News

New tyres all round

Having been sitting for a number of years the tyres were in desperate need of replacing. Tyres were supplied to us from Vintage Tyres and Graeme

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New Arrival – Jaguar Mk VII

Source: Wikipedia The Jaguar Mark VII is a four-door luxury car produced by Jaguar Cars of Coventry from 1951 to 1956. Launched at the 1950 British International Motor Show as the successor to

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Laigh o’ Moray Vintage Association Charity Vintage Rally

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Set in Inchkeil Steading, Roseisle; the Laigh o’ Moray Vintage Association Charity Vintage Rally took place last weekend on Sunday 23rd September 2018. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22702,22703,22704,22717,22718,22719,22722,22723,22725,22728,22730,22732,22731,22733,22734,22735,22736,22737,22738,22739,22740,22741,22742,22743,22744,22745,22746,22679,22747,22729,22727,22726,22724,22721,22720,22716,22715,22714,22713,22712,22711,22710,22709,22708,22707,22706,22705,22701,22700,22699,22698,22697,22696,22695,22694,22693,22692,22691,22690,22689,22688,22687,22686,22685,22684,22683,22682,22681,22680″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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1933 Talbot AX65

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Arriving in our workshops today we have our beautiful 1933 Talbot AX65 with some bodywork issues to be addressed.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22662,22663,22664,22665,22666,22667,22668,22669,22670,22671,22672″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Due to the recent heavy

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1976 MG BGT V8 Respray

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are now on the finishing touches of the preparation of our 1976 MG BGT V8 before we put her in to paint. As you have

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Lots of visitors to the workshop this week

We’ve seen some beautiful cars visiting the workshops this week so thank you to all that popped in to see us.

1934 Alvis Firefly with Drophead Coupe coachwork by Cross and Ellis. First registered 16th January 1934. Nicely presented with dark red coachwork, polished alloy bonnet, black leather interior and black mohair hood.

Much recent work with many photos to document.

Full history file with ownership detailed from new.

Ready to drive and enjoy for the new season.

Registration Number: KV 7063

Chassis Number: 11116

Engine Number: 11564

A stunning recreation of the Jaguar D Type, built by Malcolm, the current owner and a very well known car in and around the Woodbridge area.

1989 Reliant Scimitar Middlebridge, number 27.

Source: Middlebridge Scimitar

Middlebridge Scimitar Ltd acquired the manufacturing rights and all tooling for the GTE and the convertible GTC version in 1987. Hand built at the Middlebridge Scimitar plant in Beeston, Nottingham at a rate of 300 cars per year (never attained), the new GTE retained the classic Ogle sports estate design penned by Tom Karen. It is powered by a Ford 2.9 Litre fuel injected Scorpio engine that produces 150BHP. It has either a five speed manual gearbox or a four speed automatic unit available as an optional extra and a top speed of 140 + mph.

The road holding and stability of the car has been improved with modified front and rear shock absorbers, springs and an anti-roll bar is now fitted at the rear. (The handling modifications were the work of suspension Guru’s Harvey Bailey) A stainless steel exhaust is included as standard and there is improved galvanising to the chassis together with anti corrosion treatment on all the steelwork in the body. (Up to 100 hours were spent on each car preparing the bodywork.)

This site is dedicated to the little known Middlebridge Scimitar and features individual Gallery positions for every car built. This is a non commercial site run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. The MB (Middlebridge) Gallery needs to be as comprehensive as possible for reference purposes so please email piccies and details of your or any Middlebridge. Hopefully this site will in time develop into a useful and informative tool for enthusiasts Buying, Selling, Maintaining and Restoring their Middlebridge Scimitars. We are still striving to further improve marque awareness and popularity. My own restored Middlebridge currently forms the basis of the my car link. The Mess has already attracted new enthusiasts from all over the world with cars having found new owners throughout Europe. We aim to continue our quest to improve the marque status, desirability, and values indeed the site has had for some time a waiting list for these fine cars. “Built with virtually indestructible mechanicals, fully galvanised chassis and a GRP body – you don’t just own a Middlebridge, you are scim-ply its Custodian for the next generation.” Mick Gaughran.

Finally, Nick brought along his 1963 Triump Vitesse. He to tackle some bodywork issues before they get any bigger so is keen to have a very sympathetic retsoration carried out on the car, to ensure the character of the car remains but that the bodywork and interior are good for many many more years.

Exposing the Jensen’s chassis

Work has now commenced on our Jensen 541R restorations. First up we have our 1960 Jensen.

As with a lot of the Jensen 541’s, we expected to find a lot of work required on the chassis but in order to truly investigate to what extent the body would need to come off.

