Craig Ranson

Managing Director โ€“ Bridge Classic Cars

1973 Triumph TR6 in for Service

This beautiful Triumph TR6 is in the classic car workshop for a service. We’ve recently completed a hardtop restoration for this very car.

The TR6 has been sat for a little while so it needs a new starter motor before she’s back on the road.

1971 Rover P5B Water Leak Fixed

Pete has fixed the water leak our P5B Rover was suffering from. To do this, he’s replaced the ineffective pipes behind the water pump. Top work, Pete

En-route to their new home in Bristol

Thanks to Roma, our Fiat 850S and Morris Mini 1000 are now on their way to their new home in Bristol. After such a beautiful day it is now an awful night to be travelling with the heaven’s opening and a big downpour spoiling the nice shiny arrival.

Live Draw: 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo & 1991 Ford Sierra Sapphire

Congratulations to Oscar S Casco, winner of our 1985 Lotus Esprit Turbo with ticket number 394ย and Karl Burgess, winner of our 1991 Ford Sierra with ticket number 164.

https://www.facebook.com/248607891929098/videos/617668402199341

To be in with a chance to win your own classic, head to bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/competitions

1961 Jensen 541S Engine

We will soon be ready to start the restoration of our 1961 Jensen 541S. Another very exciting Jensen project as we get to work restoring the car back to its original, factory spec, finish.

For now, the original engine has been brought in to the workshops from our hangar storage unit so Ady can get to work on the testing and rebuild.

1973 TR6 Work Commences

Mauro is trilled to be working on this beautiful Triumph TR6. He’s shared some snaps on Facebook as this project starts to pick up momentum.

Superb work, Mauro! We will be updating this blog with every major milestone in the rebuild of our TR6.

Visit to our Hangar

Whilst preparing for our upcoming live draw we had a visit from Andrew with his incredible Porsche 993 GT2.

He stopped by having seen a few of our classics sitting outside our unit whilst we prepared inside.

Thanks for popping by Andrew and a real treat seeing your GT2…stunning!

Mini parts for blasting

Tamas has been busy sorting out the parts from our 1960 Morris Mini Deluxe, ready for blasting.

We work alongside Abbey Protective Coatings when we have lots of blasting to do. Their facilities cater for large quantities of parts so when we have lots to do and only one blaster in house it is more cost effective and faster to use specialist services.

1960 MGA Test Drive


With our restoration really complete, the MGA’s owner, Mike came to give his car a test drive. It’s safe to say we think Mike is rather pleased with his beautiful, restored MGA.

Paul has now fitted the seatbelts and will continue test driving the car to ensure she is running perfectly before it returns to Mike.

Mr Oswald – Lowestoft, Suffolk

“I just wanted to write and let you know that the little car does indeed now run and drive very well. I took it out for a little ride out yesterday and am pleased to say it performed very well. I have to say that I have been impressed with your professional and speedy response with regard to rectifying the issues the car had.

I have now let people know about my lucky win and have been pleased to be able to let a few sceptical types know that the competitions are indeed genuine and the cars are very real.”

1973 Triumph TR6 In The Workshop

Our TR6 has reached another exciting milestone in it’s restoration journey. The Triumph TR6 has now left the paint shop and is with Mauro in the Workshop.

Mauro will now be building the car. All components will either be refurbished or replaced with new.

The main components that are being currently refurbished are as follows:

  • Steering collum
  • Door locks
  • Wiper motor and mechanism
  • Dashboard
  • Dash vents
  • Seat runners
  • Windscreen surround
  • Door handles
  • Center console
  • Mudguards
  • Front grill
  • Soft top roof

The following items are brand new:

  • Fuel pump
  • Alternator
  • Fuel filter
  • Front lights
  • Tail lights
  • Indicators
  • Rubbers

The following items have already been refurbished

  • Radiator
  • Prop shaft
  • Exhaust
  • Chromework
  • Fuel tank
  • Wheels
  • Heater box
  • Dials
  • Mauro will now begin the assembly process on this vehicle.

