Mr Setter – Plymouth
“Bridge classic Cars are doing a fantastic job by brightening up our lives with the chance of winning something amazing. I buy tickets for your
“Bridge classic Cars are doing a fantastic job by brightening up our lives with the chance of winning something amazing. I buy tickets for your
We’ve been discussing which modern cars we think are going to age like fine wines and which might fade into the history books. There are
Last week, we had a hat trick give away! Three cars and three winners certainly kept the live draw exciting. A big congratulations to James
The original water pipe on a Lotus Esprit is made from Aluminium and over time the Aluminium starts to deteriorated creating very small holes in
We’ve been very busy this week with winners and photoshoots as well as ongoing works to our current projects! Check out the news section of
Although we’re a classic car company, sometimes we get our hands on other unique transportation devices, such as this late Victorian bath chair that Gordan
Our 1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo has had quite the interesting back story. Originally from the sunny south of France, it was picked up and
There’s been a lot going with week already and its only Wednesday! Take a look at what’s been going on s far. Range Rover Sport
We’ve recently acquired what we believe to be an original 1972 Chevron B20, one of just 7 ever made and raced for Formula 2. The
As we progress to the final stages of our 1960 Jensen 541S body preparation the next major step is to fully assess our fibreglass work,
Our beautiful BMW Z3M has recently had a full gold valet by our friend at Viper Auto Valet. You can see the post here. Doesn’t
Recently we’d looked at buying these two Rovers P5B’s as seen below. Could a few new rovers be on our horizon? We certainly wouldn’t be
The Morris Minor 1000’s indicator stalk had some soldering that our technician Adam found to have perished with age. It was originally covered in tape
Our Electrics specialist, Adam, has recently replaced the fuse box and propeller control switch in our 1965 Amphicar. Here are the before and after shots:
Some drama in the engine workshop! All was seemingly well with the engine re-build however, unbeknown to us, the dipstick tube had previously broken off
Our new 1994 Land Rover Range Rover TDI is getting some top to bottom TLC, starting with the top! The ceiling cloth was in need
From purring to roaring, we’ve seen this Jaguar E-Type race car grow from start to finish. The project itself has been the epitome of Bridge
Tom is our level 3 apprentice, studying classic car mechanics with the aim to graduate as a fully-fledged classic car technician. Growing up, Tamas enjoyed
Now the exterior colour of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has been chosen we are now on to the decision of our interior. All interior components
Ford Escort RS Turbo Photoshoot On Monday shot the 1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo with our friend and talented model, Carnell Cook at Bentwaters. We
Kath has recently refurbished the sun visors in the Morris Minor 1000 as the old ones had deteriorated. This freshening up included drawing around the
The door panels have been made up in the trim shop and fitted into the 504. It’s really satisfying to see everything come together with
Our latest addition to the Bridge Classic Car family is this lorry! Although it looks rather plain and underwhelming now, when designed, it’s going to
More work has been done on our 1960 Peony red Jensen 541S. The latest instalments are the seat covers and pockets that have been made
We’ve had this beautiful 1971 Triumph Spitfire in for work before, so its nice to have it back in for another check-up! Unfortunately, the diagnosis
Our trim technician Kath has made and fitted the convertible roof hood cover that can be placed over the roof when its collapsed down. Making
Craig’s Suzuki GSX400 Custom has come back from Demand Engineering where the exhaust was being fitted. It was a tough decision between a short or
Our new 1994 Land rover – Range Rover TDI has just joined the family but needs some TLC before its ready to go. These refurbishments
We’ve recently welcomed a 1994 Land Rover – Range Rover TDI into the Bridge Classic Car family. There’s a lot of work to do on
This week the centre console trims have been made and fitted in the 1960 Jensen 541R. The first step was to make the top piece,
“Bridge classic Cars are doing a fantastic job by brightening up our lives with the chance of winning something amazing. I buy tickets for your competitions now rather than wasting money on the lottery as the odds are far better. Keep up the good work guys and roll on tomorrow at 7pm. “
We’ve been discussing which modern cars we think are going to age like fine wines and which might fade into the history books. There are a whole host of current cars from run-abouts to super cars that have what it takes to become a classic car.
