Its all Over.
 

They've gone into Administration. Did anyone see this happening?

BBC News - Bristol Cars goes into administration

Bristol Cars in administration - Autocar.co.uk

I only drove past the place last Thursday.

To be honest I never believed the production figures they quoted for the last 30 years of 2 or 3 cars a week - more like 2 or 3 per month - but I thought that they had received enough funding for years to come. However, the economic turndown and the associated costs with producing the Fighter (didn't someone say £30m!?) must have hit hard and the company was probably in strife long before Tony Crook decided to look for investors - such is Bristol that this obviously wouldn't have been public knowledge to customers and enthusiasts. Hopefully the administrators won't take too much of a hard nosed view of things as they sort through the inevitably eccentric workings of the production process.

Maybe over -- Maybe not
 

Maybe 3 or 4 a month is optimistic as well ! :-)

I don't hear a fat lady singing yet so stand by your beds and look forward to the next episode !

A lot of potential valuable options for potential buyers and can you ever rule out Mr Crook buying his life's work back ?

My sympathies and admiration go out to the to the Silverton family for having the courage to take on such a task and of course all the loyal staff at Bristol that deserve a future.

I imagine that some of the " specialist " Bristol car garages could use their services if a takeover is not imminent.

Onwards and upwards -- hopefully

Surprising and not really, Joe Lewis has pulled his funding as he would in the end if it didn't stack up, I'm surprised that the Silvertons got in so deep really. A real shame, hopefully it will survive

There has been talk that they are looking for investors to "save" the company. Typically investors are not overly concerned with history, so one has to wonder of how much of an "investment" would it be?
Regards,
Dorien

I've visited the Geneva Motor Show last Tuesday and was amazed by the number of supercar manufacturers that brought their new jewels there: probably there has never been a place for the Fighter in this context, against so many very serious world-class players.

The future of Bristol CL looks bleak to me, because I don't think that Germans would be interested in such a peculiar Marque, and Japanese have a lot of trouble nowadays. On the other hand, if Germans or Japanese buy it, this would mean good news for the staff and bad for the Marque, as it would quickly become another German Marque with a 'foreign' name. Ask Lamborghini for details.

I'm afraid that this means that some Far East (read: Chinese) manufacturer will acknowledge the opportunity of buying a real piece of British automotive history for what would be just pennies (pennies for these guys I mean). The best idea would be that mr Crook buys it all back, but I'm afraid that this would be only a dream. Let's hope for the best,

Stefano

If there had not been a lack of financial funds for serious investments at Bristol Cars already in the nineties or earlier Mr. Crook would probably not have called in Toby Silverston and Tavistock in the first place. So I don't see any perspective for him buying back the company. It would just be as underfinanced as before.
I think the products, i.e. the cars are very good and above all unique and there is no doubt there has been a renewed interest in the marque over the last few years. The idea of rebuilding older cars was also fine, Jensen is doing the same now. But probably Mr. Lewis was losing patience, as I think he has not yet got much back from his investments into Bristol Cars.
Or it is more a personal matter between Mr. Lewis and Mr. Silverton. Such things are difficult to judge from outside.

Regards,
Markus

The story is that Toby was married to Joe Lewis' daughter when Joe invested in BCL, and apparently that marriage has been over for some time, so maybe the way Joe views his "investment" has changed.

Apparently Joe Lewis lost a lot of money (even by his standards) on Bear Stearns in 2008 and last year his investment in Mitchells & Butlers wasn't looking too flash either, so it's likely he didn't have much appetite for a business such as BCL where the potential downside was probably always going to outweigh the potential upside.

It's a shame Toby's sister Philippa (aka TLF799R) is no longer here to set us straight ;)

Like Greg, I think someone will buy BCL, because it is too much of a unique brand to let it go under completely. But it may lose it's appeal if it doesn't remain in British ownership.

Could be an interesting liquidation auction if no one steps up to the plate!

In the mean time, I assume they are still trading?

Maybe a famous owner like Richard Branson ! although " Virgin Bristols " needs work :-)

Sort of good fun to speculate but I believe the funding will turn up to re structure the business.

What would be interesting would be to learn what the company is worth?

I remember Car magazine 'guessing' this 10 or so years ago - £10m was mooted, but it wouldn't be that now. They apparently own the freehold of the showroom in Kensington but I am not sure of the factory and workshop (which may have been up for sale during the relocation for financing?). The company may not be a complete basketcase - just a problem of cashflow and investment - who knows? They may come out the other end, but all the interesting stuff which made the company what it is will be replaced.

As I understood it, everyone who met Toby Silverton was impressed with his business skills. The business was considered to be in capable hands.

If, more through family problems than business problems, the funding has just dried up, then Mr Silverton might simply have been caught out with, as Kevin says, an 'overdraft' problem. I think anyone who has run their own business would be sympathetic with that.

It does seem strange though, if again the stories of a two year waiting list are true, that they would close the Patchway plant, when that is surely generating real income for the company. This implies expenses are wildly out of control, or debt is?

It is also somewhat ironical that the servicing and parts business is considered the one worth saving in the interim, that the old Bristol community might, in the short term at least, be giving the old firm some hope?

Slightly off topic, but not a lot off topic, this documentary might make some people feel a bit better.

Patrick Grant is the new owner of Savile Row tailors Norton & Sons and E Tautz. Buying an old established company of tailors is not the same as buying an old car manufacturing company, but I suppose the risks were pretty high.

