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Craig Ranson

Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars

Nostalgia – Our Friend Tony Meets an Old Friend!

August 16, 2022

A good friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Tony, had a run-in with a dear old friend at this year’s Helmingham Hall Classic & Sports Car Festival. His old BMW 2002 which he had in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

”Great day at Helmingham with Julie and chums from the MGCC. Whilst walking around, imagine my surprise to spot an old friend, my old BMW 2002, owned this old girl back in the late 80’s early 90’s for around 4 years, had a wonderful chat with the owner and a sit inside, great memories, even still has the 80’s radio I installed.”

Behind the Scenes – Shooting the 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed

August 16, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars team have been shooting our latest competition: the 203MPH, 600BHP 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed. The absolute epitome of style and elegance married with pure power and performance.

Before anyone could take it out and drive it, it was fully checked over by the Bridge Classic Cars workshop team who have the car the green light to head up to The Hangar for filming.

As the 6-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 roared into life on the pad outside our secure storage facility, we all knew this was going to be an amazing shoot. From the first symphonious signs of life, the Bentley quietened down and become all the more civilised. The stunning anthracite paintwork danced underneath the summer sun from any angle, while its quilted beluga black leather gave the imposing long-legged GT car a cabin made for comfort as it made its way along the taxiway.

The 12-cylinder engine made its way along at little more than a whisper, gently pulling along at only a touch more than idle.

Molly was firmly behind the wheel and loving every moment. As the GT Speed made lap after lap of the filming location, you could feel it wanting to stretch its legs. Its inherent need to cover great distances, at wonderful speeds in supreme comfort is so ingrained in a car like the Continental GT. But, it’s also well-mannered and light to the touch with its controls, the linear acceleration (a characteristic of the twin-turbo W12) means that can be trusted and relied on to behave itself in a civilised everyday world.

And with all of that, we want you to experience the majesty that is the 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed. That’s right, you could be the next owner of this tour-de-force of engineering, style and excellence. Head over to the Bridge Classic Cars Competitions right now and get your tickets for the 2008 Bentley Continental GT Speed.

Or, to check out the full gallery of the car and video take a look below:

Watercolour – Artwork of our 1959 Jensen 541R From Helmingham

August 16, 2022

Local artist Paul Seymour has sent us in this beautiful watercolour painting of our 1959 Jensen 541R that he sketched at our stand at this years Helmingham Hall Classic & Sports Car Festival.

We brought along the 541R which is in the early stages of its restoration with us.

We’ve even got some photos of Paul at work while he roughed out the sketch which you can see below and head over to his website and check out some of the other amazing artwork he has done and the tuition courses he offers.

Progress – Update on the 1971 MG B Roadster

August 16, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on getting the final bits and pieces sorted on the 1971 MG B Roadster before it heads off to its new home.

To begin with, the team at our Suffolk HQ discovered a crack in one of the flexi-hoses so that has been replaced with a new piece and all others were fully inspected and found to be ok.

Next, the team could fit the new brake master and wheel cylinder. This was installed into the car with all of the necessary pipework fitted up before the system can be filled and bled.

Finally, the new points and condenser could be fit into the distributor and the timing checked.

Adjustments – Adjusting and Repairing the Trim on the 2005 Suzuki Everyvan

August 16, 2022

The paint and body team at Bridge Classic Car have been working on repairing and adjusting the trim on the 2005 Suzuki Everyvan.

A lot of the trims on the tiny campervan haven’t been put on level or straight, while other pieces of the car arent square onto the body such as some of the door mechanisms and the rear lights. So, our in-house body team have been working on getting everything exactly where it should be and working perfectly too.

Headed Off – The 1959 Jensen 541R Off to Blasting

August 12, 2022

The 1959 Jensen 541R ‘Hepburn’ has been completely stripped back to a bare shell by the Bridge Classic Cars workshop as part of its restoration and to prepare it for blasting.

The bodyshell has been loaded onto a rotisserie for media blasting so that every part of the frame and body can be got to and exposed with the carefully selected blast media. The bodyshell was then loaded onto one of our trailers to be transported to a local trusted specialist to carry out the job.

Once complete, it will come back and be inspected and assessed by the restoration departments.