Some for the future: Caterham 7 and Lambretta

We have had a couple of new enquiries this week for the body preparation and paint shop. First up we have a few imperfections on a Caterham 7.

Followed by welding work on a classic Lambretta.

We will hopefully see both of these projects in our workshops very soon.

1990 Austin Mini Thirty in the Trim Shop

Kath has been working her magic on one of our future competition cars, this lovely little Austin Mini Thirty. The interior of our Mini was in need of restorative works. Kath has done an incredible job on the steering wheel, dash and rear door pockets.

First up, Kath tackled the steering wheel. She masked up the black centre section and sanded down the leather to smooth it out. She then applied flexible filler, left the filler to dry and then sanded down.

Kath then cleaned the surface before applying specialist leather colour paint to the leather. This paint will not crack and is perfect for reconditioning high-wear surfaces such as a steering wheel.

Next up for Kath, the worn rear door pockets. She marked up the two new panel insets, cut to size and installed into the car for the perfect fit.

The dash of our Mini was also very well worn and in need of restoration. Kath started by making a rough template to mill a new dashboard from. She then marked out and scored the board to bend into shape. It has now been positioned in place. A air vent hole will need to be drilled and the air vent fitted when this arrives with us.

Superb work, Kath.

1979 Ford Escort RS2000 in the Paint Shop

Chris has done a superb job so far repainting our Ford Escort RS200. It’s had primer coats applied and is just about to get it’s top coat. This lovely Escort RS2000 will be available as a competition very soon.

1988 Nissan 300zx Engine Repairs and Servicing

Pete, one of Bridge Classic Cars’ vehicle technicians has been working on our Nissan 300zx restoration. He has replaced the faulty water pump. He is also giving the engine a full service including new cam belt, spark plugs, fuel filter, oil filter and fresh oil.

Great work, Pete

2003 Mercedes SL55 V8 Wheels

A future competition car, this SL55 is simply gorgeous. However, the wheels where the only area letting the car down. Not anymore.

We’ve refurbished the wheels and refitted them to the car. They’re now looking as good as new.

Some for the future: 1987 MK1 Golf GTI and 1995 BMW 840

We could be looking at some new additions in the paint shop very soon as we are currently in discussion on a full respray of a 1987 Mk1 Golf GTi. As you can see, someone has been at the body already so we will have lots of repairs that will need to be made. I would imagine a lot of repairs will have to be removed and new metalwork fitted.

Next up, we have our 1995 BMW 840. The owner uses the car everyday and is debating whether to sell the car and get into something new or carry out a sympathetic re-spray to bring it back to life and make it look absolutely beautiful once again. Mechanically, the car is in great shape so it is just the aesthetics we need to concentrate on.

Live Draw: 1966 Ford Mustang

Congratulations to Colin Dixon, winner of our 1966 Ford Mustang with ticket number 2795.

https://www.facebook.com/248607891929098/videos/780045526068613

To be in with a chance to win your very own classic, head to bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/competitions

1937 Triumph Dolomite

In the workshop today is our gorgeous 1937 Triumph Dolomite. Having worked on this car in the past we are very familiar with this vehicle. It’s been getting a lot of attention form everyone here at Bridge. We just love this lovely classic.

It’s in today with John as the water pump is weeping and there is a leak on the fuel sender unit.

To repair, we will firstly inspect the leaking area and fix where nessasary. We will also check the fuel tank seals and sender unit.

Jensen 541 R Restoration Updates

We’ve been making wonderful progress on both of our Jensen 541R restorations.

On our 1960 Black Jensen 541R, Paul has recently fitted the floor and brake and clutch master cylinder. The stainless steel exhaust has been custom made by exhaust specialists Demand Engineering and installed into the vehicle.

Paul will now be moving onto fitting the clutch pipe from the master cylinder to the gearbox slave cylinder.

