1956 Arnolt-Bristol Coupe

The greatest attraction of the car is that it is ideal for vintage tours and rallies, offering protection from the elements and reasonable luggage space

by Raymond Milo

In 1955, Road & Track described the Arnolt-Bristol as “American designed, British powered and Italian styled.” Offered as a coupe or roadster, it combined the talents of designer Arnolt from Chicago, the car division of Bristol Aircraft in England, and the body-building talents of Bertone in Italy.

The coupe, like the roadster, was powered by a 130-hp, overhead-valve, inline 6-cylinder engine, fitted with three Solex carburetors. The Arnolt- Bristol was capable of a 0–60 time in the nine second-range, a standing start quarter mile of 17.2 seconds at 82 mph, and an estimated top speed of 125 mph.

The Arnolt-Bristol coupe was not the result of simply grafting a hard top onto the roadster. Although they shared similar, distinctive front-end styling, the front fenders of the coupe were creased, almost fully exposing the front wheels. The dramatically sloping hard top featured a wide C-pillar and large rear window, while a trunk lid allowed full access...