I have had this building on my list for a wile now, but when somebody informed me there was some extremely unique being kept in the basement I just needed to examine! When I lastly found a way in which was legal (but a bit frightening) I could t believe my eyes! … so the story goes like this, The Vehicle Company sadly went into administration and all remaining products were seized and are because of be auctioned off early September this year. Because of the coronavirus they wound up staying down there a lot longer than prepared. hence being covered in dust etc. irritatingly the location has actually been sold to a bloody news paper business and they have actually revealed a more information then I will. But on the plus side the security has actually now been stepped up enormously inc watchdog, regular patrols and on-site security. Hope you take pleasure in the video people, thank you again for all your support.
For all your Bearded Explorer Merchandise See ⬇.
www.TheBeardedExplorer.Co.UK.
For all your Beard items check out ⬇.
Usage code – THEBEARDEDEXPLORER10 for 10% off!!
Donations for my exploring appreciated – Pay Buddy ⬇ TheBeardedExplorerYT@gmail.com.
I didn’t understand anything,but the place is very cool.Hello from Russia
I Wonder How Many of Those Cars did Jay Leno Bought ???
@Ronald Master Bud dude i was just thinking before I came upon your comment that this would be Jay Leno’s dream. Lol
dont tell the rusian where the place is than its over and out
@Ronald Master Bud jay leno is overrated
@O.G Autistler as a person, Probably… as a Collecter, He’s World Class…
That’s insane! Surprised that it all appears to be untouched too.
Keep up the great work 😎👍🏻
That bristol bullet (the white car) retails at £250,000 insane money!!!!! Great find as always mate 👍
That was incredible- those cars were to die for. Such a shame the company went bust. I loved the taxis with the old suitcases what a touch. Loved it all . Well some people are going to end up with some exquisite cars 🚘 brilliant find 🌹
Mate, this is ust such an awesome video !!. If I was with you, I swear you would need to drag me out of there kicking and screaming. What a fantastic place to visit and also a privilege to see!. As other have said, it is sad that so much of this shall ultimately go to private collectors and probably never be seen again – unless you have the money to be “in the know” of course. Cheers bud.
Incredible finds. Those moulds are like works of art. 👍👍
Oh my days! This was just astonishing and I’m not really a petrol head. I sat there and my jaw dropped – it was just one big box of Meccano for grown ups!
I do love these explores ‘with a difference’; another very enjoyable watch. Thanks Colin.
( just to say I’ve tried contacting you on FB regarding an earlier explore)
Well done Matt n Arron on this video,this is sad to see all the cars like this,but at least they are going somewhere & not gonna rot in some field hopefully.
Your content is fast becoming the best on YouTube, you not only somehow get into very interesting places, but you keep on finding treasures beyond belief, this clip is absolutely tops, keep up the good work.
Just freaking incredible !
Thanks for sharing this exploration 👍
Seeing as it’s the end of September, I’d love to get an up date on what cars were under the tarps and what everything sold for.
@cross hatch2 vinwiki did a story about trying to get the old merc but there is some massive legal issues going on with this stuff that no amount of money was able to fix.
@Alan luscombe8a got a link at all?
@Alan luscombe8a every one sa talking about auction. Why vinviki didn’t get into auction. Or auction never helded?
Despite the dust that Bentley is clearly started regularly – if it weren’t, the suspension would be on the ground. This location is not abandoned but rather not maintained.
Only has 20k mikes
Mad props for not pulling covers and trying to keep a minimal footprint. Not sure i would have such strength
Well I read this video brought to light many of the assets still available from Bristol motors to enthusiasts that helped save them so well done! Most of the models there are of the bristol bullet ptototype revealed a few years earlier. Now resurrected as an electric version but more likely to suffer the same fate. Hopefully not. Great video and awesome channel if somewhat sad at times. Keep it up!
Bristol cars were always a very niche company and were never going to sell many cars as they were so expensive and bespoke. Still sad to hear they ceased in Bristol to be uprooted to Surrey and never really resurrected successfully.
10:46 that appears to be a weld positioner to me, really handy for doing exhaust piping quickly or any round weld, just chuck it up, set the speed and you don’t have to stop to reposition
Edit: on second thought i believe it might be a attachment for a endmill to fixture round parts easier
i dont know how many of your videos i have watched over the last two days. but it has got my attention il say that. i used to love looking for old properties as a child. some like yours where everything has been left inside as if they were lived in the day before but aged. keep up the good work annd if you find any in the southwest that you want to explore i would love to come along to check it out with you.
