The bodywork of the Bristol 450 was very advanced for the early 1950s. As a division of an aircraft manufacturer the Bristol design team had access to the company wind tunnel and the car was designed to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible. The cars first appeared with smooth basic shape, perhaps slightly over wide for the narrow track, but with the outline broken by lumpy, inelegant headlamp, spotlight and air intake bulges. The most striking features of the design were large twin stabilising fins running vertically down the rear of the small, enclosed cockpit, and down to the tip of the tail. The overall effect was far from pretty.