Bristol Cars goes into administration
Discussion
JMC1 said:
Why the hurry with offers being sought by 15 March just 12 days after Tenon took over. How is this conducive to seeking a serious offer for a good price from some one who wants to purchase and to try to take the business forward.
INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
Expressions of interest by the 15th, not offers.INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
and on the wider point - I am sure some great deals have been done by administrators (and not with the "prepacker") just never by me - and not for the want of trying.
Don't forget the whole thing wants to be done quickly as there will be Bristol employees who the longer this runs on for the less likely they are to come back. If you have bills to pay and a question mark over your job then you will or should be looking for something else, my impression of Bristol is that the workers are a major part of the product given how bespoke they are.
desolate said:
Expressions of interest by the 15th, not offers.
and on the wider point - I am sure some great deals have been done by administrators (and not with the "prepacker") just never by me - and not for the want of trying.
Stephen you put a buiness deal together, Ill build you an engineering deal and on the wider point - I am sure some great deals have been done by administrators (and not with the "prepacker") just never by me - and not for the want of trying.
JMC1 said:
Why the hurry with offers being sought by 15 March just 12 days after Tenon took over. How is this conducive to seeking a serious offer for a good price from some one who wants to purchase and to try to take the business forward.
INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
If my small time business experience is at all like other peoples then any prospective purchaser who needs to raise funding will not have the time to view the two premises and then to be able to arrange funding inside 12 days. What a joke love Bristol or hate them it is still sad to see it go without half a chance for somebody else to have a go. After all it can be done Peter Wheeler made TVR iconic until it was sold to the Russian who had not got a clue. Also the Morgan family prove year on year that it can be done especially if you can come up with unique new projects like they do.
Give them a call and tell them that you will bankroll the running of the remaining staff and financial liabilities for as long as they like to take to sell the firm or assets. INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
If my small time business experience is at all like other peoples then any prospective purchaser who needs to raise funding will not have the time to view the two premises and then to be able to arrange funding inside 12 days. What a joke love Bristol or hate them it is still sad to see it go without half a chance for somebody else to have a go. After all it can be done Peter Wheeler made TVR iconic until it was sold to the Russian who had not got a clue. Also the Morgan family prove year on year that it can be done especially if you can come up with unique new projects like they do.
Why do people get so distressed by 1 + 1 equalling 2?
JMC1 said:
Why the hurry with offers being sought by 15 March just 12 days after Tenon took over. How is this conducive to seeking a serious offer for a good price from some one who wants to purchase and to try to take the business forward.
INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
If my small time business experience is at all like other peoples then any prospective purchaser who needs to raise funding will not have the time to view the two premises and then to be able to arrange funding inside 12 days. What a joke love Bristol or hate them it is still sad to see it go without half a chance for somebody else to have a go. After all it can be done Peter Wheeler made TVR iconic until it was sold to the Russian who had not got a clue. Also the Morgan family prove year on year that it can be done especially if you can come up with unique new projects like they do.
Rumour has it this has been in the pipeline for some considerable time, so chances are they've been seeking a buyer since before it went into administration. INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
If my small time business experience is at all like other peoples then any prospective purchaser who needs to raise funding will not have the time to view the two premises and then to be able to arrange funding inside 12 days. What a joke love Bristol or hate them it is still sad to see it go without half a chance for somebody else to have a go. After all it can be done Peter Wheeler made TVR iconic until it was sold to the Russian who had not got a clue. Also the Morgan family prove year on year that it can be done especially if you can come up with unique new projects like they do.
Either that or they have prospects but haven't announced it because they're still doing due diligence/lawyering, and the deadline given is more about getting those prospects in order than finding bids from the outside world so to speak!
JMC1 said:
Why the hurry with offers being sought by 15 March just 12 days after Tenon took over. How is this conducive to seeking a serious offer for a good price from some one who wants to purchase and to try to take the business forward.
INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
If my small time business experience is at all like other peoples then any prospective purchaser who needs to raise funding will not have the time to view the two premises and then to be able to arrange funding inside 12 days. What a joke love Bristol or hate them it is still sad to see it go without half a chance for somebody else to have a go. After all it can be done Peter Wheeler made TVR iconic until it was sold to the Russian who had not got a clue. Also the Morgan family prove year on year that it can be done especially if you can come up with unique new projects like they do.
Because the business is bleeding cash, no suppliers will deal with it, they can't pay the staff and the longer the uncertainty goes on the more likely it is that the staff will walk, making the business unable to operate as a going concern. That's how these things usually work.INMHO this is a reckless tactic that is so typical of these type of companies that act for the f....ing bankers who can never see the bigger picture other than the effect it may have on their monthly figures.
If my small time business experience is at all like other peoples then any prospective purchaser who needs to raise funding will not have the time to view the two premises and then to be able to arrange funding inside 12 days. What a joke love Bristol or hate them it is still sad to see it go without half a chance for somebody else to have a go. After all it can be done Peter Wheeler made TVR iconic until it was sold to the Russian who had not got a clue. Also the Morgan family prove year on year that it can be done especially if you can come up with unique new projects like they do.
Baddie said:
I am and have always been a fan of the European way of building cars, but recent iterations of the Corvette, to name one example, have made extremely effective racing cars. Compared to a Prodrive Ferrari 550 they have a shorter lighter engine that, without multiple overhead cams, also promotes a low CoG. Although Euro journalists and magazines are frequently sniffy about its road behaviour, the Corvette must do something right to get round a track as fast and reliably as it does.
