Arnolt Bristol

The Arnolt Bristol Coupé

Those of you fortunate enough to obtain a copy of issue 1.10 will notice that this section has been much revised and extended. Since we have so few Arnolts in the UK much help has been required. Instrumental in achieving this has been Mike DiCola, who with John Matras and Lee Raskin has been researching the development of the car. It is essential also to acknowledge the cooperation and support which has been given to them by the Arnolt family, Nino Poretti, (Arnolt's agent, dealing with Bertone), the Arnolt Corporation, many employees of the Arnolt Company, and enthusiasts in the USA. This model, not strictly a type as the in-house designs because, it was a limited production order for S.H. (Wacky) Arnolt, of Indiana, USA, of chassis based on the 404 coded 404/X/, fitted with 403 running gear and suspension, powered by the 2 litre straight 6, BS 1 Mk2 engine and BW CR9 gearbox. The driven chassis were transported to Italy to be bodied in steel in one of the B.A.T. series of designs by Sciaglione of BERTONE in Turin. This was a company in which S.H.Arnolt had more than a small interest, as he was then Vice-President. The cars were then shipped from Italy first to Chicago and then on to the showrooms. The shipping arrangements were made by Arnolt's agent who was resident in Switzerland. Exceptions to this were chassis 3127 and 3137, which were sold to owners located in Europe. There were three basic specifications:

1. Bolide — a short screened Roadster, selling first at $3995, then $4250 in 1956. This was a bare bones body on supplied driven chassis. On this body variant the instruments are spread across the fascia panel. The most common option adopted of the few available was a fabric top. Bonnet, boot and door skins as standard were aluminium, bodies were steel. Wheels were pressed steel, described as Disc Wheels in America.
2. DeLuxe — a full screen Sportscar, selling at $4995 in 1956. On this body variant the instruments are neatly grouped in front of the driver. This model came with a fabric top/hood as standard. It also was fitted with a heater, carpets, interior door handles, and exterior door buttons. Seats had more padding than the Bolide, and had sliding adjusters. Interior door panels were fitted and had arm rests incorporated.
3. Coupé — a closed saloon, selling at $6390 in 1956. As with the DeLuxe, on this body variant the instruments are neatly grouped in front of the driver. Specification of these cars is identical to the DeLuxe in respect of fittings. Six of these are now confirmed to have been manufactured. A limited choice of extras were available to be specified where not originally fitted, such as bumpers, tops, short windscreens and carpets.

Badges

Arnolts carry their own Badges, which consist of a five-sided shield type ground, on which there is the image of a winged horse jumping or flying through the letter A, the horizontal link of which bears the name Arnolt. The hub caps bear the same emblem on the familiar circle shape.

Production

The first prototype car, chassis number 404/x/3000, was available for testing on 14th January 1953, and was displayed at the London Motor Show in November 1953. It was dispatched to Wacky Arnolt on 2nd February 1954 after having been subjected to exhaustive testing. A further 141 cars were ordered and were numbered as chassis 404/x/3001 - 404/x/3141. As we now know, of these, one was a second prototype and of the following production series, 6 were fabricated with coupé bodies designed by Sciaglione, Bertone's then in-house designer. Chassis 3002 is regarded as the first series production car.

Apart from the first prototype car, the Bristol engines fitted were numbered from BS 1 Mk2 201 to BS 1 Mk2 342 inclusive. Because the engines were fitted at random to the chassis, engine numbers are not quite in sequence with chassis numbers, though there is a recognizable progression. It is known that every engine was dynamometer tested by Bristol before it was approved for release. The standard gearbox fitted to all Arnolts was the Borg Warner BW CR9 unit. In the last issue 1.10, it was reported that four cars were shipped without engines to be fitted with small Chevrolet v-8s, whilst another car was fitted with a 100D2 Bristol engine. Alas this was wrong. In fact the first of the two prototypes, chassis number 404/x/3000, was fitted with a Bristol sports engine number FNS/1/49.

This is interesting as that engine has been cited to be one of a batch of about 58 units produced specially for A.F.N. It is reported that when one day Aldington spotted an FNS engine in a Cooper-Bristol which AFN had not supplied to the owner he was not amused. Engines consigned by the car division of the Aeroplane Company to other users thereafter were coded with the prefix BS. Then along came the BS 1 Mk2, which was fitted to all series production Arnolts.

