Page 4 - bristol models

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In the last few years a plethora of Bristol models have appeared,
produced by both Neo and Landsdowne and between them they
produced a 401, 402, 403 (but is it?), a 405, 406, 408 and 411.In
a variety of colours. Made from the Landsdowne castings John
Roberts has also produced some models in different colours and
some of Bristols that were never made, including a 411 estate
and a 411 Drophead.
Coming back to the 450, there have been other makers of
450’s like Sun, V de C Replicas and kits from Provence, LM
Replicas TW Collectables and John Day LM Replicas. A slot car
in two versions in Scalextric 1:32 scale came from MMK Models
and BUM Slot Cars.. However, most Bristol models have been
1:43 scale, with the Spot-on’s at 1:42.
A larger 450 and Cooper Bristol was made by Jeff Luff in
1:12 scale. KRR Replicas make 1;43 scale Cooper Bristol’s in
Kits or finished models in a variety of liveries. Older makers were
Crescent, Copycat, Replicars, Budgie (Small), ASC Racing, John
Haynes and More & Stone, a smaller Cooper Bristol that was an
ESSO giveaway in the 1950’s. A relatively large number of AC
Bristol engined models are available from a number of different
makers and you can go on endlessly collecting these. I finally
gave up on collecting AC’s.
Starting a collection from scratch today is a big task. I have
been collecting for many years and have amassed over 450 ve-
hicles including some kits and a number of AC models. Not all
my models are Bristols as I have a number of Le Mans related
vehicles as I am planning to build three Diorama’s, Le Mans
1950’s, A Cooper Bristol race day and a Bristol cars sales lot. I
also have over 450 1:43 scale figures for the three dioramas.
This assumes of course I ever find the time!
There are of course the other bristol engined models, a
hand built Bristol Zagato in 3 colours from Rialto Models in the
Netherlands. A Le Mans Spyder, a Lister Bristol, a Tojiero Bristol
of which only two have appeared on EBAY in the last 10 years
from two different makers, one of whom was recent.
For anyone starting a collection or looking for specific mod-
els, EBAY is certainly your best bet by far. Most of the laters mod-
els are on there and some earlier ones as well. I would suggest
for those unfamiliar with EBAY that you add your desired models
to ebay’s notification/emailing list and you get notified when any-
thing is listed.
I have not listed all that has been available and my full col-
lection is listed on www.firstgearcollector.com and amounts to
over 100 Bristol models, not including AC’s. See the Bristol Sec-
tion, which, like my Fire Engines is sadly not fully up-to-date...
Lledo-Vanguards, who went into liquidation in 1999 had
also intended to produce a Bristol 405 in 1:48 or 1:50 th scale.
The very rare pre-production model I have is in Silver by de-
signer George Turner, who said “I made this prototype for
Lledo many many years ago. Unfortunately it never went
ahead into production, I do not know why.