The conversation was triggered when a copy of the Garage Support landed on our desk in the marketing department, with the magazine open on an article that discussed the top 10 cars on the road over 3 years old. It got us thinking about how modern cars are ageing and which models will take centre stage for the next generation of sought after classics. Ellie, our marketing assistant was happy to see that her Toyota Yaris had made the cut for the top 10 cars, a small victory for a Wednesday afternoon.
Among the guesses made for future classics were the Ford Focus ST, VW Golf MK4, Mazda MX5, Toyota Starlet, Cupra Formentor, Fiat 124 Spider, F-Type Jaguar, Mitsubishi Evo VII and Aston Martin DB9.
The team had different reasons for their guesses, some suggested that much like the Beetle or Ford Escort that started its life as a simple first car, many of the common modern cars could also age well. It’s certainly a temptation to pick up a cheap car now with the foresight of a future classic!
Alternatively, we had some say that modern-day supercars such as Aston Martin DB9 and the Bugatti Veyron would make their way into the hall of classics, in much the same way as 1960’s sports cars such as the Jaguar E-Types developed into long-loved classics.
It’s certainly an interesting thought. Many of the cars we bought as cheap first cars have become sought after classics. But which cars will be the next selection of golden classics?
With the future of automotive engineering venturing into the world of electric motors and self-driving vehicles, will the classic manual petrol be a thing of the past?
We’ve found this lovely Mazda MX5 MK1 that had recently sold for just £1220 with 47,000 miles on the clock. Investing in a pre-1998 Mazda MX5 with low milage may just pay off in the future.
Last week, we had a hat trick give away! Three cars and three winners certainly kept the live draw exciting.
A big congratulations to James Colwell for winning our 1979 Mini Clubman with his lucky ticket number 850. The Mini will be making its way to Gloucester soon.
Our 1998 Jaguar XJR Supercharged was won by Sam Holmes with his ticket number 134. Our Jaguar will be prowling up to Cheshire to truly become the Cheshire Cat!
Finally, our 1999 Mercedes was won by Robert Read with ticket number 131. This lovely modern classic will soon be making its way down to Surrey!
Although Robert’s ticket number was selected, it wasn’t the first ticket number to be chosen by Google’s random number generator. The first ticket pulled was 183 was a number assigned to an unbought ticket. This just goes to show it’s worth buying those extra tickets as that could have been you!
We’ve got our 1972 MGB Roadster to give away tomorrow and with less than 400 tickets left, this beautiful Blaze Orange number is selling out fast!
This has been guaranteed for tomorrow so regardless, this car will find its new owner tomorrow! Could it be you?
The original water pipe on a Lotus Esprit is made from Aluminium and over time the Aluminium starts to deteriorated creating very small holes in the pipework.
Water and holes tend not to agree with one another so a new pipe is required.
These pipes can be purchased but at £400 a the only supplier being in the USA it makes more sense for Dave to make us a new one at the workshops.
This has now been fabricated, fitted and the car runs perfectly once again. Great work from Dave and Pete to diagnose and fix the issue…
We’ve been very busy this week with winners and photoshoots as well as ongoing works to our current projects! Check out the news section of our website for in depth exclusives on our current cars.
This week we aired to live videos! One being on Wednesday night as a Hanger walk around, teasing some of the cars to come which must have enticed some extra ticket buyers as all three competition cars were drawn and won last night!
