News

New Mercedes In

This stunning 1986 420SL has just come in for a re-commission. Our technicians will take a look over this classic to evaluate what needs to

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Patrol Painted

The painted panels have been fitted back on our 1996 Nissan Patrol. They’ve been flattened and polished, and are now ready for fitting up.

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Porsche Painted

Our classic 1982 Porsche 911SC has just had its final colour applied in the paint booth and is looking fantastically shiny and fresh! We’re looking

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EADT – April 2021

A great article in the East Anglian Daily Times about one of our recent local winners, Matthew Sudgen and his 1949 Morris Minor Lowlight. “I

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Mr Genlloud – Suffolk

“Absolutely delighted with the renewed headlining – superb job displaying tremendous skill and the considerable care taken not to harm the vulnerable materials of this

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Green With Envy

David Turnage popped into the workshop today as he has manufactured the spare wheel carrier for our Peony Red Jensen. David arrived in his fantastic

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Happy Stag Owner

Congratulations to Gamal Zindani who won our stunning 1971 Triumph Stag V8 with lucky ticket number 1047. The new addition to his driveway was dropped

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Running Smooth

Our 1957 Jensen 541R/S is having some final adjustments to its engine and mechanics. We’ve just fitted heat protection to our plug leads, made a

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New Vinyl For The Nissan

Brian has recently recovered the door capping’s of our Nissan Patrol in fresh vinyl to give them a new lease of life.

New Mercedes In

This stunning 1986 420SL has just come in for a re-commission. Our technicians will take a look over this classic to evaluate what needs to be done. At a first glance there are some serious signs of rust on the lower sills, worn and torn interior, paint bubbling, chips and blemishes as well as cracks in the glass. We’re looking forward to getting this charming classic back on the road and looking healthy again.

Radiator Trouble Resolved

We’ve had some issues with the radiator in our 1957 Jensen 541R/S which has now been resolved as has the issues surrounding lagging oil pipes.

White E-Type’s Front Suspension

Our 1973 White E-Type Roadster has had its front suspension fully stripped down as Scott starts dismantling the rear axle in order to repaint and refurbish all the parts.

This lovely E-Type came to us in working condition, so much of the stripping is purely to take elements apart to clean and tidy up, and to get to what’s around them.

The body of the E-Type has been placed on the rollover spit and is ready for media blasting. Our media blasting is done at Abbey Protective Coatings which includes blasting heavy-duty particles at the metal to strip the paint off be leave the base metal remaining in good condition.

Lilac Jensen Interior Seats

Lydia has been working on the interior of the 1960 Jensen 541R which is Gordons restoration project and is fondly referred to as the Lilac Jensen as that’s the colour he’s chosen for the paintwork.

Lydia has made the second front seat backboard. First, she started by glueing white leather to the millboard, creating the piping to go around the curved edge and then glueing the piping in place around the underside edge of the board. She then marked out lightly where to place the pocket which she made before. Then she glued it into place around the curved edge. After sewing the pocket in place, she took apart the cover of the second seat tub. She marked out the tub which will help her recreate the cover for it. Once she’d taken apart the front base cover, Lydia took it all apart.

Bentley Continental Gets New Interior Trim

We’ve recently had some interior come in from a 1963 S3 Continental for a total re-trim. These seats and pieces of trim are looking tired and well loved, and in need of some TLC. Our trim shop will soon start recovering these seats and making them look brand new again.

Claret Triumph Stag Trim Arrival

The interior trim packs have arrived for our Claret Red Triumph Stag meaning that our trim shop can begin to fit them. Often we create the trim ourselves and refurbish the original trim however on occasions clients prefer to order in a pack of trim parts which we can then fit together.

Patrol Painted

The painted panels have been fitted back on our 1996 Nissan Patrol. They’ve been flattened and polished, and are now ready for fitting up.

Van Gets New Branding

Our works van has recently received some TLC and has now had its final touches in the form of the new branding. We took our van over to Apex Signs who applied our designs.

An 80’s Hatchback With A Secret Addition: Honda City Turbo II

This 1981 Honda City Turbo II is the perfect city hatchback. Being small and nippy, it is perfectly designed to navigate city living, however, this Japanese classic came with a surprising addition that could be stored in the boot: a 49cc motorbike called the Motocompo.

This motorbike is what Honda called a ‘trunk bike’, a small and portable bike designed to be folded up and be stored in the back of your hatchback. This urban mobility solution came back 40 years before anyone really started talking about such concepts, making this Japanense classic a car well ahead of its time.

