Bristol Type 404 — 2 litre Coupé

This fixed head coupé was a new departure for the company in many ways. It was the first production series built as a Sports car. Barely a 2+2, its passenger cabin was even smaller than the Type 400, which just barely seated 4 persons. New frontal treatment dispenses entirely with the vestigial BMW front grilles, in favour of an air scoop said to be reminiscent of an inverted aircraft engine nacelle. Another air scoop on the bonnet improves the flow to the triple carburettors on the Bristol 100B series engine, which is coupled to a 4 on the floor manual shift gearbox.

The engine in this type was fitted with a single six branch exhaust manifold leading to a single pipe system. The car introduced the principle of front wing stowage for the spare wheel, thus releasing additional boot space. This feature was to be inherited by all future Bristol production Types, up to and including the Bristol Blenheim.

The 404 also introduced a form of dual braking system, being fitted with master and tandem cylinders. Instruments are presented directly to the front of the driver in a binnacle set forward from the fascia panel. As in the Type 403, the hub cap and Bristol body badge ground is coloured red.

Front ¾ view of 404 showing how frontal treatment breaks away from the previous type's BMW style radi­ator grilles, the new air scoop on top of bon­net, shortened cabin and fixed head coupé styling, per­haps bet­ter illus­trated in the next picture.	Views of the profile of the 404 showing its very sleek lines and compact cabin. The style in profile is not that dissimilar to the shape used in the Type 450 Le Mans team road race cars of 1953 and 1954 which were being developed at the Bristol factory during the same period.

This 404 rear view shows the normal rear lights, and the central fuel filler cap. The rear reflectors are non standard. More unusual is that this particular car was fitted from new with a small access hatch to an additional storage compartment above the rear bumper. Only one other 404 has been reported with this same feature, whilst a third variant built to special order has a larger boot lid and the fuel filler cap cover relocated on to the near side rear wing, to one side of the boot lid. Note also the pronounced rear wing top fin styling which was to be carried on to the Type 405 and 405 Drophead.