A big congratulations to James Colwell for winning our 1979 Mini Clubman with his lucky ticket number 850. Our 1998 Jaguar XJR Supercharged was won by Sam Holmes with his ticket number 134. Finally, our 1999 Mercedes was won by Robert Read with ticket number 131. Although his ticket number was selected, it wasn’t the first ticket number to be chosen by Google’s random number generator. The first ticket pulled was 183, a number assigned to an unbought ticket. This just goes to show it’s worth buying those extra tickets as that could have been you!
We released some details about our new Chevron B20 earlier in the week. Here’s a closer look at our new race car. We’re planning on doing an official shoot for this iconic vehicle next week, so stay tuned!
Yesterday we welcomed this 1934 Austin Nippy to the workshop. This little car is visiting us for an engine rebuild. We’ll be uploading more details about the car and its restoration soon!
As you may have seen in our previous blog, our beautiful 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car project has finally been completed. This has been in progress since 2016 and this week we saw the finishing details such as these pinstripes added.
We can’t wait to start it up and photograph it! Keep an eye out for its full story and photoshoot coming next week!
Although we’re a classic car company, sometimes we get our hands on other unique transportation devices, such as this late Victorian bath chair that Gordan has purchased!
We’re not sure of the exact history of this wheelchair, however, we know its roughly late victorian, otherwise, its history is an open book!
Gordan originally purchased it as a possible decoration piece for his house but has since decided it would make a great quirky signature piece at our hanger!
Bath chairs themselves were originally designed by James Heath of Bath in 1750. Mainly designed for the elderly in its former years, this wheelchair device later became popular at the seaside. The design enables it to be pushed from the back and steered via the rod at the front.
Our 1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo has had quite the interesting back story.
Originally from the sunny south of France, it was picked up and restored by its second owner Sean Swift who also bought the white escort pictured below but found it was in such a poor condition that restoring it would leave him at a loss.
Sean then brought them back to the UK where he started his beautiful renovation of the grey RS Turbo which made its way to us, with very few miles on the clock.
Unsurprisingly we’ve had multiple offers from the team to run it in…
This is how the RS used to look before is renovation:
And this is how it looks now, after Sean’s clever handiwork and a photoshoot with our marketing team:
There’s been a lot going with week already and its only Wednesday! Take a look at what’s been going on s far.
One of our directors, Gordon, had his Range Rover Sport’s tyres refurbished, ready for the cold winter months ahead. Now fully refurbished, Gordon’s Range Rover is ready to take on the elements.
As seen in our blog yesterday, the 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Car has now been finished! This has been an incredibly exciting project that has been in progress since 2016. Over the last few days, the finishing touches have been added such as the pinstripes on the bonnet and fine-tuning the engine. The bonnet itself has also be re-installed to make sure it fits after the recent engine works.
Our other director, Craig, is in the process of choosing the leather for the interior and the spray finish for the fuel tank. It’s deciding details like this that make classic cars so personal to their owners.
One of the more notable updates on the Morris Minor 1000 is the new hood. The trim shop has done a fantastic job yet again to make the perfect custom hood, allowing this Morris Minor to be more usable throughout the changing seasons. Our technician Scott has also been trying to figure out the reason for the play in its front wheels. The mystery is yet to be solved…
The front suspension has also been tightened, the curtesy light wiring is being installed and Adam is troubleshooting the electrics.
Lots of little updates for the Grey Jensen 541R such as preparing the door rim before it goes to the trim shop, stripping the bonnet ready for paint, made the curtesy light switch by hand, installed the hand brake cables and panhard rod as well as the speedo drive.
Our 1968 Triumph TR5 is awaiting its interior but it has had its heater installed!
Our blue 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 is awaiting on a new steering rack, clutch slave cylinder and bumper to be fitted. The parts have been ordered so the E-Type should be looking good as new in no time!
This lovely 1953 Ford Transit is almost ready to leave us now. We’re just waiting on some new 6 volt bulbs for the headlights and then it’ll be ready to go!
We’re giving the blue Jensen a general nut and bolt service. It came in to have its clutch, exhaust and breaks replaced which have been or are in the process of being fixed.
