Let me introduce myuself

[robertofollia]

Good morning to everyone
As this is my first post in this forum I would like to introduce myself. I knew Filton's finest since 1983. At that time I was just a 9-years-old-schoolboy who had been given a french catalogue (auto-journal), which had (an still has) an annex called "Tour de Monde de l'insolite" (or the world's most exotic and rare cars).
Among many others, there was one which drew my attention. It was silver, with squared tail lights, sheltering under an airplane wing, with alloy wheels. Yes, you've guessed it, a Bristol Brigand.

Since then the Bristol passion never ceased to grow on me. Brigand was discontinued, Blenheim 1 came (I did not like the front end though), then Blenheim 2 (thanks to the world wide web I could have access to big size pictures of the real thing) and lately, the version 3 and the one-off Blenheim 4.

I've only driven Land Rovers and Range Rovers of all kinds, and never have had anything other than british engineering. Of course there's the Jaguar (I love the XJ40), or the Bentley Turbo R or continental R (too bulky, heavy, complicated both mechanically and hydraulically and you can't travel in them unless there's sheltered storage facilities both in departure and arrival points).

I've always been after a true gentleman express, built with pride, electronics-free wherever possible, where the inputs are given by the driver, not by ECUs waiting to go wrong at the least convenient moment.

To make matters worse, buying a Bristol -new or secondhand- in the current economic situation, is out of question, I have to continue saving and waiting for better times.
But so far there are some questions which intrigue me:
-Is the company still trading? If so, is the showroom open to the public or by appointment only?
-The factory is closed, being open only the service centre. Could they still take orders or will we have to wait until Bespoke Bristol Restorations are ready to build replicas of them?

I hope to travel shortly to london, alas on weekend, so there will be no chances to find the showroom open or somebody to talk to.

Best regards from Spain, congratulations for the forum and sorry for such a long post.

Cheers
Robert

[Stefan]

Do phone the showroom or the service centre - both are still open. Phone numbers are on the website. They certainly do have cars in stock and will certainly be able to let you know the current situation; the factory has just moved to new units at Farnborough with some of the Patchway staff and most of the factory contents.

[robertofollia]

Thank you so much Stefan,
In fact I was able to visit London a while ago and was able to visit the showroom. It's now open on Saturdays.
I managed to know personally Mr. Cairns, very helpful and was able to buy some memorabilia and data. Alas, both Bristols books were not available from the showroom or the service centre, as both were out of stock.

Hope all you had a very Happy New Year's Eve.

Cheers from Spain
Robert