1958 · The gentleman’s express
Bristol 406
The last of the six-cylinder Bristols.
The 406 closed the six-cylinder era with its engine enlarged for torque and disc brakes on all four wheels, among the first of any marque.
The 406 was the last Bristol to carry the marque’s own six-cylinder engine, enlarged to 2.2 litres for torque rather than outright power. It was the first Bristol with disc brakes on all four wheels, a Watt linkage to locate the rear axle and a body developed with the aeroplane company’s wind tunnel. Bodies were built by Jones Brothers of Willesden on a steel inner frame with aluminium outer panels, then finished, trimmed and painted at Filton.
Two short-chassis 406 S cars were built; one of them covered some six hundred thousand miles, first with Tony Crook and then with an Aberdeen vet. A small run of 406 chassis went to Zagato in Milan for lighter two-seater coupé bodies.
Archive plates
Bristol Cars Approved
