Posts by Craig Ranson

Craig Ranson is the Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars at Bridge Classic Cars.

Suspension Building For The Jensen

Our 1958 Jensen 541R is currently having its suspension fixed and rear suspension bolts replaced as the previous bolts had no locking facilities, meaning they could come loose. The rear axel straps also need to be fitted but these will…

Kicking Up A Fuss

Just before Christmas, we discovered an issue with the Amphicar’s gearbox which had become noisy. We decided to take it out and inspect the elements. You can read about the diagnosis here. The gearbox has been sent to Last Transmissions…

Sparking interest

The work on this beautiful silver 1959 Jensen 541R will be commencing in the coming weeks. It’s going to be a full re-wiring of the harness, meaning all the electrics are needing to be replaced and rewired.

A Dashing Porsche 911

We’ve had the honour of working on a Porsche 911 interior recently. The dashboard needed to be refurbished, so our trim shop set out to fix it up. Kath drew around the old dash in vinyl to create a template….

Chris Harris – Top Gear – January 2021

We’ll take that as a compliment… Journalist, racing driver and presenter Chris Harris commenting on one of our cars during a recent appearance on Collecting Cars . “How can something so bad be so good”

Electric Forecourt Opens In Essex

The UK’s first all-electric car charging forecourt opened in Essex in December 2020. It comes equipped with super-fast wifi and a selection of shops such as WHSmith and cafes to keep drivers entertained whilst they recharge their vehicle. The forecourt…

2021 Sees Changes To Classic Car Numberplates

DVLA have made changes to the legalities of black and silver number plates as of 1st January 2021. In their statement, they’ve said; “The change seeks to prevent any vehicle constructed after 1 January 1980 from the ability to display the…

2020 In Reflection

It goes without saying, 2020 has been tough for everyone but there have been some positives! Bridge Classic Cars turned 16, we welcomed in more unique and interesting cars, expanded the team and took new ventures. 2020’s Winners This year…

How Bridge Classic Cars Thrived In 2020

2020 has been a challenge for us all. Nobody has been able to avoid the immense challenges that Covid-19 has presented. So how could we not only adapt, but thrive during a Global pandemic? This year we’ve seen 11 Jensen’s…

Peony Red Jensen Update

We’ve taken apart the old rear quarter panels on our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541s, ready to make new ones. This is done by cutting out new mill board panels, cutting out new plywood panels, fitting new plywood panel to…

Amphicar Tweaks

Our Amphicar is having a few adjustments as we’ve discovered a gearbox issue whilst testing. We noticed a noise which we originally thought was linked to the thrust bearing however it turns out it’s due to the first motion shaft…

Christmas Clean Up

As we prepare to shut for Christmas, our workshop team are doing a thorough festive clean. Although we always keep our workspaces clean and sanitised, spending extra time on Friday afternoons, we know it’s essential to give our workshop a…

Peugeot 504 Almost Ready To Go

We’re currently diagnosing an engine issue with our 1972 Peugeot 504. After going for its test drive, we discovered what we think to be an injector pipe leak. With everything else completed, the final job to do is to repair…

Suspension Concluded On The Navy Jensen

The front suspension is back together on our 1958 Jensen 541R. The modifications have concluded with the brake flex pipe has been relocated to avoid touching the wheel. The suspension spring strength had to be reduced to allow work to…

Christmas Live Draw

What a way to celebrate Christmas! Last night we had a very festive live draw where we announced the lucky winners of two of competition cars, our 1974 VW Beetle and our 1995 Jaguar XJ6, as well as announcing our…

Little bits on the Lada

The Lada 1200 has had new seat belts added in the back. Our technician Paul has also modified the exhaust rear box to make it shorter as the original, which you cannot buy anymore, was too long.

Opening Hours Over Christmas

We know this year has presented some challenging and difficult times for everyone but we wanted to say thank you to all our clients and followers who have continued to support us and keep up to date with our projects….

Suspense Builds For Jensen

The suspension on the front of our 1958 541R Jensen is currently being tweaked. The bushings need to be reamed and resized so they fit better. For this, we’re sending the parts away to be completed.

The Mysterious Case Of The Austin Nippy

Our poor little 1934 Austin Seven Nippy has had some mysterious leaks. The previous engineer had welded the metal and covered the suspected leaking area with sealant. Unfortunately the sealant had not stood the test of time and came off…

Black Jensen’s Clutch Retouch

The clutch pedal had worn where the clevis pin goes through which allowed for too much movement on the pedal, so the clutch was not releasing as it should. The remedy was to weld up the elongated slot and re-drill…

Chassis troubles

Our 1963 Morris Minor 1000 is having some chassis trouble but luckily our technician Scott is on hand to help out. The rear spring is rubbing on the chassis, so Scott needs to re-shape the spring to allow it to…

Electric Classic Cars Post Update On Our Mini – December 2020

Great to see the 1967 Austin Mini 850 we worked on making progress back at Electric Classic Cars! Here they show the gear shifter going through forward, neutral and reverse gears in the Tesla powered mini The Mini came in…

James Bond’s DB5 Comes To Life – December 2020

Supercar Blondie has recently shared a video on Facebook of the James Bond limited edition Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 that comes with functioning gadgets. In her walkaround, she takes a look at each element of this epic car, which can…

7 Road Trips To Do Before You Die

With 2020 being a strange, difficult and particularly stationary year for many, we thought we’d set our sights on the new year. To get your petrol head wanderlust minds ticking, we wanted to take a look at some epic road…

Behind The Scenes On The Chevrolet Corvette Photoshoot

On a brisk winters morning last week, our marketing team and Craig set out to photograph and video our stunning 1979 Chevrolet Corvette which is currently one of our competition cars. As the sun rose on another frosty morning, we…

Range Rover Is Looking Shiny And New

Our lovely 1994 Range Rover TDI is almost finished with its new paint spray. Its recently been masked up and prepped for paint with a base coat and a clear coat applied. Tomorrow it will receive some final shoots in…

1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Replica Featured In Car And Classic Magazine – December 2020

We’re delighted to see that our treasured 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car has been featured in Car and Classic’s recent online magazine as well as listed on their for sale section. You can read the full article here….

1957 Jensen’s Trim Additions

Our 1957 Grey Jensen 541R has had its dash pad rail, roof pad and boot refurbished by our specialists in the trim shop. Brian has removed the old cover of the dash rail, added more foam and wadding, glued on…

Little Eva’s New Interior

Our 1961 Morris Mini Delux has had some extra refurbishments recently. It needed the carpet neatened and new footwell mats. Our trim shop made templates, marked out the correct measurements on the carpet material, cut it out and marked out…

Merry MG A Christmas

Receiving letters like the one below is what makes all our hard work even more worth it. We took on Mike’s lovely 1960 MG A in 2019 as a barn find. In just over a year, we restored it back…