1953 · The gentleman’s express
Bristol 404
The Businessman’s Express.
On a chassis shortened by eighteen inches, the 404 distilled the Bristol idea into a compact, hand-built two-seater of aircraft quality that carried its speed quietly; the four-door 405 followed on the full-length frame.
The 404 came from a simple realisation at Filton: the Bristol chassis could be shortened by about eighteen inches without losing what made it good. The body that Dudley Hobbs and Jim Lane drew for it dropped the marque’s BMW-derived grille for an air intake that recalled the Brabazon airliner, mounted the spare wheel behind a front wing and used steel, wood and light alloy each where it served best. In its day the press called it the Businessman’s Express.
The 405 of 1954 took the same ideas to a full-length chassis and became the only four-door motor car Bristol ever produced, with an overdrive on top gear that worked as an effective fifth. A drophead 405 was bodied by Abbott of Farnham. An Australian newspaper described the breed in 1956 as bullet-fast yet among the most docile and gentle of cars, and it has described every Bristol since.
Archive plates
Bristol Cars Approved
