Bristol Bullet V8 Supercar reveal this month - and it's NOT an EV or Hybrid

Bristol Bullet V8 Supercar reveal this month

The new supercar from Bristol – known as Project Pinnacle – will be the Bristol Bullet and be revealed later this month complete with BMW V8.

Bristol Cars have been making slightly eccentric supercars for ‘Gentlemen’ buyers – such as LJK Setright and Bob Geldof – since after the second world war.

But a shortage of eccentric gentleman in recent years (Bristol were also very fussy about who they’d sell to – they wouldn’t sell a car to James May, for example) saw them go in to administration in 2011 before being rescued by Frazer Nash, another company once famed for eccentric supercars for gentleman.

These days Frazer Nash is a research and engineering firm specialising in hybrid and range extenders, and their commitment to rebuilding Bristol Cars led to the expectation that the new Bristol would be an EV. But it’s not.

Making an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few weeks ago (above), Bristol’s Project Pinnacle looked impressive – and suitably Bristol-like – as it took to the hillclimb in the First Glance section, but now we know a bit more about the new Bristol.

The Bristol Bullet, as it will be called, will be revealed on 26 July 2016 and will get a naturally-aspirated BMW V8 of unspecified output, and a chassis expected to use carbon fibre to keep weight in check.

The car we saw at Goodwood tells us the Bullet is a Roadster (or Speedster, with its double humps) and the word is it’s been designed by Pininfarina using plenty of cues from Bristol’s history, with a coupe version expected to follow on and, eventually, the expected hybrid powertrain too.

The reveal of the Bristol Bullet next week is actually a year late to celebrate Bristol’s 70th birthday, but better late than never.