Bristol Cars sold to China. Possibly.

Chinese motoring press are saying Bristol Cars has been sold to Xinjiang No1 Tractor Company. But the administrators say not.

Earlier this month we reported the sad demise of the quirky and eccentric supercar maker that is Bristol cars, forced in to administration through a shortage of equally eccentric millionaires to buy their creations from another time.

The good news is that they still look like a viable entity if they’re properly marketed, so we didn’t expect it to be too long before a buyer popped up and grabbed the Bristol Cars name, its Kensington showrooms and the handful of staff left.

So we weren’t surprised to get an email this morning from China telling us the press there are reporting that the Xinjiang No1 Tractor Company – a State-owned maker of tractors (you’d never have guessed) – had snapped up Bristol Cars from the administrators.

Apparently the plan is to keep the Bristol Cars Showroom in Kensington open for business and add new showrooms in China and across Asia. The plan also seems to be to move production of Bristol Cars to XinJiang Province.

All of which, in this new world order of car makers, is not a big surprise. Except it seems to be a big surprise the the Bristol Cars Administrators.

We spoke to Wyles Hardy & Co this morning, one of the UK’s leading independent firms of consultant machinery and business asset valuers, who are acting as agents for the administrators.

They told us that they have no knowledge of the sale and as far as they are concerned Bristol Cars is still available. Which is most odd.

So, is Bristol Cars a Chinese takeaway, or not? And if not, where’s Vlad when you need him? Bristol Cars would be a potentially good fit for CPP.

Wouldn’t it?