406 Zagato And AC Greyhound - Six Of One, Or Half A Dozen Of The Other? (Part 2)

‘The 110s bb2 engine is enough to push the 406 zagato to more than 120mph’

Having coveted the model, motoring writer Leonard Setright bought a long-chassis 406 Zagato second-hand in the early 1970s and, via his regular references to it in print, probably made more people aware of the model than when the car was new. At the time, it suited him perfectly as a rapid and exceedingly rare everyday car that also just happened to be a Bristol, with all that implied in terms of handling and uncompromisingly excellent engineering. When Setright believed the car (registration 138 WPJ) had been written off in a rear-end shunt, he even wrote an obituary to it. Luckily, reports of the Zagato’s demise had been exaggerated.

This sister car had already begun another life on the other side of the world when Setright bought his. Owner Brian Flagg saw it at Bristol’s Chiswick depot in 1967, albeit suffering from accident damage. He managed to buy it three years later and had it shipped to New Zealand. It was put back on the road in the early 1980s, with the damage expertly rectified and a 100B 2-litre engine, which was replaced in the 1990s by the correct 110S BB2 unit. That means 2.2 liters, a high-lift camshaft and higher compression for 130bhp at 5750rpm – sufficient to push the 406 Zagato to over 120mph, yet return 30mpg on a gentle run.

AC Greyhound engine

The Bristol sits quite tall on its 15in Michelin X radials, has lots of glass and probably looks more pleasing in the metal than it does in pictures, whereas photographs tend to do the Greyhound favors. Only the proportions and the design of the wheels (less the original center ‘knave plates’ in this case) identify the 406Z as a Bristol, and I am reminded of Setright’s comment about the paneling being stretched around it ‘as tightly as a matador’s trousers’; there’s no spare flab on this car. The razor-edged roofline with the flat rear screen has a rather Rootes/Humber feel, while the tail-lights, framing the short boot lid, have a Lancia flavor. It looks fragile, but Zagato supplemented its paneling with extensive tubular structures so it is probably more rugged than it seems.

On the Bristol, the door glasses are frameless and the handles flush. The interior is flooded with light and this car still has its original bone-colored leather and Wilton carpets. The Greyhound is a gloomier but plusher car inside, with decadent seats, an impressive Jaguar-like slab of a dashboard, a monster steering wheel and enough room in the back for two adults to sit for a couple of hours without seizing up.

AC Greyhound traditional interior

The Zagato Bristol eschews these boardroom luxuries for the bare necessities to make a gentleman’s car habitable. There isn’t even a lid on the glove box, but there’s a full range of instruments in a handsome nacelle, a fine wood-rimmed Nardi steering wheel and a promisingly sturdy looking gearlever close by. The seats seem less substantial than those in the factory 406 and are probably not as comfortable, but there are two real seats in the back with proper headroom. You could wear your hat if you wanted.

The all-round vision, plus the position of the pedals, means that you soon feel at one with the 406, effortlessly familiar with the car within a few minutes of moving off. In some hard-to-define way, the Greyhound is less easy to get comfortable in and you feel rather hemmed-in by the door rails and the height of the scuttle.

The Bristol’s exhaust exits futility just forward of the offside rear wheel arch (as originally supplied, it was an Abarth system) and both cars pull strong and clean, with no particular indication that the 406 has the more aggressive cam timing. Neither feels exactly flabby or weak at low revs, although in the Bristol things are just starting to get interesting at 3500rpm, which is where I have to back off due to its freshness: it was rebuilt only 3000 miles ago.

‘The greyhound is heavier to drive, and more physically tiring than the 406’

Neither car is remotely quiet but the noises are good ones. Almost 6000rpm is safe in the AC and this noble straight-six – with its sharp throttle response and throaty timbre – moves eagerly through the close ratios in a fabulously precise gearbox, with a freewheeling hub on bottom. In both cars, it finds its slots with a total lack of slop, and an extended finger can flick the chrome overdrive switch when a straight opens up. It self-cancels when you drop to third.

Naturally, the cars are divergent in handling and overall feel. The AC just feels a heftier car, much more physically and mentally fatiguing than the Bristol. Its steering is high-geared but correspondingly quite heavy and unrefined. In the 406, you steer the car with a lightness of touch and effortless precision that adds up to a sort of relaxation. All I can relate is that the effort you dial in to the Nardi rim transfers accurately to the attitude of the front wheels, yet without ever feeling nervous and with no kick.

The Bristol features a squarer roofline than the Greyhound – which gives more room in the rear seats – plus Zagato’s ‘double bubble’ flourish

The Greyhound may corner as flat and as quickly as the Bristol but it feels more skittish, has a much harsher and noisier ride, and gives you the idea that its creators didn’t know if they wanted a sports car or a saloon – so elected to give the Greyhound too many of the worst features of both. The Bristol knows what it is, what it wants and where it is going: it has a supple yet tied-together feel that is everything you hoped it would be.

Specifications