With this build we are very fortunate to have sourced a fantastic chassis from another project so essentially we are looking to build one car out of two projects.

 

Painting the Austin 10 rear panel

We are now fully primed and ready to be painted.

Our objective was to solely rectify the area that had gotten contaminated. The customer did not want any of the car addressed other than the rear panel in question. Our camera system has matched the colour perfectly to ensure that we can maintain the original ‘patina’ throughout.

 

Our Austin Healey 100 has arrived

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Preparing for our next restoration, we’ve now arrived back to our workshops with the shell of our 1955 Austin Healey 100.

The engine will be next to arrive ready for rebuild.

For now, the body can be stripped fully and the body preparation can begin.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22925,22924,22923,22922,22921,22920,22919,22918,22917,22916,22915,22914,22913,22912,22911,22910,22909,22908,22907,22906,22905,22904,22903″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Repairing the Talbot’s damaged coachwork

With the door bent out of shape we looked into what extent the door’s woodwork had been affected.

Upon closer inspection the bottom strengthener had been split completely so we carried out work to frame itself in order to re-strengthen the panel prior to paint.

Interior work on our 1988 BMW 635CSi

Currently in our workshops we have our 1988 BMW 635CSi. A beautiful classic with bags of character, the car is in with us to have the interior worked on.

As you can see, both the drivers and passenger’s seats are worn in the usual places so we will remove the seats and look to re-cover the areas affect. Whilst the seats are out we will also look to re-fit some of the trim within the cabin that is starting to come away.

 

Suffolk Vehicle Enthusiasts Club – October 2018

Article featured in the Suffolk Vehicle Enthusiasts Club, The Club for all Vehicle Enthusiasts – October 2018

1929 Morris ‘Cowley’ Two Seater Tourer – by Roger Brown

 

‘If you attend Classic car shows and Village Fete’s around Woodbridge and surrounding districts, very often you would have seen this delightful vintage tourer on show there driven by its owner Rod Satchwell.

The Morris has a very interesting history. It was on of a batch sent by Morris Motors to Australia in the late 1920’s. there, the chassis was received by Holdens who manufactered the open two seat body you see on it today. The Morris is also unique in that it has a ‘rumble seat’ where normally the boot would be; unfortunately the ‘rumble seat’ will only take two small people comfortably or one adult uncomfortably.

Until the Morris was repatriated to the UK in 2008 the Morris had spent its entire life in Australia and is believed that the car had four owners prior to returning to the UK, also the exact mileage it covered during its life in Australia is also unknown.

Essentially it is a very simple car and is well within the capabilities of the 1920’s owner/driver to maintain and service. This is stated in the 1929 ‘Th Morris Car Manual’ and, if you have a chance to look at the Morris closely, you can see why the manufacturer could make this claim.

The engine is a very simple 1400cc four cylinder side valve unit rated at 11.9hp with a thermo-syphen cooling system. The engine temperature is indicated by a ‘Calormeter’, a visual temperature gauge mounted on top of the radiator; control of the water temperature is by mixture control on the steering column.

The gearbox is a three speed non-synchromesh with reverse gear. Gear changing is done very slowly. The clutch is depressed, the engaged gear is disengaged and the gear lever moves the next gear slowly into mesh; only then is the clutch released and the Morris moves on.

A notable feature of the car are the 10 spoke ‘Artillery’ wheels shod with ‘Dunlop balloon tyres.

All four wheels have brakes but the braking system rod actuated all round with the hand brake operating a separate pair of brake shoes on the rear brake drums.

Finally the suspension has cart springs all round with additional lever arm dampers to smooth the ride on 1920’s roads. A delightful car to see at shows and seen driven on the road.

Porsche 356 – Service

Brian and Craig made the trip to Sudbury this morning to collect one of today’s projects. Having the covered car transporter out on the road daily is a fantastic way of being able to have your classic securely delivered to our premises and to let you get on with the rest of your day.

Here we are arriving at our Woodbridge workshops in our 1962 Porsche 356.

She is in our workshops today for a full service and a general check over.

Our 1969 Pontiac Firebird will be leaving Canada very soon

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More amazing pictures of our 1969 Pontiac Firebird.

The car is currently with our friends in Ontario, Canada waiting for the go ahead from Schumacher Cargo.

We should hopefully expect to see her on UK shores this side of Christmas.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22779,22780,22781,22782,22783,22784,22785,22786,22787,22788,22789,22790,22791,22792,22793,22794,22795,22796,22797,22798,22799,22800,22801,22802,22803,22804,22805,22806,22807,22808,22809,22810,22811,22812,22813,22814,22815,22816,22817,22818″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

New tyres all round

Having been sitting for a number of years the tyres were in desperate need of replacing.

