- Bristol plans to complete 5 unused original Fighter chassis, beginning with a black-over-tan example.
- Buyers can reportedly specify right- or left-hand drive configurations for the remaining 4 cars.
- Period Fighter S specifications listed outputs up to 447kW and a claimed 338km/h maximum.
Original chassis bring the Fighter back
Bristol's sharp-edged Fighter is returning, although this is no conventional model revival. The reborn British operation plans to finish 5 unused original chassis left dormant after the company entered administration in 2011.
The first completed car pairs black bodywork with a tan cabin, while the remaining 4 are intended to be configured by their owners.
Buyers can reportedly choose either right- or left-hand drive, preserving an unusual degree of flexibility for such a small continuation run.
Those gullwing doors remain the Fighter's defining visual feature, but the mechanical centrepiece is just as distinctive.
The car uses the 8.0-litre V10 associated with the Dodge Viper, giving the low-volume British coupe an American heart.
The original Fighter was rated at 397kW, while the period Fighter S specification lifted output to 447kW. A maximum speed of 338km/h was also claimed at the time.
Those figures describe the historic specifications, rather than confirmed outputs for the newly completed cars.
A rare chapter in Bristol history
Bristol Cars emerged from the Bristol Aeroplane Company after World War II and produced its first car in 1946. The Fighter arrived much later, in 2004, as one of the firm's most visually distinctive models.
Production ended when Bristol entered administration in 2011, and only 13 Fighters are believed to have been made during the original run.
Completing 5 unused chassis would therefore add a substantial number to the model's tiny population without presenting the project as fresh series production.
New owner Paul King and chairman Richard Hackett are leading the return. However, several important details remain undisclosed, including pricing, the precise completion timetable, the manufacturing partner and what Bristol plans to build after the Fighter project.
For now, the finished black-and-tan car provides the clearest evidence that Bristol's V10 gullwing has moved beyond a paper comeback. The other 4 chassis will determine how varied this final chapter becomes.
