The Bristol 408 was made between 1963 and 1966 and unusually for Bristol; a slightly revised version was launched during the middle of the model's production run in 1965 and known as the 408 Mark II.

Mechanically, the Bristol 408 was identical to its predecessor the 407, which had been a major departure for Bristol with its use of a Chrysler V8 engine and automatic transmission.

However, outwardly there were some major changes.

The frontal styling of the 407 - which had been a carry-over from the six-cylinder 406 and 405 - was discarded and in its place was a rectangular grille with pronounced horizontal bars.

Another major change was the turn indicator lamps, which on the 408 were wide and rectangular in contrast to the 407's round lamps.

Due to safety concerns, the push-button layout of the automatic transmission was modified through the use of a safety lever to prevent an unwary person moving the car out of "Park".

There were also rectangular instead of circular push-buttons f...