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How our 1965 Amphicar once looked

November 27, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Found in the archives of Beverly Hills Car Club sold inventory is our 1965 Amphicar in it’s original colour combination of white with red and white

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Tidying up the Bentley wiring

December 7, 2017

We found a wire under the engine bay that hung lower than the rest so we tidied it up but fitting a rubber covering to hold it in place.

Dry-fitting the wheel arches

December 6, 2017

Due to age some related damage to the front wheel arches of our 1960 Jensen 541S we have been temporarily refitting and removing the panels to make minor adjustments.

This process is to help us perfect the fit of the arches but not only are we having to refit the arches prior to paint, we are also having to coincide this with fitting up the sill covers to ensure everything fits as snug as it should.

Here are the wheel arches being fitted up for the first time before any alterations have been made to the arches and/or the sills.

Once we are happy with the fit they will be returned to the paint shop to be prepared and painted.

 

 

1960 BSA Sunbeam – Ready For Auction

December 6, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The entry of the BSA group into the scooter field was announced by Edward Turner in October 1958. The 250cc model would have a cruising speed of 55 to 60 mph.

This superb little scooter has been totally restored and is ready to show or rally. The BSA Sunbeam is a very rare scooter and was also sold as the Triumph Tigress. It was a scooter designed to have good performance and handling for the motorcycle enthusiast.

The scooter comes with large restoration history file, with pictures and copies of all upgrades that have been carried out. These scooters ride very well and are much more reliable than the fragile Italian 2-strokes. Ride a different type of scooter, ride a BSA!

Our 1960 BSA Sunbeam will be featured in this year’s Annual Christmas Classic auction, hosted by Barons Auctioneers at Sandown Park. Tuesday 12th Dec 2017 starting at 1:00pm[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16584,16585,16586,16587,16588,16589,16590,16591″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The small jobs that’ll make a big difference to our Bentley Special

December 6, 2017

Work continues this week on our 1949 Bentley Special as we get ready for next week’s Annual Christmas Classic auction, hosted by Barons Auctioneers and being held at Sandown.

It starts at 1pm on Tuesday 12th December and our Bentley is set to be one of the star cars on the day.

We also have our 1967 Austin A35, 1957 Morris 1000, 1991 TVR SEAC and 1960 BSA Sunbeam featured in the auction.

Getting back down to business, here we have a slection of smaller tasks we’ve completed on our Bentley. The air filter and spare wheel cover have been glossed up ready to be refitted.

The freshly polished side step has now been fitted. As always, credit to Tony and the guys at Wyatt Polishing for doing a great job on all of the polishing.

The underside has been cleaned up, prepared and blackened.

We’ve also cleaned down and re-finished the brake drums in silver, heat resistant, paint.

The polished fuel tank has now been secured back into position, followed then by the spare wheel and we’ve replaced the modern indicators for age related components.

As you can see, the number plate screws have not yet been changed but we’ve made up the new bumper fixing covers. We decided to remove the front bumper completely as the majority vote seemed to say that the Bentley looked more appealing without the bumper. We have kept the original bumper in vcase the new owner disagrees.

Bentley Special Polished Aluminium

December 5, 2017

Thanks to Tony and the guys at Wyatt Polishing for doing an amazing job on the aluminium components of our 1949 Bentley Special.

The bonnet, fuel tank, side steps and various smaller items have been polished up beautifully and are now being fitted back up.

Roxanne Pallett enjoying a break in the US before Panto in Ipswich

December 5, 2017

As you can see from @roxannepallettofficial Instagram page, Roxanne has been enjoying a break in the US visiting Graceland and admiring some classics on show.

Roxanne will soon be here in Ipswich for this year’s Panto of Jack & The Beanstalk at the Ipswich Regent alongside George Sampson and BBC Radio Suffolk‘s Wayne Bavin.

Source: Ipswich Regent & Corn Exchange 

This Christmas climb up the Beanstalk and join us for the Regent Theatre’s GIANT of a family pantomime!

Welcome to the world of fairy-tales, where our poor hero Jack and his dotty mum Dame Trott are tricked into selling their beloved cow Daisy for a useless bag of beans. Laugh at silly Simple Simon, boo and hiss the evil Fleshcreep and of course cheer-on our hero Jack as he tries to rescue his sweetheart Jill from the nasty Giant‘s castle in the clouds.

This year’s all-star cast includes Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson as Jack, Roxanne Pallett (Emmerdale & Dancing on Ice), Connor Byrne (Tracy Beaker & The Dumping Ground), Andrew Fleming (Britain’s Got Talent Impressionist), Martin Ramsdin as Dame Trott, Wayne Bavin (BBC Radio Suffolk) and Lauren Grice as the Good Fairy.

