In the office of Toby Silverton, 52, the owner of the British luxury carmaker Bristol, hangs a photograph of a smiling female customer standing next to her 30-year-old Bristol 603 car. Mr. Silverton recounts how she bought the car from him second hand about four years ago without knowing that its previous owner was Bono, the lead singer of the rock band U2.
When she discovered the car’s celebrity past, she called Mr. Silverton to ask why she was not told because she would have willingly paid more. (Mr. Silverton declined to state the price, but the company said a similar car would have cost about £35,000, or $54,800 today.)
“I told her that’s not the kind of company we are,” said Mr. Silverton.
“Everyone I spoke to in the industry said they’re 20 to 30 percent down,” Mr. Silverton said. “Our sales are up 25 percent since the beginning of 2008.”
Of course, 25 percent is a relative concept. Bristol expects to sell perhaps 150 of its hand-assembled cars this year. The company, one of the world’s last independent car makers, has a work force of about 100 people. There is just one sales outlet, in London’s Kensington district.
For many owners, Bristols are like a tailored suit — customers can choose the color of the carpet and the shape of the seats. The British fashion designer Paul Smith drives a 55-year old Bristol 405 Saloon to work every day. Richard Branson owns a Bristol, and so did King Hussein of Jordan.
Turplin Dixon, a railway engineer in London, was able to buy a 15-year-old Bristol 603 from the proceeds of selling another Bristol he had inherited from his uncle.
“When I was 13 I used to think they were pretty ugly cars,” said Mr. Dixon, 58. “But now I like them for being so unique, special and one of a kind.”
Bristol, named after the British town where the cars are still being manufactured, has its roots in the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, founded in 1910. By the end of World War II, during which its main aircraft was the Beaufighter used by the Royal Air Force, the company had 40,000 employees.
The end of the war forced the company to diversify, and the Bristol car company was formed in 1946.
Mr. Silverton acquired 50 percent of Bristol in 1997, buying the other half four years later. The company is still proud of its airplane engineering roots, as evident in the model line named for the Beaufighter, as well as the Blenheim, a World War II bomber.
“Generally, people want to buy us for prestige and then make some other cars,” Mr. Silverton said. “I’m not interested in that.”
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