Bristol 405 Saloon

TIPPED BY: DONALD OSBORNE

‘My mantra has always been “maximum impact for minimum outlay” and you get so much presence and rarity from these cars,’ says Donald. ‘They look and feel distinctly British, like a car made by an airplane company. It wears its heritage so well.’

The Bristol 405 saloon was a lengthened version of the gorgeous 404 coupé, complete with the pert little tail fins. It used the same straight-six 2.0-litre Bristol/bmw engine and all had manual gearboxes with overdrive. It was the only four-door Bristol and the marque’s most practical model of the era, so a healthy 265 were sold – not bad for an individualist’s sporting saloon that cost more than an Aston DB MKIII when new.

‘Another part of the appeal is that these are cars for people who are confident in themselves and in what they drive,’ says Donald. ‘You don’t buy this to impress anyone else, but to satisfy yourself. And I love the idea that there are people who have had these cars for 30 or 40 years – these are the ones that buyers should seek out, actually.’

He has a point. They’re cars that rarely appear on the market, and change hands usually through word of mouth or via one of just a few accepted specialists. All Bristols have made the transition from oddball outsiders to mainstream appreciation in recent years, as Donald describes, ‘The interest curve and value curve eventually intersect, so people spend enough money on the cars to present them well and preserve them well… and then it goes too far, and they’re bought by people who don’t use them. But with the 405 saloon, we’re at the sweet spot about now.’

In practical terms this probably means that mint examples, freshly restored, will ask more than our top Price Guide figure of £52k, as owners now feel justified in investing large sums to put them right. But with so few recent sales, the best advice is to exert patience, and join the Bristol Owners’ Club.