Craig Ranson

Managing Director โ€“ Bridge Classic Cars

Replacing the outer sills

The sill and rear wing panel has now been cut out and replaced with new on our 2003 Mazda MX-5.

Rebuilding our E-Type doors

Mauro returned from his holiday this week and got straight into rebuilding the doors of our 1972 Jaguar E-Type.

Riley Merlin Nine Wiper Wiring

John has successfully re-wired our Riley wiper wiring without removing or affecting the ceiling cloth. Great result.

1987 Mercedes SL500: Replacing Panels

The restoration of our 1987 Mercedes SL500 is now well underway with the car completely stripped, the windscreen removed and the rotten body panels having been cut out.

The new panels have arrived from the guys and girls at the SL Shop and Andrew is now working through, getting the areas ready for the new body panels to be welded into place.

This has turned into a much larger restoration project than expected so the project is taking much longer than first thought.

Rebuilding our Riley Nine brakes

Our 1936 Riley Merlin Nine has returned to have the brakes fully rebuilt.

The brakes have been stripped, machined and re-shoed. Whilst in, the wiper motor wiring loom has also been replaced within the headlining as a fault was continually blowing the fuse. This has now been rectified.

Replacing a leaking core plug

The water leak on our 1947 MG TC is due to a leaking core plug. We have now replaced the core plug and the pool of water on the floor has now gone.

TVR Grantura Interior Trim

Work continues on the TVR Grantura interior rebuild. Donna is working on recovering the seats with the Poppy leather and has manufactured the new piping.

One For The Future: 1990 Evante

Today, we welcomed a beautifully little 1990 Evante in to the workshops.

From the factory, the interior of the Evante is best discussed as ‘fits where it touches’ so the current owner is looking for us to spend a little time inside the car tidying up where we can and adding a few finishing touches that were perhaps left off when new.

This will be a lovely project to be involved in so hopefully we’ll aim to see the car again in the not to distant future.

Source: Wikipedia

The Evante, designed and invented by George Walter Robinson, is an English automobile which began production in 1987 in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. Engine tuning company Vegantune had been restoring Lotus cars and making some improvements to them. They decided to build a complete new car and set up a separate company, Evante Cars Ltd, to make them.

Engine tuning company Vegantune had been restoring Lotus Elan cars and making some improvements to them. They decided to build a complete new car and set up a separate company, Evante Cars Ltd, to make them.

The car’s looks were heavily inspired by the Lotus Elan and it was powered by the Ford Kent based Vegantune VTA 1.6 and later 1.7-litre twin overhead cam engine driving the rear wheels through a gearbox originally from a  Ford Sierra. The fibreglass body and carbon-fibre was mounted onto a space frame chassis with independent suspension all round. Disc brakes were fitted front and rear.

The cars were intended to be available as either complete or in kit form but all cars were supplied fully built and were produced at a rate of about one a week. The bodies were fitted out with leather seats, walnut dashboard and electric windows.

An attempt was made to revive the car in 2001, but this was unsuccessful. Lotus Restoration Specialists Spydercars, Whittlesey now own the rights to the name and the fibre glass moulds.

Tidying the E-Type interior trim

Whilst in our workshops Donna has taken some time to work on tidying a couple of areas within the interior that would benefit from a little improvement. We have changed some of the fixings for new, double stitched the gearshift gaiter surround and fitted new anti-slip treads in the rear.

Bridge Classic Cars: Classic Car Transportation

Bridge Classic Cars Classic Car Transportation. A busy day on the road today as we delivered our Lagonda down to New Milton.

From there, we took a trip into London to collect our 1929 Morris Minor from Putney before heading back to the docks at Felixstowe for delivery.

Jaguar E-Type Sofa: available for sale

The ultimate statement piece for your home, office or workplace.

How would you like to help design and own one of the most luxurious automotive pieces ever to be produced?

Renowned for our world class classic car restorations, Bridge Classic Cars are producing the very first Chesterfield sofa and drinks display combined, using an original 1967 Jaguar E-Type bodyshell.

We are now in the design stages of the rebuild but have plenty of opportunity for the new owner to put their mark/stamp on the design process. Interior colour choices, drinks cabinet design, materials, colours can all be decided.

