The Bristol Fighter is a

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

produced by

Bristol Cars Bristol Cars was a British manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, Bristol, England. It was formed from the car division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company after the World War II, Second World War and later became indepe ...

in small numbers from 2004 until the company suspended manufacturing in 2011. It is generally classed as a

supercar A supercar, also known as an exotic car, is a street-legal sports car with race track-like power, speed, and handling, plus a certain subjective ''cachet'' linked to pedigree and/or exclusivity. The term 'supercar' is frequently used for th ...

. The

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

body, which features

gullwing door In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door, McLaren anhedral door, or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in ...

s, was designed by former

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

engineer Max Boxstrom and gives the car a Cd of 0.28. The car uses a front-mounted

V10 engine A V10 engine is a ten- cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been pro ...

, based on the engine in the

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by Street & Racing Technology, SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer Chrysler from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2011 to 20 ...

and the

Dodge Ram SRT-10 The Dodge Ram SRT-10 is a Sports car, sport pickup truck produced by Dodge, based on the standard Ram pickup, Ram 1500, with only 10,046 units built. It was introduced as a concept at the January 2002 North American International Auto Show, whil ...

pick up (it was originally based on the

Chrysler LA engine The LA engine is a family of overhead valve engine, overhead-valve small-block 90° V engine, V-configured gasoline engines built by Chrysler Corporation between 1964 and 2003. Primarily V8s, the line includes a single V6 and V10, both derivations ...

), but modified by Bristol to produce at 5,600

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

and of torque at 4,200 rpm. This is in keeping with Bristol's use of

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

engines since 1961. In the more powerful Fighter S, the engine is tuned to produce 628 hp (660 hp at high speed using the ram air effect). The car's weight is . The car has a six-speed manual or four-speed

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

, and is

rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-whee ...

. It can achieve the sprint in 4.0 seconds (claimed), and enjoys a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement ...

of . The car has a claimed top speed of and the driver can be tall at maximum. Although sketches and models had been publicized some time before, a complete car was first shown to the press in May 2003. The first drive by a car magazine appears to be that in the April 2005 issue of ''Evo'' magazine. It is not known exactly how many Bristol Fighters were manufactured, but research indicates that 20 chassis were produced. Of these 18 series 1 chassis have been accounted for and one series 2 chassis exists. At the time of Bristol Cars collapse, three series 1 chassis were in various states of completion and two series 1 chassis and the sole series 2 chassis were untouched. This would indicate, although not confirmed, that up to 13 cars were completed, including the pre-production car. https://www.sljhackett.co.uk/190.htm The series 2 chassis is believed to have been intended for the Fighter T model.

Fighter T

In 2006, Bristol announced the Fighter T, a

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

version of the Fighter. This was planned to have a modified version of the Chrysler V10 producing and of torque at 4,500 rpm. This also would have made it the first turbocharged petrol-powered V10 production car. The Fighter T was designed to have an improved drag coefficient of 0.27. Bristol claimed that the car would be capable of more than ; however it would have been electronically limited to a "more than adequate" . The Bristol Cars website now states that in fact, no Bristol Fighter T's were ever produced "... (the planned turbo version with 1050bhp never did make it to production)...

Specifications

References

External links

Bristol Cars: Fighter

Bristol Owners Club, Bristol Fighter

''Autocar'' review

Top Gear: Bristol Fighter T preview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol Fighter (Car) Bristol vehicles, Fighter (car) Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Coupés Cars introduced in 2004 Automobiles with gull-wing doors Grand tourers 2010s cars