If PR was a measure of success, then he has done very well so far.

In this series he tours Britain meeting the suppliers to his business, including the weavers of his fabrics (Harris tweed and flannels), sockmakers, shoes, wallet makers et al.

He is very funny, in that odd way the Brits are, with long monologues born of Python and Joyce and vaudeville routines.

Textile Factories Video Tour - Manufacture - Esquire

A few people have mentioned in other forums MOD contracts Bristol were doing that were cancelled which I never knew, although I think possibly the fact that the cars were manufactured near BAE and RR and the associated sensitive developments may have caused confusion in this respect??

How sad that after all this time they should fail.
Christopher Balfour wrote a very interesting and in most ways thoroughly comprehensive
history of the company titled A Very British Story which is ironically and poignantly prophetic
as it turns out.

Bristol started to produce cars in the 1940s and from the 60s was owned by the ex-racing
driver Tony Crook after about 10 yrs as a distributor for the company.
(You gotta have some self-confidence to sell cars with the name A. Crook!) Tony Crook is
now in his 90s and jealously guarded Bristol’s heritage until he gradually sold out to Toby
Silverton who apparently is going to let the company go.
Crook continued to work for the company but it would seem his strong will and Fawlty
ways annoyed t’management so much that arrived at his Kensington office one morning
in June 2007 to find that he was unceremoniously locked out. Poor chap – heart-breaking
after being devoted to the company for so long and one of their dealers for ten years or so

Although, as I’ve said previously, Balfour’s book was very comprehensive it did miss out one
very important episode.
Theft threatens UK's most exclusive car maker - Auto Trader UK - News and Reviews Hub
ie in July 2007 some very important presses were stolen.
This was not mentioned in the book which for such a momentous event was surprising nor
can I find any evidence that it was mentioned anywhere ever again.
Although the author and I corresponded for a while, an enquiry to him to get to the bottom
of this was not fruitful and indeed all correspondence then ceased.

I wonder why the incident was not mentioned in the book?
I wonder where the presses are now?
I wonder if the loss of the presses contributed to the failure of the business?

I wonder what really happened?

I would consider that highly improbable.

Regards,
Markus

I don't see how the stolen presses made any difference. Blenheims and Fighters were built after that date as well as specials.

If they were stolen by scrap metal thiefs, they would have been melted down within 48 hours and be untraceable. If anything, the insurance may have given a financial boost.

I think too many people think that this is the end. Let's wait and see..

Maybe Toby didn't want to put any more re-finance money in until he had total control ! Can't be easy working with family Mafia !

Jenson, Aston, Jaguar died many times and came back -- let's try some optimism.

Jenson Button

Jensen Cars

I believe the stolen presses were 're-acquired'.

The presses didn't make any difference to production as far as I understand, they were stored out in the yard as there were sufficient panels in stock. As Greg said they would have been melted down before the factory opened that Monday. I did hear BCL were significantly underinsured at the time though.

It is hard to know what the future for the factory might be as the staff have been laid off and much of the expertise and know how will have left as they walked out the gate. The BOC Heritage Trust is talking to the administrators to assist in preserving as much as possible.

It is a well understood principle that the way to make a small fortune in car manufacture is to start with a large fortune. Very true unfortunately

Paul

Apparently they had enough panels to enable production of the blenheim for a
few years. I expect there wasn't much demand for new blenheims even then.

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

Interesting.
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.

In a chat with Toby, he explained to me that no "presses" were stolen, but some stamping dies used in machines known as presses.

The rest of your post is gossip.

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

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!

:confused: I must have missed something

Providing that;

1. you didn't work for him
2. you were not a member of the press
3. you were not an officer of the BOC
4. you were not an editor of the BOC Bulletin
5. you hadn't said anything publicly about BCL that he didn't like
6. you didn't sympathise anyone who said anything publicly about BCL that he didn't like

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 :-)

No, I was just a potential customer. That bought a used car from another vendor. And then consulted mr Crook innumerable times over the next 5 years.

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.....

But it worked?
 

I completely agree: against all the odds, this eccentric and gifted fellow kept the firm going whilst many similar outfits folded decades ago.

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!

Again I agree, other than remembering the odd advertisement for Bristol or Arbarth-specified Italian cars when he was trading in Esher (?), I found little about him when I had a few hours of research time that I should have been devoting to other research matters.

George

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.

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.

An early TAD Crook pic

My comment about those who worked for him was based on the impression I got at the Chiswick workshop when a call came in from "the Guvnor" (on the phone). But it could have just been a bad day.

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.

[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 !

I'm not making anything up - I don't need to. Just relaying what my understanding is. Specifically the story was that LJKS resigned from the Editor job because he was fed up with TADC trying to control what was (or was not) written in the BOC Bulletin. But let's face it, LJKS was too much of a gentleman to say that publicly.

Where did he write what you said?

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.

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 :-)

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

I don't really see the need to show evidence for an opinion, but as you ask, my opinion is based on a conversation with someone from the BOC which I considered to be "in confidence", around the time when Crook threatened to sue them (the BOC officers) for libel.

yet you believe the officialreason he gave for resigning from his BOC position?

incidentally, what are the "lot" of things he got wrong? (that he hasn't admitted in later publications)

prove it, otherwise it is no more valid that my opinion