Leaked: Bristol Bullet caught undisguised

Bristol's all-new Bullet roadster has been leaked online just days before its official launch on 26 July.

The images, posted over the weekend by Autocar, shows what's claimed to be the final production-ready model.

Featuring a cut windscreen, bonnet air intake and sharply creased rear wings it's clear the new Bullet pays tribute to previous Bristol models.

Created to help celebrate the car-maker's 70th birthday (last year), the new Bullet will also signal a return to manufacturing after a five-year hiatus.

Already part-revealed at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed when a camouflaged prototype ran runs up the hill, the traditional British sportscar-maker has yet to reveal technical full-details other than the small speedster will shun the aluminium used in previous Bristols for even lighter carbon-fibre.

Under the bonnet, the new car will share the 274kW/500Nm naturally-aspirated 4.8-litre V8 BMW engine that’s currently used in the Morgan Aero 8 roadster.

With a projected target weight thought to be less than 1200kg, the Bullet should be capable of a 0-100km/h sprint of 4.5 seconds.
Like the Morgan, the Bullet is expected to come with both a six-speed manual and six-speed automatic.

Bristol, originally an airframe manufacturer, celebrated its 70th anniversary as a car manufacturer in 2015, although the company has struggled recently in the automotive world. The last car it made, the 360km/h 736kW Fighter supercar, went out of production in 2011.

Production of the Bullet is expected to start in 2017.