Brentford Expansion

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Having just called into the service centre and viewed some stunningly restored V8 Bristols, I discovered that the company has taken over the unit next to No. 19 and is in the process of altering it to house spraying booths etc. as a lot of the restoration work will be taking place on site.

I saw a beautiful 411 which I took to be an example of a Series 6, but it turned out that it was a restored 411 to the same spec. as the Series 6 — down to a plate under the bonnet that had Fraser Nash alongside Bristol cars (but the rocker covers only said Bristol on them!). Alas, I was not allowed to see the new electric Bristol, but I was assured that it was a true Bristol, so we shall have to see when it is unveiled.

Talking to Brian Morelli I discovered that not only has he been with the company for 54 years, but he will be celebrating his 70th birthday next month.

I should suspect that the rumour that it was difficult to find a decent older Bristol to purchase at a sensible price because the company was buying them up for their own restorations might be true. There were three or four very sad looking V8s (various) that were in the early stages of a complete restoration.

Still, the company looked considerably more positive than when I last visited it getting on for two years ago.

George