A pair of Bristols

[ishtat]

I have just acquired a pair of Bristols - or more accurately a 403 to add to the 401.

And ain't she pretty:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_403

 

[MatthewVett]

I have just acquired a pair of Bristols - or more accurately a 403 to add to the 401.

And ain't she pretty:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_403

When I read this, I thought a pair of Bristols was some weird slang for when a woman has hard nipples... You know, breasts+pistols=Bristols? The car looks nice, though.

 

[RodenAddison]

I thought he was buying vintage bombers.

 

[sr71plt]

When I read this, I thought a pair of Bristols was some weird slang for when a woman has hard nipples... You know, breasts+pistols=Bristols? The car looks nice, though.

I was thinking it was British slang for balls.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

I thought the thread would be about the daughter--and her doppelgänger, perhaps--of a certain former VP nominee.

And seeing as this is a porn site . . . yeah, I was afraid to open it.

 

[oggbashan]

I have just acquired a pair of Bristols - or more accurately a 403 to add to the 401.

And ain't she pretty:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_403

Very nice. A 403 often parks near my house during summer weekends but although obviously roadworthy could do with some tidying up. It looks like an old car, not a loved classic.

 

[oggbashan]

I was thinking it was British slang for balls.

Bristols are British slang for tits.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Cockney Rhyming slang;
Bristol Cities= Titties.

Those automobiles, however.. Congrats, Ishtat! They don't make 'em like they used to!

 

[sr71plt]

Bristols are British slang for tits.

There you go. Different folks think in different channels.

 

[trysail]

I have just acquired a pair of Bristols...

​

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Yachts

 

[oggbashan]

Cockney Rhyming slang;
Bristol Cities= Titties.

Those automobiles, however.. Congrats, Ishtat! They don't make 'em like they used to!

They still make Bristol Cars - if you can afford them.

They also continue to support owners of their older models.

 

[Handley_Page]

They still make Bristol Cars - if you can afford them.

They also continue to support owners of their older models.

Drool, Drool. . . . . .

 

[ishtat]

Very nice. A 403 often parks near my house during summer weekends but although obviously roadworthy could do with some tidying up. It looks like an old car, not a loved classic.

Even a fairly rough example is worth a few bob Og. The mechanics of my 401 are basically worn out though the body is excellent. I'm gradually rebuilding the engine/gearbox/transmission. The 403 is the opposite, mechanically excellent but the body is rough and full of dings, and as it is aluminium, very costly to fix. It's difficult to find the skills to reinstate aluminium body panels to the original aircraft standard. The Lexus among modern cars has the closest fitting body panels but they are still short of the standard on these old Bristols.

The self indulgence of owning one of these has a hidden cost as well, that is the cost of maintaining the tolerance of my wife towards this hobby! She won't come cheaply either.

Incidentally the derivation of 'Bristols' set out by Stella is pretty accurate:

Bristol City Football Club was the origin, not the city itself - then, City - Titty (titties)- Bristols - pair of.

 

[estragon]

I thought it derived from the well-fitted-out ships that sailed form Bristol: they were Bristol-fit, hence the rhyming slang.

 

[oggbashan]

I thought it derived from the well-fitted-out ships that sailed form Bristol: they were Bristol-fit, hence the rhyming slang.

No. That expression was 'shipshape and Bristol fashion'. That means a well-equipped and well run sailing ship.

Stella was right. It is Cockney rhyming slang from Bristol City (= Titty) football club.

You might have been thinking of Brisfit the F2 Bristol Fighter of WW1.

 

[ishtat]

No. That expression was 'shipshape and Bristol fashion'. That means a well-equipped and well run sailing ship.

Og, I am pretty sure that Bristol Fashion originally referred to the way ships had to be moored in Bristol Docks prior to the building of a floating harbour (about 1805)

The tide could rise as much as 13 metres (43 feet), thus at low tide, ships would be stranded on the mud flats. If the ships in the harbour were not moored very neatly and tightly together at low tide, (ie Bristol Fashion) the ships, especially, if their cargoes were not secure, could tip over with heavy losses.

 

[oggbashan]

Og, I am pretty sure that Bristol Fashion originally referred to the way ships had to be moored in Bristol Docks prior to the building of a floating harbour (about 1805)

The tide could rise as much as 13 metres (43 feet), thus at low tide, ships would be stranded on the mud flats. If the ships in the harbour were not moored very neatly and tightly together at low tide, (ie Bristol Fashion) the ships, especially, if their cargoes were not secure, could tip over with heavy losses.

Somewhere in my library I have a picture of a ship that grounded in the River Avon and broke its back. The wreck blocked the approaches to Bristol for a week.

Edited: Found this leaflet showing the wreck of the SS Gipsy (page 7 of the leaflet, page 9 scrolling down).

And another one in the River Avon:

 

[colddiesel]

They still make Bristol Cars - if you can afford them.

They also continue to support owners of their older models.

If you buy a Bristol Fighter T you will have an 8 litre V10 which will develop over 1000 BHP and has a top speed of 225mph ( only because it is limited from its actual top of 270mph). I saw one in Saudi Arabia 6 months ago. It makes a Ferrari or Porsche look like a model T.

Cost: $500,000 or thereabouts depending on precise spec.

Jeremy Clarkson asked Bristol for an example to test on Top Gear. Bristol's response was along the lines of, 'As you will never be able to own one and neither will your audience, Bristol sees no point in doing so.' Clarkson threw a wobbly apparently.