Jensen, Bristol, Marcos... Brit Legends Are Back, But Will They Work?

Perhaps this is just where we are now: forever in a loop of car company reboots, like various superhero cinematic universes, only without the accompanying box office returns. As I write, Bristol has announced it's back, and by the time you read this Jensen will have said it is too.

At least they have returned with rather more modest ambitions than TVR did in the mid-2010s: its grand plan to open a factory the size of a Big Tesco in Wales ultimately failed, leading to the brand being absorbed elsewhere.

And despite feeling like we've been here before on the reboot front (with the S-V8 in Jensen's case and the Bullet in Bristol's), I'm intrigued by both.

Jensen currently has one new Interceptor prototype, although it says it could make another tomorrow. It's open to offers, by the way. But if none come during the cycle of development that its prototype has just embarked on, then its backers will at least have something unique to take to 'cars and coffee' meets.

For what it's worth, I like the new Interceptor. I think it looks good, it sounds mega and there's something intrinsically appealing to me about a sleek, meatily front-engined, rear-driven saloon car—albeit clearly not enough appeal for the mainstream industry to make them any more.

And although it's very big for a track car, at more than five metres long, it being a track car is clearly not the end goal. In terms of both construction and ethos, it's a car in the mould of the Aston Martin Rapide.

By Jensen's admission, there are currently bought-in chassis hardware under that unique skin (it's in touch with the people who made Aston's and Lotus's aluminium architectures), but I wouldn't say that's a bad thing at the moment.

Bristol must also hope that the market has moved to a place it wasn't 20 years ago, when it first tried—and largely failed—to sell the Fighter. Although—how to put it?—the idiosyncratic way the firm was run at the time probably didn't help.

The initial plans are to finish and find homes for only five Fighters, the chassis of which were, after the company's liquidation, rescued from a basement in Windlesham—where Gordon Murray Automotive, which is also sort-of rebooting the McLaren F1, is now based.

I recently spent an entertaining half-hour in the company of Bristol's new backer, Paul King, who talked of "closing the book on the old Bristol before launching a new one." There will be collaborations and partnerships for that, he said, and it will be "very premium, very high-end", but beyond that he says he's unsure what new Bristol will be.

As it is, though, I can see that the bespoke Fighter, especially one finished as nicely as the one on display at Salon Privé, has as much appeal now as it did back in the day even if there is talk of it costing £700,000.

Meanwhile, there are also plans for not just one Marcos comeback but, as I discovered only last week, two separate ones.

Marcos Motor Company claims it has the rights to the name and logo, to build new cars and look after heritage bits, and is developing a small sports car called the Mosquito (above). Elsewhere, Marcos Cars Ltd says its upcoming Manticore is going to "destroy Ferrari and McLaren".

As with the internet meme of two Spider-Men pointing at each other, it seems that squaring this circle won't be entirely straightforward.

But I digress. Why the continual reboots? I do understand the cachet of having an existing brand name. After all, as former JLR design chief Gerry McGovern recently told us on the Autocar podcast, "heritage is always important to a luxury brand". But you need more than just heritage. Take Aston, Lotus, McLaren or even Morgan: all the heritage in the motoring world, yet they still don't turn a profit.

This may sound like I dislike rebooted car companies or those trying to trade on earlier brand equity. Not a bit of it. Who would be so churlish as to complain about a 6.8-litre V8 Jensen or a V10 Bristol or a new diddy little Marcos? I adore the idea of all of them doing well. I'm just not sure I have the optimism.