It’s been 70 years since Bristol Cars was founded and five since it was rescued from bankruptcy. That makes it about time for a new Bristol, and that’s precisely what we have here.
The new Bristol Bullet is a hardcore speedster with carbon-fiber bodywork and powered by an engine sourced from BMW but developed in-house. Dubbed the Hercules, the V8 displaces 4.8 liters and produces 370 horsepower and just as much torque.
In a vehicle weighing less than 2,500 pounds, that’s enough to send the new British speedster to 62 miles per hour (100 km/h) from a standstill in 3.8 seconds and on to a face-shredding top speed of 155 mph.
As performance-focused as the Bullet appears, and as stodgy as Bristol once came across, the speedster packs plenty of luxury amenities and technology on board. There’s a multitouch screen in the dashboard with digital radio, smartphone connectivity, Bluetooth and WiFi. The seats are hand trimmed in British hides and the dashboard can be ordered in either wood or carbon.
It had been a long time since Bristol released anything new. If this is a sign of things to come under the new management, it looks like we could have yet another British sports car contender on our hands.
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