Background
Unlike its predecessors, the Bristol 406 suffered from a lack of power: Bristol's BMW-derived 105 bhp (78 kW) inline six-cylinder engine (type 110) no longer enabled the 1.5-ton car to achieve the sporty driving performance that distinguished earlier Bristol models. A further increase in performance of the engine, the concept of which dated back to before the Second World War, could no longer be achieved.
Bristol was therefore looking for a new engine in the second half of the 1950s. First, the company started to develop its own, new engine, designated type 160. The key requirement was a six-cylinder configuration and a displacement of 3.0 to 3.5 litres, similar to that of contemporary Alvis engines. However, the performance of the first prototypes was not convincing; in any case, the parent company was of the opinion that the financial expense of the new construction was not commensurate with its benefits. In 1959, Bristol tested another in-line Armstrong Siddeley six-cylinder engine. The 4.0 litre engine was standard in the Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire and produced 165 bhp. Bristol equipped a 406 with this engine and carried out some test runs at the factory. However, there was no takeup into series production. The prototype went on sale and was in regular use until 1975. In 2015 it was rediscovered in an unrestored condition. [2]
In the end, Bristol decided to use Chrysler's US eight-cylinder engine. It is not clear from whom the initiative to use American engines came. Bristol owner Tony Crook repeatedly told the following story: Actually, Bristol only wanted to order a Torque-Flite automatic transmission for test purposes. To the surprise of the Bristol employees, Chrysler would have included an in-house eight-cylinder in addition to the ordered gearbox. Bristol then subjected the engine to in-depth tests and decided in favour of using the American engine in view of the high performance and cost-effectiveness of the concept – which meant saving its own development costs. [3] To further cost saving, Bristol did not source the engines directly from the US but from Canada, a member of the Commonwealth. This meant that there were no import duties when the engines were transferred to the UK.
The Bristol engine was based on an older American engine, which had made its debut at Chrysler's Plymouth brand in 1956 and originally had a displacement of 260 CID (4.2 litres). Bristol obtained the engine blocks from the USA and had them completed by hand in a Canadian Chrysler workshop. At the same time, a series of far-reaching modifications were carried out to distinguish the Bristol engines from their large-series counterparts: The engine bore was increased from 3.56 inches to 3.87 inches. This resulted in a displacement of 5.2 litres – with only a marginally changed stroke – as Chrysler did not have an engine of the appropriate size in its series portfolio. The engines were also given a new cylinder head of Bristol's own design, replacing the original "polyspherical" Plymouth head.
Finally, the intake ducts were revised. The engine delivered an output of 250 bhp (186 kW) after the manual modifications, which more than doubled the performance potential compared to the previous model. Bristol was again on the way to becoming a sports car manufacturer. The switch to American engines was not without problems, although this step was not without a model: Facel Vega from France had already taken this route a few years earlier, and the British competitor Jensen was about to do the same. The conservative British clientele was nevertheless sceptical and, according to Tony Crook, quite a few are said to have seen it as a sin. Most critics, however, were reconciled by the outstanding driving performance of the car.
Bristol's long-serving 2.0 litre six-cylinder engine continued to be built for some time after the introduction of the 407. It was primarily supplied to AC Cars, where it was installed in the Ace, Aceca, and Greyhound models until the end of 1962. The new V8 engine was mated to a TorqueFlite automatic gearbox as the only transmission option. The transmission had three forward speeds and a torque converter.
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