Cars

Roy's return

Coincidentally, it was also the final model ever designed by Marius Franay, the son of the French house’s founder Jean Baptiste who, following the decline of traditional coachbuilding in the post-War era, turned his hand to photography instead. Franay’s reputation for building the most exquisite French bodies earned it a rather regal clientele, including the kings of England, Sweden, Egypt and Morocco. If that’s a list you wouldn’t mind joining, you could be in luck...

Bristol’s workforce was certainly industrious in the immediate post-War years, despite being asked to effectively switch specialties from fighter planes to motor cars overnight. With their first production car, the 400, they had established an inimitable automotive identity that would inform the company’s offerings for decades to come. Plotting an apex between sportiness and stateliness as yet unclipped by other manufacturers, its 401 would follow in the same vein, both stylistically and dynamically.

Scandinavian simplicity

Earn your stripes of envy...