Bristol 402 Drophead Hollywood Special Once Belonging To Jean Simmons Makes £159,750 At Auction
Bonhams successfully sold a very rare Bristol 402 Drophead Coupé that was bought for the Hollywood actress Jene Simmons by her then future husband Stewart Granger. The star performing lot fetched £159,750 at the Bonhams MPH Beaulieu Sale. The two day auction saw a 90% sell through rate with a total of just under £2.5 million.
The Drophead 402 was one of only 24 examples produced by Bristol and this is one of the 12 survivors. It is also one of a matching pair bought by Granger, one for himself and one for Simmons and was used extensively to promote the 1949 romantic film Adam and Evelyne starring the couple.
The lovely streamlined convertible still retains the registration number NFP 2, Granger’s car had the number NFP 1, and has covered just 32,000 miles from new. The car has a more powerful Frazer Nash 2 litre engine fitted by the next owner Anthony Crook, a Bristol dealer and owner of Bristol Cars.
The Drophead Coupé was more exclusive than the saloon with only 24 being built and delivered between 1949 and 1950 and with only 12 thought to survive.
Racing driver Tony Crook was involved with the Bristol car division from the start, and he won the UK’s first post war race driving a Frazer Nash BMW, witnessed by one of his biggest fans, Stewart Granger.
The decision had been made at Bristol to make a small run of convertibles based on the 401, the project caught Granger’s interest.
Crook recalled: “He and his future wife Jean Simmons were about to star together in the film Adam and Evelyn and Granger was keen to have ‘his and hers’ identical Bristol cars.”
Two of the first cars produced were sold to Granger registered ‘NPF 1’ for himself and ‘NPF 2’ for Jean Simmons and were handed over at Anthony Crook Motors in Caterham.
NFP 2 was restored by Alpine Eagle, Bob Price and Spencer Lane-Jones in 001. Bills totalling more than £75,000 with the engine and gearbox overhaul accounting for £22,700 of that total.
The car won the Bristol Owner’s Club concours in 2003 and was invited to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2006. It has also been a feature in Octane magazine in March 2011 and Classic & Sports Car in 2014.
Bristol 402 Drophead Hollywood Special Once Belonging To Jean Simmons Makes £159,750 At Auction
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