American Car Show – Stonham Barns

August 12, 2022

In association with the Knuckle Busters UK Car Club, The American Car Show is back again with a massive range of American Cars, Trucks, Hot Rods and Bikes on display.

There will be a Show ‘n’ Shine parade along with Trophies for the best in category.

There will be Rock ‘n’ Roll Bands and DJ’s, Slot Car Indy 500 Racing, Walkabout Characters and Showring Displays.

Plenty of Trade and Club stands, an Autojumble and food and drink outlets.

Please Note – this event is for all American Vehicles; any non-American will not be permitted onto the Showground.

Please pre-register your vehicle if you want to show it to help with our parking areas.

Arrival for Show Cars is between 7am and 9.30am.

Passport Holders can receive a 50% discount on tickets, please call the Events Office to make a booking. 01449 711 111

A range of food and drink outlets will be available on the showground with outdoor and indoor seating. We also have an onsite restaurant located in the shopping village or a tea room located in The Teapot Pottery by the bouncy pillow.

Stonham Barns Park does not just offer great shows and events, we also have many attractions onsite including an owl and bird of prey centre, pirate adventure golf course, 9 hole golf course, vintage dodgem rides and funfair rides, indoor soft play centre, fishing lakes, teapot pottery, restaurant and tea room and plenty of unique shops and much more.

Classic Car Show – Stonham Barns

August 12, 2022

Stonham Barns Park are proud and thrilled to be hosting The Classic Car Show.

The show, which has been staged at Stonham for over 15 years, is a wonderful day out for all the family with an abundance of things to do and see.

Come and see the 100’s of Classic Cars and Classic Bikes that will be at the show, along with Club Stands, Auto Jumble, Trade Stands, numerous food outlets, bars and great live music.

Everyone is welcome, whether you are a classic car enthusiast, a family wanting to try something different for a day out or wanting to display your pride and joy.

Stonham Barns Park look forward to welcoming you to the Classic Car Show.

Parts & Pieces – Painting the Panels and Doors of the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible

August 12, 2022
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The doors and panels of the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible have been moved and set up inside the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint booth to be finished in matching Snowberry White to the rest of the body.

Each of the pieces were carefully cleaned, set up and then cleaned again. This is crucial to achieving the best possible finish for the car. The specific shade of Snowberry White has been mixed to purposefully be uniform across the entire car as part of its restoration.

Her Majesty – The Jensen White Lady Has Been Restored

August 12, 2022

Close friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Joerg, has recently completed this absolutely beautiful restoration on a very special car.

He has recently completed the complete and total restoration of the Jensen White Lady. The White Lady is the very first prototype, car number 1. Not a prototype for a model, but for Jensen itself. The Jensen Brothers created the car in 1934/1935, an entirely handbuilt and beautiful touring body.

The car has had an amazing and storied past. Sold in 1936, it was recommissioned in around 1957 before being put up for sale around Bristol. It was then bought by a Canadian gentleman, who organised the White Lady to be transported over to Canada at the end of 1957 before arriving in early 1958 with the cold weather had damaged the engine block. The car was used in Canada throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, in the mid-1970s the car was stripped back to its bare aluminium with all intentions of being fully restored. There is sat until 2016 when it was bought by a collector and restorer.

The car then made its way back over the Atlantic into the hands of our friend Joerg, who is a world authority on the Jensen marque. He has been building up the car and putting it back to its original specification complete with Ford V8 and exquisite white paintwork which gave the car its original name.

And now, thanks to Joerg’s hard work and dedication, the White Lady is once again back in full splendour.

Behind the Scenes – Live Draw of the 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10

August 12, 2022

This week’s live draw was a very special one. Not only was it for our incredible 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10 but it was the first of a new format for our classic car live draws thanks to our amazing friends over at Bruizer.

The new way of doing the live draws means the ability to swap between multiple cameras during the live stream but also to play in some of our videos of competition cars and updates from our restoration workshop! We’re really excited and hope you are too!

The imposing Viper sat in the centre of our competition building, pride of place. This is one of the most exciting cars we’ve ever had the opportunity to bring to our amazing followers. Molly, Craig and Freddie showed our watchers around the eclectic mix we currently have at our Suffolk HQ. From a 1950 Land Rover Series 1 to a 200 MPH 2008 Bentley and everything you can imagine in between.