In the trim shop, Brian and Kath have been trimming our Corvette engine powered 1957 Jensen 541R and 1960 Jensen 541R. We’re using Connoly Vaumol Leather. 891 Luxan grain chestnut in the 1957 Jensen and 8500 Crushed grain black in the 1960 Jensen. Brian has been covering the door cards in the specified brown and black leather leather.

Brian has trimmed the front arm rests and the rear seat divider in the Connoly Vaumol Leather.

Below you can see how Kath has trimmed the door card. Using the wooden panel that Brian has made, Kath cut the leather to size and has glued and stitched the leather in place.

Kath has applied carpeting to the door panels. She is now currently making the rear seats on the 1957 Jensen 541R.

Dave has custom fabricated this panel for Brian to trim.

Fiat 850S – Engine Out

We’ve taken the engine out of our 1970 Fiat 850S as we discovered the core plug at the rear of the head was broken. Dave has repaired the issues and re-fitted the engine ready for it it to return to the customer’s storage facility in Bristol.

1973 Triumph TR6 In The Paint Shop

Darren has now completed the final stages of painting our stunning magenta 1973 Triumph TR6. After masking up to protect the already painted inner sections of the body, Darren firstly applied primer to the prepared surface.

He then applied several layers of the sumptuous magenta colour coats.

Finally the paint is fully protected and sealed in with several layers of clear coat. Once the car is fully re-assembled, this clear coat can then be machined and detailed to a crystal clear finish.

This looks absolutely stunning. Top work, Darren!

1979 Ford RS2000 ready for preparation

Our 1979 Ford RS2000 is now in the hands of Chris in our paint shop ready to be prepared and painted.

The decals will be replaced as part of the refurb and after completion we will fit with a brand new vinyl roof.

1995 Efini RX-7 Type R Bathurst

Today we welcomed our 1995 Efini RX-7 Type R Bathurst. 1 of 500 produced for the Japanese market. Our RX-7 had 1 owner in Japan before coming over to the UK and has since had 1 owner in the UK before we got our hands on it. The car is absolutely stunning condition and has covered just 7,500 genuine miles with incredible history to back it up. Believed to the only 1 of this kind in the UK and a truly stunning example, a real collectors piece and could soon be yours…watch this space!

Porsche 911 Wheel Refurb

We have freshened up the look of the wheels on our 1982 Porsche 911 by repainting the black centre piece. To refurbish the wheel costs a substantial amount of money, more than a traditional wheel refurbishment due to the material they are manufactured with. Traditional diamond cut will work but will give a shinier look so to the purist this is not the correct result.

So, to fresh up the look without a full refurbishment we have repainted the black centre inserts.

Triumph Spitfire Leaves the Paint Shop

Darren has been tasked with completing the final trim installation on this Triumph Spitfire.

A home restoration, this Spitfire was brought to us for paint. Some of the paintwork was scratched and chipped when the Spitfire’s owner installed some of the exterior trim elements. Darren has repaired this paintwork and fitted the final few pieces of chrome trim.

Great work, Darren. The paintwork is looking perfect!

1957 Jensen 541 Interior Restoration Continues

Brian, one of Bridge Classic Cars Interior Trim Specialists has been hard at work on our 1957 Jensen 541R Interior. The door cards were fabricated from new wood.

He’s rebuilt the door card inserts and trimmed in this gorgeous chocolate brown leather. Using the original leather as a template, Brian has designed the door cards as close to original as possible.

Great work, Brian. this will look stunning when it’s installed into the car.

1990 Austin Mini Restorative Works

Mauro and Chris have been working on our soon-to-be-competition car, Austin Mini thirty.

It’s had a thorough service and inspection from Mauro.

Chris has repainted the Mini. There were a few scuffs and bodywork issues so we decoded to treat this little mini to a full respray

We’ve now just got to fit new door cards and mirrors and this car is ready to be enjoyed by the lucky winner.