Variations on the theme

Wacky Arnolt was apparently always prepared to try a new tack. Once the production of the first 100 cars had been achieved, race authorities could grant approval of the cars for track and competition use as bona fide production models. Instructions were given to introduce some minor modifications to the factory specification. From chassis number 3100 to about chassis number 3115, the following features appeared, and though combinations of these variations to specification were introduced, there is no definative pattern. It is certain that not all of these features were fitted to all of these chassis:

• On some cars, central fuel tanks were fitted behind the rear seat and in front of the boot compartment. The cars thus fitted also had external fuel filler caps.
• On some of those cars fitted with central fuel tanks, the spare wheel stowage was also improved with the extra boot space achieved and sat in recessed wells inside the boot. It is not clear if this feature applied to all cars fitted with the revised position tanks.
• Internal remote boot releases were fitted on a few of these cars.
• A few of these cars, though not all, were fitted with slightly different door handles.

Wacky had also tried installing pop up headlamps on a very few cars, but there existed at the time legislation in respect of fitting height which precluded their continued use. It is now clear that this particular feature was never offered as a standard option, contrary to previous reports. At the time of his death, he was still experimenting with modifications to the front bodywork. See non standard body cars.

The three chassis previously confirmed as having been fitted with a fixed head coupé body were 404/x/3120, 404/x/3121 and 404/x/3123. In the last chassis list, issue 1.10, it was reported that it was rumoured that there were six such bodies, not three. This has proved to be correct. The additional three have now been identified: these are chassis, 404/x/3124, 404/x/3127 and 404/x/3137. Thus the complete line-up of Arnolt Bristol Coupé chassis numbers is 3120, 3121, 3123, 3124, 3217, 3137. These cars are clearly identified with further notes in the chassis listing.

• Chassis numbers 3136 and 3140 were the only two which were fitted with aluminium bodies and they were also fitted with over size fuel tanks — an unfortunate deal for Arnolt. He had the plausible notion that aluminium bodies should be lighter than steel bodies for racing purposes. It was impossible however to achieve the necessary rigidity of panels in the same thickness of aluminium sheet as the standard specification steel bodies. A thicker grade therefore had to be employed. In fact these two cars when finished proved to be heavier than their stable mates fitted with standard steel bodies.
• Chassis number 3041 was originally Left Hand Drive but in the course of major restoration in Australia was converted from Left to Right Hand Drive, quite understandable since like us they drive on the opposite side of the road to the USA.
• Chassis numbers 3139, 3140 and 3141 were all originally fitted with Right Hand Drive.
• The last batch of cars were delivered with steel boot lids, not aluminium as had previously been the norm. The chassis numbers of these cars were 3125, 3123, 3134, 3135 and 3138.

Arnolt Special or Non Standard Body cars

• One car, chassis 404/x/3118, was previously reported in this category, described as an Arnolt-Bristol Special, by the owner. To add to the confusion, this car had been stated to be one of the six original coupé bodies when it clearly was not. It was also previously thought it might have been later rebodied in aluminium in Switzerland where it now resides. It is now reported, that this car was originally fabricated as a standard DeLuxe S body, of steel not in aluminium. As you know from the earlier descriptions, there were only two of the Arnolt Racing team cars fabricated in aluminium, and these were both to special order for Arnolt. This car was returned direct to Bertone by the owner for some more minor modifications. The modifications executed by Bertone are reported to have included the supply of a hard top, which it is reported was later lost! Hence the coupé allusion. Wind-down windows were fitted, as were exterior door handles, knock-off wheels (probably Borranis), special ski carrier racks, and a centrally mounted fuel tank between the rear seat and the boot. This car is categorized as a non standard body. It is reported to look somewhat like an E-type from the rear quarter.
• A true non-standard body is that of chassis 404/x/3131, stated to be the last new Arnolt-Bristol, which was finally sold in this configuration on 24th January 1968 by Hoosier International Motors of Warsaw, Indiana, USA. It had in fact been shipped from Bertone ca. 1959 as a finished car and was being experimented with by Wacky before his death. Thereafter it languished in the Arnolt warehouses for years in a partly modified but unfinished state. When the present owner declared an interest in the purchase of a car, it was hastily brought to a complete condition, though clearly not a standard body, and sold. By 1991 it had only covered 20,872 miles and is still in the original owner's hands. A picture of this car is included in this section. It has four driving lamps, and a totally different frontal treatment, not believed to be of Wacky's design.