The car you see here is the Bristol Bullet. It is the first new model from the venerable British maker of sporting cars in 13 years, and with Italian speedster style, a German V8 engine and British creature comforts, it is pretty much guaranteed to tickle at least one part of your brain.

So what is it? One motoring publication in the US referred to the Bullet as "the new Shelby Cobra", but really, that's nonsense. It's much closer in spirit to, say, an MG RV8 than a sports racer like the Cobra. For those who have forgotten (or tried to forget) MG's 1990s oddity, the RV8 was a posh roadster in the MGB style with a Land Rover-spec V8 engine up front. It wasn't inexpensive and the company sold fewer than 2,000 of them (mostly to enthusiasts in Japan). Like that improbable MG, Bristol's new Bullet puts known mechanicals under classically inspired body work, and imbues the cockpit with a degree of creature comfort sufficient to charm the ageing plutocrat who can afford such a plaything.

Providing the motivation for the Bullet is a naturally aspirated 4.8-litre V8 engine from BMW, well-remembered from the previous-generation X5 sport-utility vehicle. The engine, matched to a BMW-sourced six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, produces 370 horsepower and 370 pound-feet of torque — ample for a 2,425-pound car (albeit perhaps not for one priced like a three-bed home). Bristol claims the car will sprint from zero to 62mph in a wholly believable 3.8 seconds and press on to an electronically limited top speed of 155mph.

The Bullet takes its cues from a mysterious '60s-era Bristol prototype sports car discovered under a tarpaulin several years ago by the marque's then-new owners. It was a fascinating exercise — a speedster body with a Chrysler Hemi V8 engine and a manual transmission. And though it was likely a very quick machine, it was a good country mile from beautiful. And unfortunately, the Bullet hasn't fallen far from the tree. The new speedster's styling comes from an Italian design house — we don't know which one yet — but among Italian designs, it will likely be recalled in the same breath as the Qvale Mangusta and the Lamborghini Veneno. From the front, the Bullet has a sourpuss expression, with a guppy mouth and too-small headlamps that make it slightly cross-eyed in a way that recalls the original Morgan Aero 8, and from the rear, with finlets and tiny tail lamps, it comes off as a counterfeit Volvo P1800. The car's most compelling angle is the one that will be seen least: overhead — thanks to its bowed front wings and the artful almond shape created by the bonnet and boot lid shut lines.

The body panels are crafted from carbon fibre composite, which is attached to a bonded aluminium chassis, a combination that is strong, lightweight and suitably exotic. And the car's lovely dashboard — which can be trimmed in polished wood or exposed-weave carbon fibre — is undeniably user-friendly, equipped with an array of technology, like a multi-touch infotainment screen with smartphone screen-mirroring and an onboard wi-fi hotspot, that belies the Bristol's low-volume handcraftedness.

Bristol plans to spend the better part of 2017 building Bullets and selling them, as ever, through a single showroom, in Kensington, London. Production will be capped at just 70 cars — a nod to the company's seven decades in the car business. And the price? About £250,000 ($330,000), a sum which, for the record, could put both a McLaren 650S and a Morgan Plus 4 in your drive. Not that we're counting.

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