Bristol Type 405D — 2 Litre Drophead Coupé

This Type was the company's 2nd and less speculative production of a Drophead Coupé. However, unlike its stablemate the Type 405 Saloon, it was to be part bodied outwith the works under a contract placed with ED Abbott Ltd of Farnham. The Type 405 D body option was introduced, along with the Type 405 Saloon, in 1954, but unlike the Type 405 Saloon, it was manufactured only to order. 51 of these attractive bodies were made. Production of the Type 405 D ceased in 1958.

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Bristol Type 405 Drophead Coupé

The body is easily identified by the two large doors and soft top.

From the rear, the body is visibly less raked than the saloon version of the 405. This gives the effect that the vestigial fins are more pronounced. In fact they are exactly the same size.	In this rear view the hood is raised and reveals the plastic rear window aperture.	This is a sketch of the body that shows the sweeping lines and kindly proportions. The battery and electric terminals are installed under the offside front wing access hatch cover. The spare wheel is stowed in a similar compartment behind the near side front wheel.	Another view, this time from the front ¾ standpoint, shows how balanced a design this turned out to be from almost every viewing angle. A great improvement, with experience drawn from the development of the Type 402 Drophead.

For the first time, we are able to offer a short (1Mb) video clip (.asf format) of a 405 Drophead in motion. Clearly this video technology (and our expertise with it) is at a very early stage. The apparent explosion and puff of smoke at the rear are in fact a puff of wind on an unprotected microphone, and a trick of the light on an unshielded lens, respectively. If your browser cannot display this file, it may be worth trying downloading the file to your machine's disk drive and then opening it from there.