I drove a Viper (1st gen) on a track day and found it handled very well, very stable with lots of throttle adjustability. I cannot comment on lap time, it was not measured and I am not a good enough driver to set one. I loved the Ferrari Testarossa I drove on the same day, it was such a sweet car, but if you were being objective it suffered roll-oversteer and required correction on corner exit. I hadn't expected the engine-on-top-of-gearbox layout to feel so obvious.
But different ways of solving problems helps make cars interesting. IMHO F1 is much more dull now they all have the same engine layouts. Bristols should not be dismissed just for swimming against the tide. As a uniquely idiosyncratic British institution I hope the company can be preserved as is. BMW has proven a good custodian for British brands and an enthusiastic contributor to Morgan.....
I dare say American cars are designed in a more single minded fashion than our kit which makes them suitable for racing. They're also generally designed to be simple, mechanically robust and in a low state of tune, which suits them towards endurance racing.I drove a Viper (1st gen) on a track day and found it handled very well, very stable with lots of throttle adjustability. I cannot comment on lap time, it was not measured and I am not a good enough driver to set one. I loved the Ferrari Testarossa I drove on the same day, it was such a sweet car, but if you were being objective it suffered roll-oversteer and required correction on corner exit. I hadn't expected the engine-on-top-of-gearbox layout to feel so obvious.
But different ways of solving problems helps make cars interesting. IMHO F1 is much more dull now they all have the same engine layouts. Bristols should not be dismissed just for swimming against the tide. As a uniquely idiosyncratic British institution I hope the company can be preserved as is. BMW has proven a good custodian for British brands and an enthusiastic contributor to Morgan.....
If the Viper you drove happened to be on a Thruxton day, then I dare say I know several instructors who have piloted that machine (although I believe it was a mk2 so perhaps not), and they were far less complimentary about it's handling! Perhaps with the limited time available you weren't pushing it to the point where the nasties make themselves obvious! From experience, even a badly setup Porsche Cup Car suffers from roll-oversteer, and that's got a lower engine than virtually anything!
But that's not really my point, I'm not saying Bristol should go under, quite the opposite, I'm saying they should have done things differently. Also, to be honest the silly, realistically unverifiable claims narked me as an engineer!
DJC said:
Stephen you put a buiness deal together, Ill build you an engineering deal
time poor, believe me it's been keeping me awake at night.Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a s
t about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'f
k me' quick.I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
desolate said:
time poor, believe me it's been keeping me awake at night.
Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a st about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???
Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'fk me' quick.
I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
This sort of post really is a welcome sight - I feel the same way about my Dodge. Not everyone's cup of tea but a GT car I simply love to travel in. My car's interior is a little different of course but I think we feel similarly bonded to our cars. God I hope Bristol is reborn with a bright future. I'm still planning a mini road trip to the showroom...Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a s
t about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'f
k me' quick.I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
desolate said:
time poor, believe me it's been keeping me awake at night.
Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a st about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???
Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'fk me' quick.
I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
God love you lad, any man that feels he has to try and creep up on his car from a certain approach vector is on my wavelength Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a s
t about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'f
k me' quick.I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
Know what you mean about being time poor and the last of the romantics. Reworking the Fighter would be fun...I still know certain people... :P
DJC said:
desolate said:
time poor, believe me it's been keeping me awake at night.
Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a st about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???
Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'fk me' quick.
I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
God love you lad, any man that feels he has to try and creep up on his car from a certain approach vector is on my wavelength Sometimes even romantics like me need to see when it's time for a change.
It's evident that the Fighter needs a rethink to stand a chance - there's simply not enough knobs like me who are into the car.
For the Fighter to survive (as it really should) it needs a hands on benevolent dictator.
I hope Toby Silverton manages to pull it out of the fire, as his vision really deserves to succeed.
No point debating the looks - and who really gives a s
t about COG? - what's it like to live with and drive???Buying a car for that sort of money is an emotional purchase as much as rational and the Fighter pushes my buttons. And it really is 'f
k me' quick.I think it's a real shame that things made by mad blokes in a shed aren't really a goer now due the immense (relative) cost of people. (just as it is a bit of a shame that you can't walk down the high street and get decent advice on your insurance as easily as you used to)
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
I'll put the violin away now
Know what you mean about being time poor and the last of the romantics. Reworking the Fighter would be fun...I still know certain people... :P
Edited by MrDarkBlack on Saturday 2nd April 12:04
TheStoat said:
Really good to see this thread returning to a more informative discussion! Andy
Exactly, I have enjoyed the various inputs especially from Baddie and others on engineering issues, and desolate on Bristol ownership.desolate said:
As an aside I would be interested in Aeroman's comments regarding his Blenheim. I used to try and approach mine from the front where it looked OK in low light, but when I got in it and drove it was always with a bit of a smile the feeling that it actually made sense from the inside.
Funnily enough I think that the three-quarter view from the rear is quite attractive, apart from the Senator lights, and its least acceptable view is from the side, where it's rather extreme length comes into play and this is exacerbated by some rather peculiar lines. 
I know that many find this view quite challenging, but beauty really is in the eye of the beholder!
As regards the car itself, I really do like it and the driving experience and we had an interesting trip in it to the West of Ireland for Christmas in the snow! I was very interested in swapping it for a Series VI, or even better a Fighter (though not a new one).These plans are currently on hold pending the outcome of the future of Bristol as an entity, but I am still looking forward to having a test in a Fighter and this was something I had spoken to Toby about doing on my next visit to the UK. It seems that such a drive is on ice too.
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