The gasoline-powered V10 engine is a rare species. Arguably one of the last major internal combustion engine developments to see widespread adoption, you can count the variety of roadgoing engines it produced on two hands. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it also recently seemed to go extinct in this age of electrification. In August 2024, the final Lamborghini Huracan rolled off the production line, marking an end to the availability of new cars with V10 engines. Or so we thought. It turns out, some things only enter the darkness for so long. Just ask boutique British automaker Bristol Cars.
Like many specialty marques, Bristol Cars had a somewhat unusual beginning, because it was born from an airplane company and Frazer Nash. See, Frazer Nash went through a 1927 restructuring that saw it fold into a new company, AFN Limited. In 1934, AFN Limited became Britain’s importer and assembler of BMWs and thus held certain local rights. Roughly a decade later, the Bristol Aeroplane Company was looking to transition some of its workforce from building planes to building cars, and an agreement with AFN initially resulted in models that were sort of a greatest hits compilation of pre-war BMWs. The Bristol 400, for example, was based on the chassis of a 326 with an engine developed from that of a 328.
BMW-derived power continued to feature through the introduction of Bristol’s own styling language and significant chassis developments until 1961, when a little bit more firepower was needed to propel the Bristol 407 to more than 125 MPH. The solution came in the form of Chrysler’s 313 cubic-inch overhead valve V8 sourced from Canada. Indeed, Chrysler V8s would continue to feature in just about every Bristol post-1961, from the restyled 408 to the Zagato-styled 412 to the rare and charming Blenheim. There was one exception, though. Or rather, there is one exception.
See, low-volume production is always tricky, and often requires injections of cash to continue. Between 1997 and 2002, Toby Silverton gradually took over ownership from Tony Crook, and the Bristol team planned out a car for the 21st century. In 2003, the Fighter was unveiled, and it was magnificent. Only about the size of a period Porsche 911 yet able to accommodate tall drivers and a full-size spare, this front-engined gullwinged machine’s headline features were top speed and packaging. See, Bristol claimed it would do 210 MPH thanks to proper aerodynamics and a modified eight-liter Viper V10 under the hood. We’re talking 525 horsepower in an era when the quickest volume-production V12 Ferrari coupe made 508.
While plans to build 20 a year were drawn up, financial difficulties forced Bristol Cars to enter administration in 2011 after fewer than 15 Fighters were completed. After acquisition of assets by the Kamkorp group, plans for a revival were drawn up but ultimately never materialized, and Bristol Cars was liquidated yet again in 2022. However, legends can only sleep for so long, and included in the company’s assets were several unfinished chassis.
Those chassis, along with a collection of parts and several brand new Viper V10 engines, are now in the possession of the new Bristol Cars Group Ltd. chaired by veteran Bristol employee and independent specialist Richard Hackett, and they’ve been tinkering. The result is the first brand new Bristol Fighter in at least 15 years, along with plans to finish four more examples as brand new cars. They certainly won’t be inexpensive, but in a market where the supercar nostalgia of yesteryear is often packaged up and sold for eight figures a pop, they may still represent quite good value. Moreover, a new Bristol Fighter is technically the only new V10-powered road car you can buy.
You’ll be able to choose your colors both inside and out, spec it in left-hand-drive or right-hand-drive configurations, and if 525 horsepower isn’t enough, tick the box for ‘S’ specification to have a 600-horsepower blast from the past. It’s even Show or Display-eligible, so this continuation car can theoretically be brought to America so long as it covers fewer than 2,500 miles on public roads each year until it turns 25. Oh, and if you’re truly, wonderfully horsepower crazy, Bristol can build you a Fighter T. The ‘T’ stands for turbocharged, up to 1,012 horsepower.
In a way, it’s fitting that Bristol is the last marque to still offer a V10 because through its various iterations, it’s always done things a little bit differently. From tucking spare tires in fenders long after other automakers abandoned the tradition to turbocharging a Chrysler LA V8 to engineering and homologating the Fighter on pretty much pure grit and passion, there’s something right in seeing the job finished. However, these last few examples aren’t just another ending. It sounds like Bristol has some big plans, and all I can say is welcome back.
Top graphic image: Bristol Cars
(Kendrick Lamar voice) BRISTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!
Gullwing doors are back, ’cause somebody gotta do it
Viper engine in attack mode, somebody gotta do it!
Turn the key, we off, turn the key, we off (x4)
Ain’t no other king in this car thing, they siblings
Nothing but my children, give it gas they disappearing
I’m from the land where Ariels get atomized
where Caterhams get perfect steering to give you the Lotus feeling
Nobles pulling up on track day just to play speed tag
with a pone to pick like it was sea bass
So when I come back I come in Attack Mode with a clutch
trying to beat the Europeans in Lamborghinis and such
B-tch I’m Titanic, they talk about the drag strip, I RAN IT
Only 8 liter V10 on the entire planet
The bodywork is bipolar but the throttle’s manic
hurry up and take your license test so you can understand it
They were talking up the new McLaren until I outran it
Made as a labor of love, you can buy romantic
Catch me on a gravel road throwing little pellets
sliding from Westminster like a motherf-cking hellion yelling
BRISTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!
