Its all Over.

[lord sward]

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.

[jimfoz]

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.

[GREG]

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

[Ferrington G]

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

[Hydroglen]

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

[pasini s]

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

[Markus Berzborn]

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

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by Markus Berzborn

Or it is more a personal matter between Mr. Lewis and Mr. Silverton. Such things are difficult to judge from outside.

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?