Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS ARNOLT-BRISTOL ROADSTER 1954: BONHAMS
Arnold-Bristol It is a strange but excellent name. And these cars are a mix of the best of four countries. From the United Kingdom they acquired the technology and the chassis. From the devastated German factories of BMW the engines. Straight from Italy came a design resolved with ingenuity and... Coming from the United States they took on all the character of a businessman determined to market his own models: Stanley Harold 'Wacky' Arnolt.
The story of this clever guy from Illinois is that of a connoisseur of the tricks of the market, even if he didn't always score as well as his compatriot Max Hoffman. Watch out for the game… If you sold a British car in the US it had to go through customs duties. But if you made enough modifications to that same car -in national territory- ... This one happened to be 100% North American "Made in Chicago". Thus, Harold Arnolt imported models from various British companies to widely alter them. He even rubbed them with bodies from Italy!
If we tell you the truth ... We do not know if with so much transportation involved, this system was profitable. However, for 15 years his company worked. From it came hybrids such as the Arnolt-MG, Arnolt-Aston, Arnolt-Bentley and the ones that interest us the most today: the Arnolt-Bristol. 142 small cars of which one has recently reached 391.000 euros.
BERTONE BODY. BMW ENGINE
La Bristol Aeroplane Company It is one of the legends of British technology. Founded in 1911, it had up to 70.000 employees by becoming one of the key pieces of the Battle of Britain. However, there was a time when more than fighting the Germans he imported his machinery, working side by side with Frazer Nash to sell BMW in the UK.
Thanks to these contacts, and after the war, the Bristol automobile division managed to obtain permits for the manufacture of several BMWs. Business completed with the acquisition of the drawings of the 2-liter and 6-cylinder engine of the mythical 328 from 1936. Putting together the latest English chassis novelties to such an engine, paired by 'Wacky' Arnolt with a Bertone bodywork signed by Franco Scaglione ... The result was this little sports car manufactured between 1953 and 1959.
A sports car dressed by Bertone. And it is that the Italian bodybuilder was - since he met Stanley Harold in Turin - the person in charge of dressing the Arnolt-Bristol. Not an easy challenge because the high height of the BMW inline 6-cylinder engine stood out over the small chassis. Solution? Franco Scaglione raised the wheel arches to draw attention to them, thus disguising the protruding shape of the curved hood.
ARNOLT-BRISTOL: A SEBRING MYTH
The ingenious bodywork devised by Bertone was combined with German mechanics to take this British-American to the finish line of the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1955. There the Arnolt-Bristol were first, second and fourth in its category. All an accolade that, added to the triumphs in later years, however, did not translate into a high level of sales. Only less than three-quarters of the first batch of 200 units were made. The second batch never came… And in 1968 Arnolt Inc. closed its doors.
However this curious history has turned the Arnolt-Bristol into a legendary car. In addition to having an exceptional engine, its scarcity -fewer than 90 conserved units have been listed- a revaluation and icononization of the model has helped. And you will not tell us that his story is not worth its weight in gold;).