With a top speed of 18 miles an hour, this suitcase scooter was designed to be ridden through city centres with the idea of parking your car in the suburbs. As accessories go, it’s a lot more cumbersome than a furry steering wheel cover or sporty spoiler, however, it does provide a great deal of practicality.

Honda has recently teased some new folding electric motorbikes, have trademarked the name ‘Motocompacto’, suggesting that these nifty bikes may be making a comeback after being discontinued. Their new Honda E takes on resemblances of its iconic predecessor and has already begun to wow crowds focused in on e-city cars. With no wing mirrors, the new Honda E’s sleek design instead finds them as cameras inside the car, located on the dashboard with the 6 other display screens, making your commute navigation system a newly enhanced DJ deck.

You can read Top Gear’s detailed feature here.

TR5 Seat Belts fitted

The 1968 Triumph TR5 has had its seat belts fitted by Mauro who tells us they needed a bit of modifying and focus to get them to fit perfectly, however no problem is too small or big for our technicians. With the seat belts firmly fitted, our TR5 is progressively becoming more and more road worthy!

The Duke’s Defender: Take A Look At The Duke Of Edinburgh’s Custom Land Rover Hearse

A specially modified and designed Land Rover Defender Gun Bus has been revealed as the late Duke Of Edinburgh’s hearse. In an intimate conversation with the Queen, Phillip said “Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor.”

Known for his love of Defenders and Land Rovers, this final drive seems only fitting. With the hearse designed and engineered with the Duke, this Defender is an incredibly sentimental restoration.

The modified Defender Gun Bus has been created by Foleys in 2016 and designed with the Duke. In 2005 the Defender bus was commissioned and has since been built onto a galvanised chassis with a hand-built rear body in a traditional Deep Bronze Green as requested.

According to a report by The Sun, the funeral is set to be a ‘green funeral’ as the Defender Hearse is rumoured to be a hybrid.

The funeral company, Leverton and Sons, who has organised the funerals of other Royal Family members and is the oldest funeral directors in London. In 2017 they became the first company to offer an electric hearse, which is based on the Nissan Leaf. It is said that the Duke’s coffin will be an environmentally friendly wool coffin.

Peony Red Jensen Bonnet Catches

Paul has manufactured some new bonnet catches for our 1960 Jensen 541S. These components are crucial to keeping the bonnet closed and secure. Being made by hand, these catches have been designed and made to fit our Jensen perfectly.

Francis Barnett Up And Running

Our 1953 Francis Barnett Rigid Body Trials motorbike was having some issues starting, so we had John take a look who quickly diagnosed the issue as dirt and debris getting caught in the carburettor.

Porsche Painted

Our classic 1982 Porsche 911SC has just had its final colour applied in the paint booth and is looking fantastically shiny and fresh! We’re looking forward to seeing the final details such as the bumpers and whale tail painted and seeing the finished product.

Nissan Patrol Prepped

Our adventurous 1996 Nissan Patrol has made its way into the paint shop to have its next stage of paint. Its currently been masked and primed and now awaiting its colour.

Porsche Primed And Ready For Paint

Our stunning Porsche 911SC has been masked and prepped for paint and will now have its respray. We can’t wait to see it looking shiny and new after our expert paint technicians have finished.

1959 Jensen 541R Resto-Project

We’ve recently welcomed this 1959 Jensen 541R into the workshop as a restoration project for someone to take on to turn into their dream Jensen. The beauty of retoration projects like this is that this Jensen is a blank canvas which can be made back to originaly and become a custom classic.

If you’re interested in purchasing this, you can get in touch via info@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk

Putting The British Back Into The Jaguar

Having spent a lot of its life across the pond in sunny California, it’s only natural to find American modifications on our 1973 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 3, however, now back on home soil, parts such as rubber bumpers can be converted back to British/European standard. James has welded up all the holes and repaired the dents which had previously been filled, resulting in poor symmetry on the front.

Scott has started to to disassemble the front suspension components ready to be refurbished as well.

Pricey has scraped the body shell, removed the under sealer and sound deadening for media blasting. Pricey told us that the condition of the E-Type body is immaculate and holds very little rust for the age of the car.

EADT – April 2021

A great article in the East Anglian Daily Times about one of our recent local winners, Matthew Sudgen and his 1949 Morris Minor Lowlight.

“I didn’t realise at first that I had won, so when they called me I thought it was a wind-up. I only bought one ticket – it was incredible. It’s brilliant to drive. It’s very rustic and very different to drive than modern cars.”

Matthew tells us he’s taken it out a few times already and is loving it.

