The reputations of Bristol and Lancia probably peaked in terms of fame, influence and quality in the mid-1950s, when the firms built absurdly expensive 2-litre, six-cylinder saloons for the discriminating few. These unworldly cars appealed to people who appreciated detail refinement and the sort of nuanced driver appeal that does not rely on raw horsepower.
Quality of construction was another shared value. Lancia was still regarded as Italyʼs finest car maker in the 1950s, and substantial national pride rested not only on the quality of the firmʼs engineering, but also on the way this venerable Turin manufacturer blended tradition with a bent for expensive innovation at all costs. The Appia still used sliding-pillar front suspension well into the ʼ60s, but the 1950 Aurelia had the worldʼs first production V6 – all aluminium, of course – plus pioneered semi-trailing-arm rear suspension and was the first production car to have radial tyres as standard.
As an automobile manufacturer, Bristol was amuch younger company than Lancia, making vehicles in much smaller numbers. Yet, by reinventing the best of pre-war BMW design (by way of war reparations) in the English idiom, the newly minted car-making outpost of the Bristol Aeroplane Company could hardly fail to make its first-ever automobile – the 400 of 1947 – a really good one.