Tyres were supplied to us from Vintage Tyres and Graeme from WeFitAnyTyresAnyWhere Ltd was on hand to fit them for us.

New Arrival – Jaguar Mk VII

Source: Wikipedia

The Jaguar Mark VII is a four-door luxury car produced by Jaguar Cars of Coventry from 1951 to 1956. Launched at the 1950 British International Motor Show as the successor to the Jaguar Mark V, it was called the Mark VII because there was already a Bentley Mark VI on the market.[citation needed] A version of the Jaguar Mark V with the XK engine had been designated as the Mark VI, but it is thought that only two were built.

In its original 1950 form the Mark VII could exceed 100 mph, and in 1952 it became the first Jaguar to be made available with an optional automatic transmission.

Mark VIIs were successful in racing and rallying.

Mark VII 1950–1954

The Mark VII chassis came from the Jaguar Mark V and the wheelbase remained the same at 10 feet (3,048.0 mm). The new model’s body looked more streamlined, with integrated headlights and mudguards, a two-piece windscreen, and longer rear overhang. As on the Mark V, the rear wheels were partially covered by removable spats.

Whereas the Mark V had a prewar pushrod engine originally developed by the Standard Motor Company, the Mark VII was powered by the newly developed XK engine. First seen in production form in the 1948 XK120, the 3442 cc DOHC straight-six provided 160 bhp (119.3 kW), the same as in the XK120, and the saloon’s claimed top speed was over 100 mph (160 km/h).

When the car was being developed Jaguar thought it would find most of its customers overseas, mainly because UK car tax at that time penalised buyers of larger-engined cars. However it went into production just as Britain’s postwar economic austerity began to ease, and in 1951 the car’s enthusiastic reception in both the British and American markets prompted Jaguar to relocate production to larger premises, at the Browns Lane plant, which had been built for wartime production as a shadow factory and was now available for immediate use.

The published performance figures for the Mark VII were based on the standard 8:1 compression ratio, but as this was unsuitable for the UK market’s low-octane Pool petrol a 7:1 engine was optional.Brit ish motoring magazines tested the car’s performance with the higher compression ratio, using the Ostend to Brussels autoroute in Belgium, where 80 octane fuel was available. A Mark VII tested by The Motor in 1952 had a top speed of 101 mph (163 km/h), accelerated from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 13.7 seconds and returned 17.6 miles per imperial gallon (16.1 L/100 km; 14.7 mpg‑US). The test car cost £1693 including taxes.

In 1952 the Mark VII became the first Jaguar to be offered with automatic transmission.

By the time the model was upgraded to M specification in 1954, 20,908 had been produced.

Mark VII M 1954–1956

The Mark VII M was launched at the British International Motor Show in October 1954. Although the engine continued with the same capacity and 8:1 compression ratio, it was uprated to 190 bhp (141.7 kW), giving the car a claimed top speed of 104 mph (167 km/h).

The four-speed manual gearbox was standard, while the Borg Warner automatic, hitherto available only on exported Mark VIIs, now became optional for British buyers.

Jaguar Mark VII M

Distinguishing the Mark VII M from its predecessor, circular grilles over the horns were installed below the headlights in place of the former integrated auxiliary lamps, which were moved slightly further apart and mounted on the bumper. Both bumpers now wrapped further around the sides of the car.

In 1956, with the advent of the Suez Crisis Britain anticipated fuel rationing, and bubble cars appeared on the streets. Jaguar switched focus to their smaller saloons (the Mark I 2.4 had been introduced in 1955), and neither the Mark VII M nor any of its increasingly powerful but fuel-thirsty successors would match the production volumes of the original Jaguar Mark VII. Nevertheless, before it was superseded by the Mark VIII, the Mark VII M achieved 10,061 sales during its two-year production run.

Racing and rallying

Both variants of the Mark VII won race victories,[8] and an M version won a Monte Carlo Rally.

In 1954 Jaguar built a lightweight Mark VII M which, although intended for racing, never participated in contemporary events. Road-registered KRW 621, it had magnesium body panels, D-typeengine, Dunlop disc brakes and modified suspension.[10]

Factory-entered Mark VIIs won the Daily Express International Trophy Production Touring Car race at Silverstone five years running, and twice took the top three places. Stirling Moss won in 1952 and 1953; Ian Appleyard in 1954, with Tony Rolt and Stirling Moss 2nd and 3rd; Mike Hawthorn in 1955, from his teammates Jimmy Stewart and Desmond Titterington in 2nd and 3rd; and Ivor Bueb in 1956, with Belgian journalist and racing driver Paul Frère taking 4th.