This would make the perfect luxury furniture piece for anyone with the space to display and the desire to own this one off-piece.

If you are interested in purchasing our Jaguar E-Type sofa and work alongside us in building the very first and possibly only Jaguar E-Type sofa in existed then please feel free to get in touch.

One For The Future: 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Visiting our workshops this week we have our 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. The car has been very much enjoyed and used but the current owner is now looking to limit the miles and take out the car on summer days and car shows. As part of this change, we are looking to repair the rust issues that have developed on the bodywork and to repaint the car. All 4 wheels requiring refurbishing too.

Triumph TR6 – Accident Damage

Last week saw an unfortunate incident between two classic cars on their way to Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars. One of the vehicles is now with us having undergone a full inspection report put together on behalf the insurance company.

Damage to the front section has caused a ripple effect through three quarters of the vehicle resulting in the doors being the last effect area. The front valance, bumper, bonnet section too the majority of the force so replacement parts and repairs will be required.

Once approved and possibly inspected we will get to work on carrying out the necessary repairs and have the car back on the road , hopefully in time for some upcoming events.

Morgan 4/4 running issues

Our 1964 Morgan 4/4 is in the workshops for a service and to look into an over-heating issue that has developed. Whilst in we need to look at running issues that looks to be coming from low compression on No3 and a possible problem with the clutch.

Finally, the wiring under the dash is very untidy and certain areas are a little questionable so this will need to be addressed too. This may result in a new wiring loom being manufactured.

Festival Of Wheels 2019

A busy weekend this weekend at Bridge Classic Cars as the team spread themselves across three amazing local motoring events.

Pete, Ady and Donna spent the weekend atย Festival Of Wheels, Trinity Parkย in Ipswich.

Meanwhile, Craig spent the day with the guys atย Team HARD Racing, supporting Carl Boardley as he continues his season in theย BTCCย atย Snetterton. and Gordon took our 2008 Bentley GT Continental over toย Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars.

British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton

A busy weekend this weekend at Bridge Classic Cars as the team spread themselves across three amazing local motoring events.

Craig spent the day with the guys at Team HARD Racing, supporting Carl Boardley as he continues his season in the BTCC at Snetterton.

The day started out early with a team breakfast before the technicians got to work on race preparations on the VW’s.

Before the race we got the opportunity to head down on to the grid to check out the cars as they got themselves into grid position.

We enjoyed three fantastic Touring Car races along with Ginetta and Formula 4 meets on the day too.

A huge thank you to Team HARD Racing for looking after us and BTCC for putting on a great day.

Review – Source: BTCC

BTC Racing fought back from a challenging qualifying session to secure a double podium in the latest rounds of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton.ย 

Qualifying saw Northern Irish racer Chris Smiley settle for the 13thย quickest time, with the tight nature of the times being reflected by the fact that he was less than a tenth-of-a-second away from ninth. Bath-based team-mate Josh Cook meanwhile had the added penalty of success ballast on his car as he qualified in 19th.

The opening encounter saw Smiley lose places on the opening lap, before fighting back to 14thย place by the finish to secure a points finish although Cook would be left with a 20thย place finish to his name.

In race twoโ€™s opening lap, Smiley slipped back to 15th. From there however, the Northern Irish racer battled his way through the pack to take the flag in eighth place. As an additional reward, Smiley was then drawn on pole for the final race of the weekend.

Cook found himself in the heart of the midfield action, but fought his way into the points in 15thย place.

Smiley would end his weekend with a strong run to third place, fighting at the sharp end throughout as he became the only driver to secure a podium finish on the hard compound.

Cook meanwhileย made the most of the soft tyre with his best race of the weekend, scything his way through the field with a number of impressive overtaking moves to finish the race in second spot โ€“ giving BTC Racing a stunning double podium.

โ€œQualifying didnโ€™t show where we were as I got held up in traffic,โ€ said Smiley. โ€œI knew we would have a quick car for race day and the balance was good. We had a few things to work on but we were strong on all three tyres and that was reflected in the results.

โ€œI knew the hard tyre would be slower in race three but I just took a steady approach and made sure I stayed out of trouble. To be rewarded with a podium is great, especially when Josh was there too.