Love your vids mate. Just out of curiosity, did someone give you permission to be in this place? I’d assume somewhere with so many treasures waiting to be auctioned would be secure.
Either way, interesting finds.. Hope you’re well 😁
I came across your videos by accident. WOW just amazing stuff. It is a credit to you guys how you have so much respect for the sites and items you explore. There is a genuine gentleness almost reverence in your presentation that is such a relief from the usual “Shouty Man” and thumping techno or deafening electric guitar power cords BS… Subscribed 100%
Take only pictures, leave only foot prints.
You ask what the first two cars you saw outside: The first car is either a Bristol 401 or 403, they were very similar. The second is a Bristol 410 – the headlight housing gives it away.
Inside what you found appears to be mostly the cleanout of the Bristol Spares department in London and the Bristol Factory in Filton. For example, the first wood dashboard you showed came from the earlier cars (pre-Chrysler) probably a 405. Many of the parts are used because they are hard to find. When a car was broken, the good parts would be put back in the bin. Indeed, the factory would do complete refurbishment of a car, turning out for example a “brand new” 1955 Bristol where the craftsman who had made the car the first time would remake it 40 years later. But since some of the parts were impossible to find, they would go into the wrecked car inventory and recondition it.
When Bristol went broke after Toby Silverton ran it into the ground in 2011 (after dumping Tony Crook in 2007 who had owned it since 1960), staff that included employees who had been there since the company opened in 1946 were sacked. Sid Lovesy was 91 when they made him redundant in 2011 (see https://bristolownersht.com/2018/04/13/obituary-of-sad-lovesy/ or an interview of him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_zYuTgLH8I). The assets to the company were purchased by UK-based Indian businessman Kamal Siddiqi. Kamal also owned Frazer-Nash Research Limited, another historic name that was put into liquidation. It seems, as my mother used to say, Kamal’s eyes were too big for his stomach.
It appears the liquidated property was moved from its original locations to Kamal’s country estate where it appears no one quite knew what to do with it all. A pity because there are Bristol owners all over the world for whom those parts in boxes are gold, but in a liquidation sale all turn into a jumble. Sadly this second time around for liquidation, everything was broken up, although one would hope the independent Bristol specialists would have bid highest on the parts.
Subsequently, Jason Wharton set up Bristol Manufacturing Ltd in hopes of reviving the marque. He challenged ownership of the IP, but lost in court. Now the same auctioneers will be auctioning off the non-trading owner of the brand and one would expect Wharton to be one of the bidders.
The story of Bristol Cars is quintessentially English. At the end of WW-II with government contracts drying up and an aeroplane factory full of exceptionally skilled craftsmen, the gentlemen at Bristol Aeroplane company went off to Germany and liberated some plans and cars from the BMW factory. Because aeroplanes were made of aluminium, except for the very first 400, all subsequent Bristols had a steel chassis with an aluminium body. At a time when most English cars had a horrible reputation for reliability, the early Bristols were built to aircraft standards where they cost about the same as 2.5 English homes. They were a form-follows-function design that appealed to people with a love of engineering brilliance and were rich… sort of like wearing a Saville Row suit that has no label. Understated, brilliant performance, timeless.
As the years passed, Tony Crook, race driver, ex-RAF pilot, became full owner of the company and while he had independent wealth, the cutting edge innovation that characterised the early car company gradually settled down into a pattern of incremental but minor change. At a car show he was chatting with the Chrysler rep and expressed interest in trying out their automatic transmission. When they sent him a sample, they included a motor in the crate, and Crook decided it was far superior to the R&D his own people had been pursuing. The famous Bristol 6 was last in the 406, with the 407 being the first Yank-Brit hybrid. After that, well the cars got faster, the handling better and for a while the bodies got tweaked. Then with the 412, it went all angles with a Zagato body.
Crook had one passion – to keep the company going, and to do it his way. Had he been immortal, no doubt he would be still be selling new Bristols out of his Kensington showroom.
As for the cars, they go through the usual cycle of new, old, worn out and then some become classics. Solidly built and easy to repair, they make a good classic car, and if the parts are not available, they are not that hard to machine. Hand-made means not that hard to repair by hand.
Have these cars now been auctioned off or are they still there? Looks amazing!