (400 , 401 , 403 & 404 )and could know of 400/559 current owner .
If you look through my earlier posts Glasby imported quite a few Bristol & AC
Attached is the only photo I have of it.


Attachment 923



Do you have any photos of it when your Dad owned it ??
Regards
Geoff Dowdle/Sydney/Australia
BOC Joint 400 Registrar

Thanks, Geoff
That photo showing the pick-up box is definitely the car we had! I'm surprised to hear it was despatched in early 1948. We always believed it to be a 1949 car. We found traces of maroon paint on it and then a pale (not metallic) green on the car, which is why we had it repainted in maroon to match what we found.

I will have other photos of the car in both white and maroon. I will look out whatever I can find, but it may take some time as we're in the process of moving house.

For the record, the car had registration number 476R on it when it left Rhodesia, one of the 'new' reflective yellow plates. The TU Rego in South Africa was from the Roodepoort region where we lived. Dad would most likely have sold it with this number still on the car.

[Rod McVeigh]

I would like to know where these cars are?
Bristol 403 chassis no 403/1480
Bristol 404 chassis no 404/2003

I built and installed the interiors of these cars for Karl Lucouw when they were restored orginallly

The Bristol 404 pictures at the Bonhams auction back in mid 2000's still had the grey leather interior that I built and installed for Karl Lucouw.

I hope someone can help as I have video of these two cars and myself on Karl Lucouw's estate outside Pretoria, South Africa.

I now live in the U.K.

Rod