Wanted - Owners Views for University Design Project

[gjaf]

Hi,

I am a university student currently in the early stages of a final major project to design a new car for Bristol. In order to gain a greater understanding of the Bristol cars and their drivers, talking to current owners is a source of invaluable information.

As such, I was wondering if Bristol owners would be willing to fill out a questionnaire. I am specifically looking to gain insight into why you chose to own a Bristol, what first attracted you and how you became aware of the company, what you believe the marque stands for and if you think the values of the company have changed over the years, for better or worse (or perhaps if you believe they should have changed, but haven't).

If you would be interested in helping me, please send me a message, and I will send you an email which will include the questionnaire in a more user-friendly format.

Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing from you soon

Gordon Farquhar,

Transportation Design Year 4, Northumbria University

[Bellerophon]

Gordon,
Not an easy task, as the cars have changed over the years, but when I
bought mine 48 years ago it was light years ahead of anything else, and even now
is a car to be reckoned with.
In 1951 The Motor said, "The Bristol 401 possessed a combination of virtues
which may not be equalled by any other car."
L.J.K. Setright the journalist of great renown, having looked at every car
available found that there was only one car which stood out from all the
rest and that was a Bristol 2 litre, and he drove one most of his life. Find
a copy of his last book in a library, Long Lane with Turnings, and this
will explain his reasons for buying a Bristol.
Hope this is of some help.
My regards,
Alan Blackwood

[gjaf]

Thank you for your reply Alan!

I have actually already got hold of a copy of Setright's "Bristol Cars & Engines" from 1974, but I will get hold of a copy of "Long Lane With Turnings" as well.

I appreciate that there is a lot of car-specific information and so i was looking to investigate what each car has progressively said about Bristol Cars as a company, how this has changed, and if there are common themes which i need to be mindful of in designing a new model. Is there a "true Bristol" ethos that the company has deviated from? Revolutionary quality and "ahead-of-its-time" factor are examples of the criterions i am attempting to accumulate. I am sure that Setright's book will help with this. but talking to current owners I think will help also. Information on specific user experience in buying their first car and hearing about the brand, be this 48 years ago or 2, is of really great use to me, but i will be sure to put each experience in the context of time.

Would it be okay for me to ask you to answer a questionnaire?

Thank you very much

[Kevin H]

Gordon, your question is a very interesting one which has been posed many times.

Would you be willing to post your findings here when you conclude your survey, (minus personal details of respondents) ?

If you are looking for any critiques of your designs you will get plenty if you post them on here!

To send a message to Gordon, just click on his username at the top left hand corner of his post and you will see the option to send him a private message.

[gjaf]

to Ibrowning:

I'm sorry for filling up your email inbox. I had just tried to post the topic in the most relevant thread. I had the same problem as you with receiving emails when i first signed up, and i think it's because i was subscribed to the threads.

If you go to the left hand bar of the forum, go to the email subscriptions section and select "edit forum subscriptions" you can choose not to get email updates from this message thread, i think. that's how i was able to fix the problem. I hope that helps clear things up, and if you would be willing to answer the questionnaire, please send me a personal message

thank you

Kevin:
I will happily post my findings and the results of my findings (which will hopefully be a number of designs) and it would be fantastic to get some critique on them, especially in terms of validation of the project from a consumer perspective. Thank you very much for all your help so far

[browning l]

Thank you, Gordon.

Please post your email address for a direct response.

Lou B.