In January 1956 a Mark VII M driven by Ronnie Adams, Frank Biggar, and Derek Johnstone won the Monte Carlo Rally.

In August 1956, at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Paul Goldsmith’s Mark VII averaged 59.2 mph to win a 100-mile NASCAR Grand National race for cars up to 3500 cc.

An early morning drive in our XK150

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]John and Craig were in bright and early this morning. It was 6:30am and the sun was starting to rise through the clouds. It was a lovely crisp morning, the roads were beautifully peaceful and whilst we waited for our visitor Craig took the opportunity to enjoy a quick drive out in our Jaguar XK150.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22637,22636,22635,22634,22633,22632,22631,22630,22629,22628,22627,22626,22625,22624,22623,22622,22621,22620,22619,22618,22617,22616,22615,22614,22613,22612,22611,22610,22609,22608,22607,22606,22605,22604,22603,22602″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Rebuilding the Austin 10 brakes

Peter has been busy working on the re-commissioning of our 1934 Austin 10. Today he has managed to strip the brakes and rebuild them with new shoes all round.

Thank you to the guys at Alderton Austin Specialists who kindly supplied all of the parts required for our re-commissioning project.

Alderton Austin Specialists specialise in all things Austin.

Servicing, repairs and restoration…

New and used spares… they have a huge stock of new used components to keep your Austin in tip-top condition. They stock parts for the Austin Seven, 10/4, Light 12/4 and 12/6.

Preparing the rear section of our Talbot for paint

Our 1933 Talbot AX65 is currently in the workshops having remedial paintwork done on the car. Due to high winds catching the rear off-side door the window has shattered, the hinge has buckled and the door frame woodwork has bent out of shape.

We are currently waiting on the window to be remade and we are working on straightening and preparing the door ready for paint.

Here we have the rear panel stripped back

 

Coming Soon: 1969 Pontiac Firebird

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Coming soon: Pontiac Firebird 1969

Finished in original Carousel Red with Parchment interior.

The car has a Fischer Body Unit No 523,224 and was built in the 2nd week of February at the Lordstown Ohio Plant.

This beautiful Firebird is one if the first generation to be built.

Subject to a full frame off, no expense spared restoration 2 years ago. It can only described as near to mint as you can get.

At the time of the rotisserie rebuild it was fitted with a Pontiac 350 V8 but the original factory engine is with the car, although it will need a full rebuild.

It has a 3 speed automatic box

At the time of the restoration it had all new body and suspension rubbers was fitted with an energy suspension kit.

All front end suspension and steering rebuilt using all new parts.

Front drum brakes were replaced with discs and pads.

All brake hoses and pipework replaced with new.

New fuel tank and fuel lines.

The body had a complete brand new one piece floor with toe boards

Both quarter panels and rear outer wheel well’s replaced with stock GM panels

Brand new door skins and boot lid

All weather stripping replaced with new.

Brand new carpets and headlining.

New dual exhaust with 2.25 inch pipes.

Sitting on 4 brand new 255/50 R15 Goodrich G Force sport  tyres

Chrome replaced with new.

She has her original interior including the AM radio mounted in a totally unmolested original dash that has no cracking.

This car is being offered today far less than the restoration cost.

Please note: The car has being imported by us from Toronto Canada and it has been inspected prior to purchase by our people in Canada

It will come fully registered for the UK roads and will have a UK V5 on an age related plate and all taxes paid.

She will go through our workshops prior to delivery and any item that needs to be addressed will be at that time.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22591,22590,22589,22588,22587,22586,22585,22584,22583,22582,22581,22580″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Laigh o’ Moray Vintage Association Charity Vintage Rally

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Set in Inchkeil Steading, Roseisle; the Laigh o’ Moray Vintage Association Charity Vintage Rally took place last weekend on Sunday 23rd September 2018.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22702,22703,22704,22717,22718,22719,22722,22723,22725,22728,22730,22732,22731,22733,22734,22735,22736,22737,22738,22739,22740,22741,22742,22743,22744,22745,22746,22679,22747,22729,22727,22726,22724,22721,22720,22716,22715,22714,22713,22712,22711,22710,22709,22708,22707,22706,22705,22701,22700,22699,22698,22697,22696,22695,22694,22693,22692,22691,22690,22689,22688,22687,22686,22685,22684,22683,22682,22681,22680″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Detailing our 1961 Jaguar XK150 ready for re-sale

Although our 1961 Jaguar XK150 has been off the road for many years it didn’t take much to get her up and running…enough to enjoy a drive back to our workshops! First things first, we decided to call upon the amazing skills of Paul Johnson Valeting to get her looking lovely once again and give us a better insight to what work may need to be carried out prior to resale.