The Peony Red Jensen 542S has had its seats made up. The next step is to complete the set and install them. Our trim shop never fails to impress us with their stunning interior projects.
The Peugeot 504 has now had all its interior trim completed. The last few pieces include making and fitting the hood which had to have the leather glued to the frame once made up.
The black Jensen is visiting our paint shop for some touch-ups and corrections in the paintwork.
Ady our engine specialist has taken apart both exhaust manifolds on the Nissan 300ZX.
The fuel pump has been rewired, two bilge pumps are set to be added, the brakes have been bled, the grease nipples re-greased and the heater has been ordered.
A new gear stick gaiter has been made and fitted by the trim shop. Our range rover is making steady progress to be completed soon.
Although we don’t have the Black Spitfire back with us, we do have the task of replacing the half shafts. We’re hoping we can order in new pieces however we may need to take these apart instead and refurbish them ourselves.
We’ve recently acquired what we believe to be an original 1972 Chevron B20, one of just 7 ever made and raced for Formula 2.
The original owner of this B20 was one of the partners of Chevron, who recently passed away. His son then took on the car and has come to us for Bridge Classics to sell it on his behalf. We’ll be selling the Chevron just as it is, no modifications made.
We believe that this car was re-built in 1972 after it was crashed on the track.
The engineers who built this particular B20 was Steve and Nial from Chevron who now own their own company called Red Rose Racing.
This vehicle has had quite a dramatic life. It’s been raced by Peter Gethin who won at Pau in 1972. It was also raced by Vic Elford and John Watson with a 1900cc Cosworth FVC in the Rothmans 5000. It was then believed to have been leased by Ed Reeves for David Morgan to race in the Torneio in Brasil at the end of 1972 however Morgan, unfortunately, crashed it in practice. It’s said to have been “extremely badly bent” as a result of hitting the barrier head-on, with Morgan unhurt but having to be cut out of the wreckage.
Interestingly in the naming of Chevrons cars, there were no recurring master numbers such as 11, 22, 33 etc. This was due to a superstition held by founder Derek Bennett who had been in an accident where the number 11 kept being linked to the crash. From then onwards, he made the decision to avoid naming his cars after those master numbers. However, this didn’t spare our B20 from its serious crash in 1972.
Keep your eyes peeled for the official photoshoot coming soon!
As we progress to the final stages of our 1960 Jensen 541S body preparation the next major step is to fully assess our fibreglass work, to ensure we have covered all grounds before coating the full body shell in a primer ready for paint.
Our beautiful BMW Z3M has recently had a full gold valet by our friend at Viper Auto Valet.
You can see the post here.
Doesn’t it look great!
Recently we’d looked at buying these two Rovers P5B’s as seen below. Could a few new rovers be on our horizon? We certainly wouldn’t be complaining…
The Morris Minor 1000’s indicator stalk had some soldering that our technician Adam found to have perished with age. It was originally covered in tape which had begun to unwind.
To fix the issues, Adam re soldered and covered the wires with heat shrink covering to ensure no liquids or debris can interrupt the solder joints.
Our Electrics specialist, Adam, has recently replaced the fuse box and propeller control switch in our 1965 Amphicar.
Here are the before and after shots:
Some drama in the engine workshop! All was seemingly well with the engine re-build however, unbeknown to us, the dipstick tube had previously broken off inside the cylinder block. If Ady’s keen eyes hadn’t noticed, this would have led to a total engine strip and rebuild in the workshop later down the line!
Luckily he noticed and managed to remove it before it did too much damage. A new one has now been fitted.
The Peony Red Jensen 541S has had its engine refurbished by our engine specialist. A new steel tube has been installed as well as a distributor, water pump and oil filter housing.
Our new 1994 Land Rover Range Rover TDI is getting some top to bottom TLC, starting with the top! The ceiling cloth was in need of some refurbishment, so Kath, one of our Trim specialists took it apart and re-glued that fabric.