In a wonderful cyclical move, the Morris Minor that started its life in Ipswich and then moved around the UK has found its way back to Ipswich with its new owner.

We wish you many more happy miles, Matthew!

You can read more here.

Land Rover Gets A New Gear Box

We’ve just had the gearbox reconditioned and refitted into our 1964 Land Rover Series IIa. We recently had some trouble with the gearbox seizing due to the teeth from the third gear falling off. We sent the gearbox off to Last Transmission to have it rebuilt.

After receiving the gearbox back, Scott and Ady were tasked with lowering the gearbox back in place through the centre column of the Land Rover. Using their initiative, they set up our small engine crane to help lift it in place.

Now the gearbox has been refitted with no extra complications, Scott has been re-fitting the panels and seats ready for the team to take it out for its pre-launch photoshoot.

Suffolk Wire Business Magazine – April 2021

The Suffolk Wire featured our latest competition winner, Matthew Sugden who received our 1949 Morris Minor Lowlight last week.

Matthew tells us he’s already taken out his new classic a handful of times and is loving it! We’re delighted to hear he’s enjoying his Morris.

You can read the article here.

Mr Genlloud – Suffolk

“Absolutely delighted with the renewed headlining – superb job displaying tremendous skill and the considerable care taken not to harm the vulnerable materials of this 80 year old unrestored Alvis”

Green With Envy

David Turnage popped into the workshop today as he has manufactured the spare wheel carrier for our Peony Red Jensen. David arrived in his fantastic dual-toned green 1939 Alvis Speed 25. This spectacular green machine is in pristine condition and is David’s pride and joy. David is the 541 Registrar of the Jensen Owners Club.

“In the Alvis Speed TwentyFive the makers have produced a car which will delight those who appreciate fast motoring with an ample margin of safety. A very quick response to the accelerator is matched by exceptional steadiness under heavy braking conditions, light and accurate steering, and road holding of that special quality which is so rarely encountered nowadays.” – George Butlin

This is the spare wheel carrier that David manufactured for us:

Happy Stag Owner

Congratulations to Gamal Zindani who won our stunning 1971 Triumph Stag V8 with lucky ticket number 1047. The new addition to his driveway was dropped over this morning by Mauro, and Mr Zindani seemed over the moon with his new motor.

Mr Zindani said over the phone how overwhelmed and shocked he was to win the Triumph Stag, explaining that he’d always loved classic cars and owned quite a few over the years including a 1275 GT Mini, much like the one we have up for grabs. He fondly reminisced his years driving his own 1275 GT which was his first car. Mr Zindani has also entered in for our Mini GT competition, for which we wish him the best of luck.

Mr Zindani is pictured here with his dog, Rocco.

Running Smooth

Our 1957 Jensen 541R/S is having some final adjustments to its engine and mechanics. We’ve just fitted heat protection to our plug leads, made a bracket to secure the alternator, made a gear leaver and re-bled the clutch and breaks.

Jaguar MKVII Out Of Paint And Into Chrome

Our classic 1954 Jaguar MKVII has officially left the paint bay and gone back into the fabrication bay to have the doors re-attached as well as chrome elements such as window frames, door handles and door catches.

New Seats For The DB9

Craig’s Aston Martin DB9 is set to get some new seats as the trim shop begin on the task of freshening up the interior. Kath began by carefully removing the covers, un-cliping the handle mechanisms and then removing the air bag which had been previously disabled by Aston Martin themselves. Kath then removed the retainers out from the inside of the metal frame and take out the centre piece which was attached with Velcro. Once the squab was removed, she could then remove the switches at the base of the seat. Once this was done, she could untie the cable tires and gently pull the cover out from around the wires. The seats contain small retainers to hold the cover on as well as strips of velcro, such as down the centre. Kath then removed the heated panels from the base and squab and the seat belt clip cover.

With all the external pieces now removed, Kath can begin the same process on the other seat and recover them both.

Peony Red Grills And Shields

Paul has fit the heat shield into the engine as well as the front grill and badge into our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. Every day our Peony Red is starting to resemble a real car more and more as it makes exciting developments daily.

Lilac Jensen Gets New Seats

Our Jensen 541R restoration project, currently owned by our director, Gordon, is currently getting new seats made by our trim shop. Most recently the tubs have been stripped to be recovered. All the old rails have been removed and old patterns have been measured up next to the tubs to see if they fit or if the designs need to be modified. Parts were then marked out in new white leather to cover the seats, including the seat skirts, side panels, and front section of the seat. Piping along the edge has been made and all the parts have been laid down over the tub.