1933 Talbot AX65

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Arriving in our workshops today we have our beautiful 1933 Talbot AX65 with some bodywork issues to be addressed.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22662,22663,22664,22665,22666,22667,22668,22669,22670,22671,22672″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Due to the recent heavy winds recently the off-side rear passenger’s door unfortunately got caught up blew back too far; bending the framework, damaging the wing and shattering the glass.

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The walk around of our 1961 Jaguar XK150

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The car has now been treated to a fantastic full detail by Paul at Paul Johnson Mobile Valeting.

Check out the amazing transformation on our walk-around video.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpnpxRKmPqI” align=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Detailing our 1996 Jaguar XJR Supercharged engine

Our 1996 Jaguar XJR Supercharge is almost ready to leave our workshops so as always we call the experts in to give it it’s final detail.

As the car has undergone a full respray the engine is already complete but the engine has remained in situ for the entire project so a lot of attention was needed on detailing underneath the bonnet.

Paul Johnson Valeting, as always, carried out an excellent job for us.

 

1974 Audi 100 Coupe S Dipped

Our 1974 Audi 100 Coupe S has arrived back from Prostrip having been chemically dipped.

The next stage is to prime the car to help protect the body from the elements before we look to assess and start work on the body restoration.

Adnams Distillery Tour

A huge thank you to Adnams for our guided tour and ‘Make Your Own Gin’ experience.

An amazing gift for gin lovers and a real treat for everyone who’s curious about this fascinating and historic spirit. If you’ve ever wanted to create your very own gin and would like to learn more about the art of distilling, then the Adnams Make Your Own Gin experience is for you.

Now available in Southwold, Bury St Edmunds and Norwich Westlegate, this fascinating experience using mini copper stills takes approximately 2.5 hours. An Adnams Gin Maker will guide you through the process of making your own gin, from selecting your own choice of botanicals provided, through to the distillation process and naming, then labelling, your personal bottle. As well as the opportunity to create your own gin to take home with you, you’ll also be able to taste a range of our delicious spirits and you’ll be given a voucher to receive 10% off your purchases in our Adnams stores when you spend £20 or more.

Make Your Own Gin Experiences are available for over 18s only.

The Adnams Make Your Own Gin experience costs £95 per person and includes:

A gin making session with one of our Gin Makers
A 70cl bottle of your own gin to take home with you
A tutored tasting of a range of Adnams Spirits
10% off your purchases in our Adnams stores when you spend £20 or more
These experiences are challenging for those with impaired mobility, due to the fact that the distillery is located on the top floor of our building and consequently incorporates many stairs. Unfortunately, this also makes them unsuitable for customers in wheelchairs.

 

Preparing our Austin for paint

Along with re-commissioning our Austin 10, we are also looking to paint an area of corrosion above the rear screen.

1976 MG BGT V8 Respray

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are now on the finishing touches of the preparation of our 1976 MG BGT V8 before we put her in to paint.

As you have probably, the works on our 1976 MG BGT V8 are being carried out elsewhere as we’ve called upon the assistance of our friends at Sutherland’s Garage in Hopeman, Morayshire, Scotland which is near to where we sourced the car.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22505,22504,22503,22502,22501,22500,22499,22498,22497,22496,22495,22494,22493,22492″ title=”11th September 2018″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22506,22507,22508,22509,22510,22511,22512″ title=”13th September 2018″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22548,22549,22550,22551,22552,22554,22555,22556″ title=”19th September 2019″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With the car now full resprayed it is now ready for the re-fit.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”22513,22514,22515,22516,22517,22518,22519,22520,22521,22522,22523″ title=”20th September 2018″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Tiny Tike’s Travelling In Style

Even as an adult I get pretty excited when Russell’s  arrive to collect our cars in their amazing trucks…

Just think how ‘little Timmy’ felt when his Tiny Tike needed to go in for some repairs.

Spotted travelling through Suffolk this morning by our good friend Amanda.

Thanks for the photo…

Instagram: amandaroper87

Instagram: tbd_1

Credit to CMG Transport & Logistics…whether it was a clever marketing idea or just a bit of messing around you got Suffolk smiling this morning.

Sourcing an original V12 steering wheel

We have been lucky enough to have sourced a used but original Jaguar E-Type V12 steering wheel. We can now look to refurbish this ready for install in our 1971 V12 E-Type when nearing completion.