Although the ceiling cloth didn’t need a total replacement, some of the fabric had come loose which meant that Kath had to peel back the fabric, pull it tight and then re-glue it.
After making sure all the fabric had been glued back down, Kath turned the ceiling fitting around and pulled the fabric over the edges to make sure it all stuck. The end result was a smart refurbished ceiling cloth. Good as new!
From purring to roaring, we’ve seen this Jaguar E-Type race car grow from start to finish. The project itself has been the epitome of Bridge Classic Cars, to prove what we can do.
This 1967 Jaguar E-Type 2+2 Series 1 came in in 2016 as nothing more than a beaten up shell that had been sat in a barn. After a full nut and bolt restoration, a lot of hard work and planning from the whole team, it now resembles a beautiful custom race car.
You can read its full story here.
The significance of the number 17 on the side is that the project started in 2017. Its been a long road but we’re excited to see this stunning car come to life.
Now the car is finished, it will have a full photoshoot and will be auctioned off to be sold. Keep your eyes peeled for its official photoshoot!
Growing up, Tamas enjoyed restoring modern classics with his brother. From there, his fascination with engineering and classic restorations began.
“I’ve always been around cars and interested in how they work.”
When Tom came to the UK, he started a course in Classic Car Restoration in Leeds which set the foundations for a growing career in the classic car world.
In 2018, Tom then took up a job at a classic car restoration company that specialised in Porches and took up a level 2 apprenticeship in mechanics at the Colchester Institute. When Tom came to work at Bridge Classic Cars in September 2019, he started on his level 3 apprenticeship with the Colchester Institute.
Tom has the interest to further his career in electric cars which is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the world of engineering.
One of the biggest cars the year Tom was the McLaren F1. Celebrities such as Elon Musk, Rowan Atkinson and the Sultan of Brunei have owned the famous car. In 2017 Top Gear Magazine, listed it as one of the fastest naturally aspirated cars currently available in the world.
Now the exterior colour of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has been chosen we are now on to the decision of our interior.
All interior components are now down off the shelf and in the Trim Shop with Kath and Brian ready to be rebuilt to our bespoke specifications.
The colour will be chosen within the coming weeks, very little will be original and the interior will be completely transformed…so watch this space!
On Monday shot the 1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo with our friend and talented model, Carnell Cook at Bentwaters. We were incredibly lucky with the weather as it managed to stay dry and clear throughout the afternoon and with the addition of some artistic smoke grenades, our marketing team shot some stunning visuals. You’ll begin to see the photos and videos appear throughout our social media pages.
This beautiful 5 litre 2015 Mustang GT is the newest addition to our Hanger storage collection. We’re looking after this customers car for the winter so it’ll be tucked away as part of our storage services. It really is a stunning modern car.
This week we’ve welcomed a selection of new vehicles into the Bridge Classic Car family including the 1974 Lime Green VW Beetle, the 1994 Land Rover Range Rover TDI, our new Mercedes transportation lorry and an original Chevron B-20. The Range Rover and Beetle are set to be competition cars however we are yet to decide the fate of our exciting and rare Chevron.
This week we also delivered the Triumph TR4 to the lucky winner Adrian Harcus and wife, Aileen, in Aberdeen. We’re excited to see what plans they have for their new TR4!
Our friend and trust chrome specialist visited Bridge Classics HQ today to drop off some beautifully crafted chrome pieces for our recent blue Jaguar E-Type series 3. Tony Wyatt from his self titled polishing company works on providing us with the best and shiniest chrome parts for our restorations. Today when we arrived, we came in his stunning 3 litre Rover which itself has his handiwork on the front.
Kath has recently refurbished the sun visors in the Morris Minor 1000 as the old ones had deteriorated. This freshening up included drawing around the old visors, swing the edge and across the top and then carefully hand stitching around the metal rod. Once finished, it was ready for Scott to fit as seen below.
