Famed manufacturer Bristol Cars files for bankruptcy

The flags are flying at half-mast here at eInsurance Group today, as luxury car manufacturer Bristol Cars has gone into administration, it has been announced.

The business filed for bankruptcy on 8 March after 65-years of producing high-performance luxury vehicles. Twenty-two staff are reported to have been made redundant from its Kensington High Street showroom and its Bristol-based factory, but sales and service operations, continue for now. Tom MacLennan and Trevor Binyon from RSM Tenon have been appointed joint administrators.

This truly is a grey day for the British car industry. Bristol Cars is one of the few genuinely British car makers left, and offers customers very eccentric (and very British) qualities in its vehicles. The company was formed in 1946, immediately after the second World War. The Bristol Aeroplane Company formed a partnership with the makers of Frazer Nash (AFN) cars that became Bristol Cars, and steadily built a global reputation for quality and style. The company was bought in 1997 by Toby Silverton and has always maintained an air of secrecy, often refusing to publish sales figures and not allowing the media to test-drive cars.

Famous fans of the brand include Liam Gallagher, Sir Richard Branson and the late, great, motoring writer LJK Setright, who was self-confessedly ‘obsessed’ by them, and thoroughly approved of the fact they were well equipped with ashtrays.

The current Bristol Cars range includes the Fighter, Blenheim, Blenheim Speedster and Series 6 with prices starting at £150,000.

It will now be a tortuous wait for fans of the brand and, of course, the company itself, to see if a suitable buyer can be found. At eInsurance Group, we're certainly hoping so.

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