- 5,287
- Sick_Cylinder
Bristol quickly became the dominant 2 litre class car at Le Mans, initially with their bizarrely styled coupes and later with the open roadster. They came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in class in 1954 and 1955 and also scooped the team prize. As most people know, motorsports greatest ever tragedy occurred at Le Mans in 1955 when 83 spectators were killed. The race was continued, because if it had been stopped the exiting crowds would have hampered the work of the emergency services.
At the end of the race Bristol donated their prize money to a charity in aid of the victims of the disaster and withdrew from racing. The three Le Mans cars were dismantled and the Bristol apprentices used the best parts from each to build one car which was kept as a reminder of Bristols racing success. This car is road registered with the number plate PVS 258 and is still occasionally run in public at historic events.
Bristol cars were highly aerodynamic and were developed in their own wind tunnel at a time when this was a rarity. The team introduced innovations which minimised the time lost in the pits such as a wheel wrench which removed all five wheel nuts at once, retained them and then retorqued the nuts to the correct settings. The wheels were in two pieces - a rim and a hub - the hubs remained on the car and just the rims were changed.
Below straight six cylinder engine featuring large inlet trumpets fitted with inverted cones to increase air velocity - known as "Kemish Cones" and named after Bristol Engineer Mr Kemish. The engine was able to produce 155bhp completely reliably - impressive for 1955. The cars were able to lap La Sarthe at in excess of 100mph when required and were timed at more than 150mph down the straight.
Below paintings of the car.
Above triple exhaust pipes - the exhausts were paired from cylinder 1 & 6, 2 & 5, 3 & 4 for optimum effectiveness.
It would be nice to be able to hold multi-class Le Mans races using cars from the 1950's. My racing buddies and I have done this with the 1960's cars, but we are sadly lacking in 1950's racing cars.
Last edited: