Bristol returning under BMW power
Thu, Jun 4 2015 BMW has had its hand in reviving once-great British automakers, and now its playing its part in the rebirth of another. That marque is Bristol Cars, the automotive offshoot of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Bristol hand-made luxury sports cars between 1945 and 2011 when it went belly-up, and ever since there's been an effort to bring it back.That effort is now picking up steam, and is set to launch later this year – marking the 70th anniversary of the marque's founding. It's tentatively known as Project Pinnacle, and while future versions are slated to pack plug-in hybrid power developed in collaboration with Bristol's sister company Frazer-Nash (which is now focused on battery technology), the first new Bristol in a dozen years is slated to pack BMW power.
Details accompanying the announcement below are few and far between, but one way or another, it won't be the first time BMW will have played a part in breathing new life into a British automaker. The Bavarian company of course revived Mini, and made Rolls-Royce what it is today, but was also was briefly the custodian of Rover, Land Rover and Bentley, and has been linked to a potential (if unrealized) effort to bring back Triumph. Its role in Bristol's rebirth under Project Pinnacle may be less involved than all of those, but at very least we'll know that the new British GT will have a proper engine under the hood.
BRISTOL CARS CONFIRMS POWERTRAIN FOR 70th ANNIVERSARY PROJECT PINNACLE
• First new Bristol car in more than a decade to feature BMW powerplant
• High performance powertrain earmarks resumption of the history between Bristol, Frazer-Nash and BMW dating back to 1930s
London, England, June 2015 – Iconic British carmaker, Bristol Cars, makes the second in a series of announcements today about its first new car in more than a decade, codenamed Project Pinnacle. Project Pinnacle, which is set for launch later this year, will be a 70th anniversary celebration model, referencing Bristol Cars' rich heritage and executed as a modern take on the best of British craftsmanship, engineered to excite and satisfy as a high performance Bristol car.
Bristol Cars is deeply proud to announce that the machinery underpinning this high performance new vehicle will be a BMW powerplant. The result will a sublime British sportscar with characteristics cultured uniquely for the first new Bristol since 2004.
Bristol Cars was bought in 2011 and millions of pounds are being invested in the business by the newly-formed Bristol Automotive Group, with new products, strategic partnerships and technologies, a specialist new Parts, Service and Restoration facility in Brentford, West London and an additional showroom on Kensington High Street.
Further details on Project Pinnacle, now confirmed as benefitting from the marriage of a BMW powerplant to the new Bristol car will be the subject of future announcements.
• First new Bristol car in more than a decade to feature BMW powerplant
• High performance powertrain earmarks resumption of the history between Bristol, Frazer-Nash and BMW dating back to 1930s
London, England, June 2015 – Iconic British carmaker, Bristol Cars, makes the second in a series of announcements today about its first new car in more than a decade, codenamed Project Pinnacle. Project Pinnacle, which is set for launch later this year, will be a 70th anniversary celebration model, referencing Bristol Cars' rich heritage and executed as a modern take on the best of British craftsmanship, engineered to excite and satisfy as a high performance Bristol car.
Bristol Cars is deeply proud to announce that the machinery underpinning this high performance new vehicle will be a BMW powerplant. The result will a sublime British sportscar with characteristics cultured uniquely for the first new Bristol since 2004.
Bristol Cars was bought in 2011 and millions of pounds are being invested in the business by the newly-formed Bristol Automotive Group, with new products, strategic partnerships and technologies, a specialist new Parts, Service and Restoration facility in Brentford, West London and an additional showroom on Kensington High Street.
Further details on Project Pinnacle, now confirmed as benefitting from the marriage of a BMW powerplant to the new Bristol car will be the subject of future announcements.
- News Source: Bristol
- BMW
- Automakers
By Noah Joseph
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