But, everyone wanted to know if they had the ticket which would mean they were going to take delivery of the iconic 1990s supercar. As always, our pre-published entry lists go live on our website after the tickets close at 7:10pm. We use Google Random Number Generator to spin the metaphorical wheel of fortune, and find the winner ticket number. After a test run using numbers not included in the entry list, it was time to find our winner.

Molly input the criteria of 1 to 9999 and with one swift touch of a button, the Viper had a new home. The winner was Mike Fairley with ticket number 3938. The ecstatic new owner of the legendary Dodge Viper!

Full-Size Fun – An Aston Martin DB5 Made from Lego

August 12, 2022

Video Credit: Metro.co.uk

How amazing is this! A full life-sized replica of an Aston Martin DB5 but made entirely of lego!

This unique creation will be sitting pride of place at the Lego flagship store in London for all to see. It’s made of nearly 350,000 individual pieces and took 67 days to complete with help from the Aston Martin Heritage department who provided all the necessary specifications to make it an exact 1:1 scale.

Take a look at the video from the Metro website!

Routing – Running the New Wiring Harness in the 1971 Bristol 411

August 12, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars has been working on routing the new wiring harness on the 1971 Bristol 411.

At our Suffolk HQ, the Bristol has come in to be rewired and with that, the team have paid careful attention to the routing of each individual wire and its placement/length. The team have used period correct ‘P’ clips to clamp the wiring runs and separate them into the various systems for the car. Along with that, the team have made up some new wires and added them into the harness for the temperature sensor and the ignition coil.

Each of the wires was then prepared and tightened down into the power blocks in advance of the car being tested soon.

Replaced – New Hazard Light Switch on the 1987 Daimler Double Six

August 12, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have completed the final job on the 1987 Daimler Double Six which has been with us for restoration.

The hazard light switch, located on the steering column on the Daimler Double Six, was found to have an issue. So, the workshop team have carefully removed the shrowding on the steering column to remove the old switch. With the old unit removed, the team could replace it with a new piece and then test to confirm everything worked as it should.

With everything being given the green light, the car was loaded up and taken over to our secure storage facility, The Hangar, to be stored for its owner.

Coming Along – Body of the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible in Colour!

August 12, 2022

Recently, the Bridge Classic Cars paintshop has been getting various panels and parts for the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible finished in its original colour of Snowberry White.

Now, it was time for the team to bring the bodyshell into our paint booth and bring it all together, with the bodyshell finished in the classic off-white colour.

After thoroughly cleaning down the bodyshell and bootlid, our partner Alan could begin laying down the layers of colour. These are built up carefully to produce the best finish possible for the car and also to have enough paint to sand back in preparation for the polishing.

Wiring Repairs – Fixing Some Wiring Issues with the 1968 Triumph TR5

August 11, 2022

The next step on the 1968 Triumph TR5 in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop was to resolve a few wiring issues.

Our technician Dave went through several of the systems and found a continuity issue with some of the wiring around the gearbox. The team traced it to a broken connector which was replaced and tested.

In Colour – Inside of the Bonnet for the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible Painted

August 10, 2022

The paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on getting the underside of the bonnet for the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible into colour as part of its restoration.

The paint and body team have methodically cleaned down and prepared the bonnet for this step of the paint which first involves a layer of epoxy primer before laying down the Snowberry White paint onto the panel.

Update – Working on the 1971 MG B Roadster

August 10, 2022

Our 1971 MG B Roadster, which was won last week through our Bridge Classic Cars Competitions, has been in the workshop to have a few of the final jobs done on the classic roadster before it heads off to its new home.

The team have swapped out the brake master cylinder for a brand-new replacement due to not being able to bleed the system. Once this was all fit up and plumbed in, our technicians could then work on replacing the wheel cylinders and resetting the pistons back into the front calipers correctly.

Finally, it was time to get the steering wheel realigned while also replacing the rubber boots on the track-rod ends.

Fitted – New Tonneau Cover on the 1962 Morris Minor Convertible

August 10, 2022

The trim shop at Bridge Classic Cars has fitted the brand new tonneau cover to the 1962 Morris Minor Convertible which recently arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ.