โ€œIโ€™ve had some bad luck so far this season but hopefully this weekend will be the one where that luck changes. Weโ€™ve been quick at every race but you canโ€™t control what other drivers do. Iโ€™m looking forward to going back to Thruxton as I think we can be strong when we return.โ€

โ€œSaturday was tough and the car wasnโ€™t quite doing what we wanted,โ€ said Cook. โ€œWe had a few issues and the balance wasnโ€™t quite there in qualifying, and we did what we could.

โ€œWe were out of position a bit but race one was always going to be tough with the weight so we took the double hit with the tyres, which was quite demoralising as a driver because I knew we couldnโ€™t do anything.

โ€œWe moved up in race two despite some damage to the exhaust and then on the soft tyre in race three, I just got my head down and pushed on. I knew there were guys ahead on the hard tyre so I picked them off, but I didnโ€™t expect to get a podium.

โ€œThe team did a mega job for us to come from 13thย and 18thย on the grid to finish with both cars in the top three.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s ended up being a fantastic way for us to kick off the second half of the year,โ€ said Bert Taylor, BTC Racing Team Principal. โ€œThe whole team has knuckled down to fight back from a qualifying session where circumstances went against us, and Chris and Josh have delivered the goods on race day.

โ€œFor Chris to get onto the podium on the hard tyre was fantastic, and Josh did a great job to come through the pack from where he was starting race three. We can now go to Thruxton looking to build on these results and try to fight at the front at a circuit where we know the Honda will be strong.โ€


Meanwhile; Pete, Ady and Donna spent the weekend atย Festival Of Wheelsย in Ipswich and Gordon enjoyed a day out at Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars.

Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars 2019

A busy weekend this weekend at Bridge Classic Cars as the team spread themselves across three amazing local motoring events.

Gordon took our 2008 Bentley GT Continental over to Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars.

Pete, Ady and Donna spent the weekend at Festival Of Wheels in Ipswich and Craig enjoyed a day of Touring Cars at Snetterton thanks to Team Hard Racing.

The Helmingham Festival of Classic and Sports Cars is a wonderful day out for car enthusiasts and the whole family.

Every year there is an amazing range of exhibiting vehicles displayed in front of the magnificent, moated Helmingham Hall, surrounded by the ancient deer park and the Grade 1 Listed Gardens. The 2018 event had an attendance of over 1000 exhibiting cars and over 7,000 people enjoyed displays in the main ring, trade & craft stalls, live music, the Grade I Listed Gardens & great local food & drink stalls.

Fantastically, attendees last year helped us raise ยฃ6000 for the charity EACH (East Angliaโ€™s Childrenโ€™s Hospice)

1947 MG TC Valet

We have called in the services of Paul Johnson Valeting this weekend to give our 1947 MG TC a thorough clean up.

As the car has been sitting outside (under cover) for some time the body work was looking really tired and paintwork faded.

The clean has completely transformed the look of the car and given it a new lease of life.

Now we need to address the water leak issue…

1960 Jensen 541R – Awaiting Restoration

Awaiting restoration, we have our 1960 Jensen 541R with matching number engine. The Jensen Owner’s Club have confirmed the identity of the vehicle so she will be stored away until such time as a full restoration can begin.

All in a Jaguar E-Type Roadster…

We often get asked if it is possible for 2 people to go on a 2 week holiday, take everything they need, including the 2 person inflatable kayak, all in a jaguar E-Type Roadster…and as we always say, ‘yes it is’…

Rolls Royce Engine Issues

We have some substantial engine issues to contend with on our 1970 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 1.

The head gasket has gone which has resulted in the water getting through and over heating the engine. One of the push rods is also severely buckled and we believe the inlet manifold has developed a hair-line crack.

At this stage it looks as though the engine will need to be removed and either rebuilt of replaced with an alternative.

MGTC rebuilding the brakes

We have discovered that our newest arrival, our 1947 MG TC has little to no brakes so busy has got to working stripped and rebuilding.

Whilst the wheels are off we will also touch up the red and black areas that could benefit from a little attention.

Jensen Owners Club Visit

David Turnage from the Jensen Owner’s Club has visited today to inspect our three Jensen’s. In order to register the cars, a representative from the club is required to verify the paperwork and confirm the authenticity of the vehicles.

And, as always, he arrives in style…