Gullwing doors are back, ’cause somebody gotta do it
Viper engine in attack mode, somebody gotta do it!
Turn the key, we off, turn the key, we off (x4)
Get crazy, scary, stupid, hilarious
Crazy, scary, stupid, hilarious(x4)
Yeaaaaaah. Someone put a viper engine in what is basically a kit car version of a TVR.
Cool car, and nice to know that someone can still own a car with a Viper V-10 (although that someone certainly isn’t me).
Brand new car with styling from the 90’s
that’s just tradition for Bristol at this point, a 2002 Blenheim’s body dates back to the mid 70s, and a 1955 403 looks like a pre-war BMW.
One of my favorite cars ever!
A shame that LJK Setright isn’t around to see this revival. He was truly a man who loved getting his hands on some Bristols.
Ha, it has an Integra front end.
Hopefully the new owners won’t be as idiotically elitist like Tony Crook was in his last years at the company.
I really appreciate the lack of screens on the dashboard.
I’m a fan of knobs (stop laughing), but I think they may have gone too far down the knob-hole (seriously, stop).
Joking aside, I agree. That is a LOT of knobs in a small area. A button or two to break things up and provide additional navigation points would be appreciated.
What kind of world do we live in where we can’t laugh at knob-hole? Not a world I want to be a part of sir, that’s for certain
“Yo, I heard you like knobs…….”
Engine choice is interesting what’s next after they run out. They could probably get the Audi v10 for cheaper but what a headache. I’ve been told there are some aluminum block 6.8 Triton’s that were used for lng in different applications. Good luck tracking one of those down. There are probably enough viper trucks out there thrown away or total loss vipers to give them a good start. But maybe enough for their purposes. This is like the mechanical automatic watch of cars I could see many people with money flocking to it.
They could just get another Mopar crate engine
https://www.allmoparparts.com/part/crate-engine.html
It won’t be a V10, but it would still be great!
Traditionally Bristol used Chrysler V8 engines anyway.
They’re merely building five continuation cars on existing chassis which were part of the deal; this is an effort to drum up interest in the re-re-revived company which will then presumably build an electric supercar of some sort.
There won’t be any more V10s, but I think there’s a good chance that they will avoid the EV route since the market for high end EVs is more than oversaturared.
Show or Display will make this less desirable than it otherwise should, but this is exactly the kind of car rich guys want right now. Far more analog, raucous, soulful and crazy than anything else on sale right now south of 7-Figures. People are craving authenticity in cars these days, and this has it in spades.
Drag coefficient of 0.27. Highway fuel economy will be noticably better than that of a Viper. I wish it were built to 7/8th scale with the same engine/mechanicals, and lost about 500 lbs.
Anyone else get an early Hyundai Tiburon vibe from the front end?
Yes, but so much prettier!
I’m getting almost line-for-line 3rd Gen Acura Integra.
This is like the Bat signal for V10omous.
I don’t have that much to say I guess.
This is sort of cool, but I have many questions. Based on the photos and power ratings, I presume these are still 8.0L Gen I/II engines. If so they have been sitting for at least 25 years. What if any effect does that have on them? Even if that’s addressed, this engine was designed in the 1980s, from an LA V8 that dates to ~1965. Is there demand for such a thing in a car that presumably will cost multiples of what any Viper did new?
My other thought is that with parts availability being what it is, these engines would have been better served as spares for Vipers that are still being driven, rather than put into vanity projects.
All that said, if more people now get to request membership to the V10 club, I welcome them with open arms.
I almost joined the V10 club, but I wanted double-digit fuel economy in my Excursion.
While we appreciate a vehicle with a 5.4L V8 as the fuel economy special, we hope you will reconsider applying in the future.
looks at gas pump down the street
At the current rate of $1.71/L ($6.46/gal), probably gonna need a lottery win for that application.
As honourable mention though, my 5.4 has a set of Comp cams to boost it’s performance.
Explains why he used Sneaky Pete in the lead photo rather than Daffy Duck.
Certainly looks like the Gen II intake.
I don’t think the engines sitting around would be an issue. I have one of the “new” 426 Hemi crate engines Mopar sold back in the early 2000’s. It’s been in the crate since at least 2007. Plenty of cosmoline and oils everywhere inside and out. Nothing is showing any signs of corrosion. I do rotate the crank every few years, when I get ambitious and think I’m finally going to put it in a car.
I was thinking along these lines – what exactly do you consider to be a “new” engine? These are surely pushing it – you would almost certainly have to fully go through them and put in new seals and rubber bits, and ensure no corrosion issues exist anywhere if you are putting them in something you are selling for this much coin … right?! And even then, its more ‘refurbished’ than ‘new.’
I appreciate the physical knobs an switches on the interior console, but those silver knobs look cheap to me for some reason. They remind me of appliance knobs I would find on a cheap toaster or blender.
It’s an early 2000s design, that faux metal plastic finish was everywhere then, like fake woodgrain in the 70s and 80s