Living up to his name
These are the cars by which Stanley Arnolt retained his ‘Wacky’ epithet
AFTER A HESITANT START, ‘Wacky’ Arnolt’s first car, the Arnolt-MG, sold in reasonable numbers despite the inevitable problems with delivery dates between Italy and the US; deadlines were at best flexible. Ultimately, it was a rather more fundamental problem that bought production to a juddering halt. MG announced that it was shelving its TD model at the end of 1953 and, at a stroke, Arnolt didn’t have a chassis.
That wasn’t altogether the end of the marque, though. Having made a significant investment in Carrozzeria Bertone, and with commitments to building a minimum of 200 cars, Wacky Arnolt had already initiated a raft of sister models. A trio of Arnolt-Aston Martin DB2/4s was made, only for the Newport Pagnell firm to back out of the deal (although, just to add to confusion, Bertone later built a further batch of Astons for its American paymaster, but they weren’t badged as Arnolts).
A one-off Bentley R Type Continental was also created for Mrs Arnolt, and painted in a striking shade of gold. Wacky himself had Bertone rustle up a rather lovely Siata Daina SL Coupé for his personal use, but it wasn’t strictly an Arnolt model in the accepted sense, and wasn’t badged as such.
With Wacky acting as Bristol’s US concessionaire, it’s no great shock that the Filton firm loaned a platform for a perceived volume-selling Arnolt – the 404-based Arnolt-Bristol featured on the preceding pages. Stylist Franco Scaglione found accommodating the loftiness of its BMWderived straight-six a chore. He managed it, though, the result a car of singular beauty which also enjoyed success trackside. Honours included a class win in the 1956 Sebring 12 Hours and the Team Prize.
Sadly, despite being offered in a variety of specs, ranging from pared-back racer to luxury cruiser, it didn’t sell in the numbers once envisaged. Around 142 units were made to 1959 (with 12 destroyed in a fire), including six coupé variants, although the final car wasn’t sold until as late as 1968.
Intriguingly, three of the fixed-lid ArnoltBristols were sold in Europe. One was displayed at the 1955 Paris motor show, where it was spotted by actor Lee Marvin. He purchased the car off the stand and retained it until his death in 1987.
Once it became clear that building cars wasn’t a great revenue earner, Arnolt the entrepreneur stuck to what he did best: making deals. Having started out in business in 1939 with just one employee, by the end of the ’50s he had close on 500. Away from cars, his manufacturing interests ranged from furniture to tail hooks for carrier planes; trailers for Sears to travel cases for atom bombs. It is highly unlikely that Arnolt ever recouped his investment in automobile production, let alone made a profit.
But it would appear that this didn’t really matter as long as other enterprises replenished his coffers. Wacky died on Christmas Eve 1963, his legacy being a raft of distinctive and desirable sports cars that were owned by few, but admired by many.