Our trimmer, Brian, carefully cut the necessary holes for the fasteners to go through after carefully measuring out the cover over the lowered hood on the car. This was to achieve the best possible fit for the classic Morris Minor and enhance the amazing condition this wonderful vintage Morris is in.

Final Stage – The 1958 Jensen 541R in Final Primer

August 10, 2022

The 1958 Jensen 541R has been in the Bridge Classic Cars paint booth to have its final stage of primer laid down onto the bodyshell.

The team have been working hard to prepare the bodywork of the classic GT car. Every surface has been carefully sanded, worked and primed several times over to make sure everything is perfect.

Then the final glass-like primer could be sprayed onto the bodyshell and left to cure properly in our in-house oven.

Out Back – Repairing the Rear Hatch on the 2005 Suzuki Everyvan

August 10, 2022

The paint and body team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on addressing a small crack in the rear hatch of the 2005 Suzuki Everyvan.

The team have carefully stripped back the area to expose the bare metal for our fabrication team to weld back up before grinding the area as smooth as possible. From there, the paint and body team took over finessing the area further in order to get it perfectly flat and smooth with minimal filler work needed.

Underneath – Repairing the Rear Valance on the 1986 Daimler DS420

August 9, 2022

The fabrication shop at the Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop have been continuing to work on the 1986 Daimler DS420 in for restoration.

This time, the team have been handmaking several patch panels to the inner structure of the rear wings which were then plug welded into the body for strength. Then, they could move on to hand making one of the bigger patch panels needed.

This piece runs along the entire bottom edge at the back of the car. From a flat sheet of steel, the team have shaped and tweaked the panel into shape for a direct replacement. Shrinking and stretching the bottom edges to match the curve of the panel. Once in shape, the team could weld and smooth in the end caps which have been completely made by hand by our fabricator Monty.

Then, the whole piece could be test fit to see if any areas needed clearancing the bodywork to accept the new piece.

Topped Off – Repainting the Hood Frame on the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible

August 9, 2022

The paint and body team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on refurbishing and refinishing the convertible hood frame on the 1969 Morris Minor Convertible in for restoration.

The part was stripped back, cleaned and inspected before being primered and then finished in matching snowberry white to the rest of the car.

Back Together – Points & Condenser and Refitting the Radiator on the 1984 Lada 1200

August 9, 2022

The Bridge Classic Cars workshop have been working on getting the 1984 Lada 1200 back together to begin testing the classic estate.

To begin with, the team replaced the points and condenser in preparation for road testing the next stage of the work.

The radiator of the classic Lada had been sent off to a local, trusted specialist to be repaired before being delivered back. The team could then put it back into the core support and begin to refit the various hoses in the engine bay before refilling the coolant and checking for any leaks or issues. All was ok on inspection.

The team then took the car out on a road test after correcting the timing and came back with the all-clear.

Behind the Scenes – Shooting the 1981 Alfa Romeo Giulietta

August 9, 2022
1981 Alfa Romeo Giulietta

The Bridge Classic Cars team have been working behind the scenes to bring you this, our latest competition car. Our 1981 Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

After being checked over by our in-house workshops and given the all-clear for filming, it was taken over to our filming location at The Hangar. There, it was handed over to Freddie and Molly to get ready for its competition debut.

The stunning Shahini blue paintwork contrasted against the evergreen backgrounds of the former airforce base. Its characterful Alfa Romeo twin-cam 4-cylinder engine gave every sense of personality and music to the occasion. As Molly took it round the loop, the Alfa behaved beautifully. With the windows down, the sunroof open and the sun beaming down, there weren’t many better places to be at that moment in time.

And, all of this could be yours. You could become the lucky new owner of this stunning 1981 Alfa Romeo Giulietta with Bridge Classic Cars Competitions! Head over to the website by clicking here and get your tickets now.

Stopping Power – New Discs, Pads and Calipers on the 1968 Triumph TR5

August 9, 2022

The workshop team at Bridge Classic Cars have been addressing some issues with the 1968 Triumph TR5, starting with the brakes.

The team have removed the old pads, discs and calipers from the classic Triumph for brand new units to help with the stunning convertible stop properly. Once the old units were off the car, the team could also thoroughly inspect all the suspension and running gear on the car.

© Bridge Classic Cars Holdings Ltd, T/ as Bridge Classic Cars. Registered in England and Wales with company number 5047706.