Bristol is back!

Remember Bristol? It's the aeroplane maker turned carmaker responsible for a variety of quirky sports cars, ranging from the boxy Blenheim to the downright crackers Fighter (replete with gullwing doors and 210mph top speed). James May, unsurprisingly, is a big fan. 

Well, after going into administration in 2011 - and a subsequent buyout by the Kamkorp group - Bristol is back, with big plans ahead.

First up will be a new car in 2015, dubbed ‘Project Pinnacle' and celebrating Bristol's 70th anniversary. Details are annoyingly scarce, other than that it will be ‘executed as a modern take on the best of British craftsmanship and engineered to excite as a high performance Bristol car'. Our hunch is that this means retro touches and perhaps the reinvention of one of Bristol's classic models, a case strengthened by the traditional styling evident in the cryptic teaser shot above.

Following it will be a range-extender electric GT car, made possible thanks to the research carried out by Frazer-Nash, another olde worlde British sports car brand which is owned by Kamkorp. It's set to be a motor at each wheel, four-wheel-drive setup, with the engine mounted right at the front and used only to top up the battery, never powering the wheels directly.

As if two new cars weren't enough, Bristol also plans to pour millions of pounds into its facilities. A new parts and restoration site opened earlier this year, while Bristol's iconic Kensington High Street showroom just around the corner from Top Gear HQ, and tragically quiet recently, is apparently getting an overhaul. It will occupy both sides of the street set to be occupied - meticulously restored classics on one side, ‘new vehicles and a modern company ethos' on the other. Consider us intrigued.

Bristol's big plans have been unveiled at the Hampton Court Concours of Elegance in London, with a ‘luxury merchandise range' also announced, comprising clothing, model cars and cryptically titled ‘bureau items'. This part does have some echoes of the less-than-successful Lotus ‘rebirth' in 2010, but then again Bentley sell sofas these days, so it's not without precedent.

‘Today's announcements signify that we are nearing the completion of ‘Bristol is Reborn' - phase 1. Investments in our new products and facilities spearhead our modern philosophy for the Bristol marque', says general manager of Bristol Cars, Julian Ramshaw. ‘The definitions of luxury are changing. People's expectations are changing. And Bristol Cars is changing too. This is just the start, and there is a lot more to come from us'.

We'll bring you more as we get it. For now, though, over to you: are you happy to see Bristol back? What should it do to put itself on the British sports car map?