Scott, one of our other technicians has been doing a lot of work on the Morris Minor such as:
The door panels have been made up in the trim shop and fitted into the 504. It’s really satisfying to see everything come together with this project.
Fitting these door panels include measuring up the leather, allowing holes for the handles, buttons and window winders, adding in fluting and then fitting it all in place at the end.
The Peugeot has also had newly restored will installed from Wheelworx in Bury St Edmunds.
Our latest addition to the Bridge Classic Car family is this lorry! Although it looks rather plain and underwhelming now, when designed, it’s going to look great as our new transporter!
We still have our covered vehicle transporter trailer however it can only fit one car in at a time whereas this new lorry will be able to transport multiple cars and equipment!
Alongside using the lorry for our own vehicles, we aim to offer our own transportation services for other companies.
We can’t wait to get this lorry designed!
More work has been done on our 1960 Peony red Jensen 541S. The latest instalments are the seat covers and pockets that have been made by our trim shop. This involved marking out the leather for the seats, sewing the piping and side bands on, making and sewing on the skirt, and then creating the pockets. Once all these elements have been carefully created, that can be put together.
Our engine specialist, Ady is in the process of rebuilding the engine. So far the bottom end is done and its awaiting the cylinder heads to be attached.
We’ve had this beautiful 1971 Triumph Spitfire in for work before, so its nice to have it back in for another check-up! Unfortunately, the diagnosis is a blown gasket, but its no trouble for our skilled technicians. This red beauty will be back up and running in no time!
The blown gasket:
The new gasket:
Our trim technician Kath has made and fitted the convertible roof hood cover that can be placed over the roof when its collapsed down.
Making this included measuring it up, attaching stud buttons, and finally fitting it in place.
Our technician Tom has fitted a radiator surround, air filter and pipe as well as refreshing the paint on the bumper brackets and refurbished the bonnet chrome pieces.
The Amphicar has had a new fuel out let pipe and tank vent pipe installed, with fresh welding in the fuel tank so the vehicle now complies with the regulations to allow it to go on the water. We ran some tests on the new pieces and all the welding held up fine however we discovered a leak coming from the fuel tank. In response to this, we removed the rust and retested for leaks. Once we ensured everything was good, it was sent to the paint shop!
Craig’s Suzuki GSX400 Custom has come back from Demand Engineering where the exhaust was being fitted. It was a tough decision between a short or long exhaust but the choice was made to go for the shorter option.
It is now ready to be reassembled and the rest of the refurbishments made!
Our new 1994 Land rover – Range Rover TDI has just joined the family but needs some TLC before its ready to go.
These refurbishments include carpeting the floor, replacing the ceiling cloth, refurbishing the back quarter panels, re-painting the body work and servicing it.
So far, our technician Tom has replaced the carpets and ceiling cloth.
The back quarter panels have been removed and placed in the trim shop to be refurbished once we decide on a paint colour for the rest of the body.
We’ve recently welcomed a 1994 Land Rover – Range Rover TDI into the Bridge Classic Car family. There’s a lot of work to do on it, such as fitting interior, refurbishing the ceiling cloth, repainting and servicing just to start!
We’re mulling over what colour we’d like to paint our new Range Rover but its likely to stick with the blue theme.
Once this work is finished, we have a decision to make… competition car? or re-sale? Stay tuned!
We teased this 1974 Lime Green VW Beetle when we bought it and after a long drive down from Buckie, Scotland, it’s now safely tucked up in our Hanger, ready to be photographed and launched very soon!
This week the centre console trims have been made and fitted in the 1960 Jensen 541R. The first step was to make the top piece, which was sewn and piped by our interior trim technician Kath, before passing it over to Brian.
Once the leather top piece had been passed to Brian, our other interior trim technician, he added foam padding and made the rest of the centre console.
Now assembled, it can now be fitted into the Jensen.
Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.