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| Bristol News & Other Bristol Discussion About the company, clubs, car owners, and Bristol discussion not specific to the 6,8 or 10 cyl cars. |
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06-03-11, 09:14 PM
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few years. I expect there wasn't much demand for new blenheims even then. 
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06-03-11, 09:19 PM
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You may well be right. I know that the Blenheim 4 was all done by hand and was started around that time so perhaps the 3 had pretty much run it's course?
Paul
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07-03-11, 12:28 AM
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It still leaves a number of questions unanswered though. 1-Why did Christopher Balfour not put this important item of his otherwise comprehensive book of the firm's history? 2-Why did he 'clam-up- when I asked him about it? 3-How were the presses reacquired? 4-Why did Tony Crook comment on the loss to the Press ("Probably melted down for scrap") when he was dismissed so peremptorily only a few days before the presses went missing? 5-Is there any relevance to the fact that the presses went missing only a few days after AC was locked out? Are items 1 and 5 connected? I can't help but feel that there is something interesting ( not criminal ) going on in the background.
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07-03-11, 02:57 AM
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The rest of your post is gossip.
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07-03-11, 09:06 PM
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Lou is right, it was the dies that were nicked. They are very big and very heavy and the metal is quite valuable. They had been stored out in the yard for a long time, years in fact after they were brought back from the company that actually pressed the panels in batches. The thieves never entered the factory itself.
They were taken at a point where a lot of metal was going missing (the manholes from an entire area were stolen one night about this time) because metal prices had shot up. It is quite usual for dies to be stored like this. I know one pressing company that currently has about 20m worth of dies stored out the front of their factory, probably best not to name them on the internet. I should imagine that if Christopher Balfour 'clammed up' it was probably more that he was speechless, and didn't think it worth continuing a scurrilous conversation. Christopher would be much too polite to do anything other than ignore a comment like that. You have to ask yourself who would a) know some thieves b) tell them to steal the items and c) not expect to be blackmailed for ever and a day for doing so afterwards. It is an interesting conspiracy theory but I think that is all it is. I have been around the factory as has another of the BOC HT trustees and I can tell you that everything that should be there is, and there are no dies anywhere in the building or yard so that rather questions the 'recovered' theory which isn't one I had heard until I saw it here. Regards Paul
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08-03-11, 02:10 AM
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It does almost sound like (a suggestion that) Mr Crook had something to do with the theft.
That post should be edited by the poster. Mr Tony Crook was, is and always will be a true, oldfashioned Gentleman!
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08-03-11, 03:23 AM
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 I must have missed something Quote:
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08-03-11, 08:22 AM
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I think you could easily get Kevin's points up to 10 or more, but overall I think we should be grateful he kept things going for so long ?
I must admit that I am fascinated by the unknown history of TAD Crook and would love to see a detailed Biography of his life. I know he was born in Manchester and his parents were coal merchants, but where did all the money come from to start racing and eventually own a prestige car manufacturer ? There seems to be very little information out there about family, siblings , where he met his wife and how he became sole agent for BCL. Maybe he made all his money from scrap metal heists, but somehow , I doubt it :-) Last edited by GREG; 08-03-11 at 09:03 AM. Reason: fekin bad spillng agayn ! disslexya
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08-03-11, 02:18 PM
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The boys at the Chiswick workshop seemed to have liked and respected him. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe he was/is a bad, bad man. But he kept Bristol alive for decades.....
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08-03-11, 02:21 PM
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But it worked?
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Other than once negotiating the purchase of a used Bristol, I only ever had social conversations with TAD Crook and have to say that on every occasion one would have described his manner as gentlemanly — in fact, I recall my wife expressing the opinion that he was far too much of a gentleman to be a car-salesman! Considering quite how long so many of the BCL staff worked there (and well beyond normal retirement in some cases), clearly not everyone would agree with Kevin's point about working for him being unrewarding! Quote:
George
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08-03-11, 07:37 PM
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Tony Crook was born in Chorlton cum Hardy, South Manchester. His money came from the family coal mines, hence being able to purchase Alfa 2900 whilst still in the army.Quite a roughtable chap I'd say, certainly in his early life, but an eccentric gentleman running an eccentric car firm, with all it's fowballs. Shame he was bought out in hindsight.
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08-03-11, 09:11 PM
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On the other hand, by selling he was able to get out with his sale proceeds, and no longer had the worries of keeping things going.
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09-03-11, 10:41 AM
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I don't think he is a bad man and I didn't say he was, as you full well know. However, I have heard from numerous people over the years who have been on the receiving end of his vitriol. He had quite a reputation for it on some circles. Setright resigned as the BOC Bulletin editor because of him! As for keeping BCL going, I think it's wonderful that he did, a great achievement, but he didn't do it for us, he did it for him.
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09-03-11, 11:46 AM
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[quote= Setright resigned as the BOC Bulletin editor because of him![/QUOTE]
That's not what he said ! He wrote that he was resigning because he didn't feel he could keep impartiality and integrity whilst serving the club and being a motoring writer. And someone had suggested that he was on the BCL payroll. I have also heard he was a nasty piece of work at times but lets not make things up !
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09-03-11, 12:33 PM
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Where did he write what you said?
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09-03-11, 01:04 PM
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One of the cars I bought came with a disc of old bulletins and this is the final paragraph from 1976. No mention of Crook.
Members will be kept informed of developments — but probably not by me. As a motoring writer it is professionally imperative that I maintain an impartiality which I have gradually learned is not compatible with my serving the Club either as Chairman or as Editor. From what has been said to me, it seems possible that for me to maintain such uncompromising impartiality while holding either of my present offices might prejudice the future of the Club. On the other hand I am still smarting from suggestions that I had been paid or rewarded in some way for doing public relations work for Bristol Cars — suggestions which are of course wildly erroneous. I do not think that I owe the firm or the Club any favours nor, I hope, any apologies; but it is time for me to go.
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10-03-11, 09:55 AM
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I have shown the evidence for my opinion but is there any for yours ?
LJKS was known as a Gentleman that made a lot of mistakes and got a lot of things wrong ! Crook was known as a Gentleman that got a lot of things right. I have never spoken to either but my opinion is based on fact and not hear say. Of course TAD Crook ran Bristol for him and not for us, but he had the bottle to keep throwing his own personal money in for years whilst it was loosing money because he beleived in the cars and cared for the people ? But we agree on most points :-)
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10-03-11, 10:06 AM
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WIKEPEDIA --no use again ! In the context of judging any of us ? In its best use, moreover, "gentleman" involves a certain superior standard of conduct, due, to quote the 8th edition once more, to "that self-respect and intellectual refinement which manifest themselves in unrestrained yet delicate manners". The word "gentle", originally implying a certain social status, had very early come to be associated with the standard of manners expected from that status. Thus by a sort of punning process the "gentleman" becomes a "gentle-man". In another sense, being a gentleman means treating others, especially women, in a respectful manner, and not taking advantage or pushing others into doing things they choose not to do. The exception, of course, is to push one into something they need to do for their own good, as in a visit to the hospital, or pursuing a dream one has suppressed
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10-03-11, 11:51 AM
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incidentally, what are the "lot" of things he got wrong? (that he hasn't admitted in later publications) Quote:
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