The Bristol Aircraft Company were looking to diversify after the Second World War, conscious that the market for aircraft would contract. Car manufacture looked promising, and having the Aldington brothers of AFN Ltd working at Bristol the idea came to fruition. AFN Ltd had imported BMWs in the 1930s to be sold as Frazer-Nash BMWs. The 80bhp 1,971cc 6-cylinder engine from the pre-war BMW 328 looked a good basis to build a new car, and when the Aldington brothers secured the engine from Germany as part of war reparations the stage was set. Using a chassis based on BMW 326, an engine developed from the BMW 328, and a body based on the BMW 327 the first Bristol 400 was launched at the Geneva Salon in 1947. Using aerodynamic expertise subsequent models achieved a 'Bristol style' and a family of luxurious sporting saloons was made at Bristol in modest numbers. The six cylinder engine sustained Bristol until 1961, latterly in 2,216cc form, and powered Frazer-Nash cars and AC cars as well as others. Bristol became independent from the British Aircraft Company under the ownership of George White and Tony Crook. But the writing was on the wall, and unable to fund building their own V8 engine Bristol purchased a 5-litre V8 from Chrysler for the 1961 Bristol 407. Chrysler engined Bristols continued in manufacture with ownership changing in 1997 and leading to transfer to the Tavistock Group in 2002. Bristol went bankrupt in 2011, but seems to have been rescued and is building cars with a modern BMW engine.