From the same team behind Cinderella, Peter Pan, Aladdin and this year’s record-breaking panto Sleeping Beauty, come and join in the fun this Christmas as Enchanted Entertainment proudly present Suffolk’s BIGGEST pantomime. Packed with great songs, amazing dance routines and plenty of laughter for all the family! Fee Fi Fo Fum… It’s panto fun for everyone!

George Sampson as Jack Trott
George danced into fame as the Winner of the second series of Britain’s Got Talent – dancing in the final to the memorable Mint Royale version of “Singin’ in the Rain”. Since winning the show, George has starred in the West End and made regular appearances throughout soaps and drama all over TV, including playing ‘Kyle Stack’ in Waterloo Road on BBC1, Mount Pleasant, The Dumping Ground, Casualty and most recently playing ‘Ryan Harred’ in Emmerdale on ITV1. He also played the lead role in feature films StreetDance and StreetDance 2. George has toured the country numerous times and has performed his famous routines all over the world. This will be George’s 6th pantomime and he is thoroughly excited to be at Ipswich Regent this Christmas playing the lead role of ‘Jack Trott’ in Jack and the Beanstalk

 

For more information and tickets visit the official website

Cleaning out the air filter

December 5, 2017

The running issues were due to a blocked air filter on our 1960 BSA Sunbeam scooter. John has now removed the filter, stripped and unblocked.

She now runs perfectly and starts first time, every time.

Time to put her back together ready for next week’s Annual Christmas Classic auction, hosted by Barons auctioneers, being held at Sandown Racecourse.

Running issues on our BSA Sunbeam

December 1, 2017

Our BSA Sunbeam arrived into our workshops with slight running issue. When running she ran beautifully but it took a spray of easy start to get her going. That’s not ideal when you want to go out for the afternoon!

So John is getting to work on diagnosing the issues and getting them resolved ready for next week’s auction.

1949 MG YT Delivery Day

November 30, 2017

We’ve now reached the day where we have to unfortunately wave goodbye to our 1949 MG YT.

She came to us a little over a year ago, straight off the ship from Cyprus and looking in a bit of a sorry state.

Now, after a full nut and built rebuild she’s complete and ready to go home to Dagenham.

It may have been bitterly cold but at least it was dry. We arrived in good time, parked her up and covered her over at her new home just before the snow started to fall.

1965 Amphicar – Paint Preparation

November 29, 2017

The major welding work is now complete on our 1965 Amphicar so we are off to the paint shop to have her stripped back and prepared ready for the full re-spray.

We are reverting back to the original white exterior and losing any traces of the red.

It is our intentions to repaint the blue and red decals that you can see on the above images so try and get her back to as close as she was when she first left the factory back in 1965.

Here are some of the last pictures you’ll see of her finished in red.

 

Bentley Special – Touching Up The Paintwork

November 28, 2017

One of the most appealing characteristics about our 1949 Bentley Special is the originality of her.

It would be a huge shame to get carried with this project and create a car that is destined for a showroom. The car has been used and enjoyed and that’s what is so great about it…and we wouldn’t want to take away from that.

As always, there are certain aspects that could be improved on and that is what our concentrations are on.

Today, she has gone though our body shop to have the underside and chassis cleaned down and re-painted. Not only will this freshen up the look but will help preserve the underside for many years to come.

A visitor to our workshops

November 28, 2017

Today we had a visit from our good friend Andy in his stunning rare BMW M5. He took the trip over from Long Melford to say hi and take a look at all of our latest projects.

He also brought with him photographs of some of his previous cars. Gordon and Andy grew up together so it was nice for them both to reminisce over the ‘good ol’ days’ and what cars they’ve loved and lost along the way.

Late Arrival to Bridge Classic Cars tonight

November 27, 2017

Three late arrivals to the workshops this evening as Karr Solutions completed the long journey down from Scotland.

Tackling the wind, rain and snow Ronnie arrived at 6pm to deliver our 1967 Austin A35 van (JOG183E), our 1957 Morris 1000 van (PVA 591) and our 1960 BSA scooter.

We love a bit of history with our cars and as our 1957 Morris is sign written up for A J Sutherland of Portsoy it seemed only right to search the web to see what we could find.

And it’s great to see Sutherlands of Portsoy still going strong to this day, ‘supplying the finest fish for over five generations.’

And in amongst the amazing images on the Sutherlands Of Portsoy Heritage Gallery we’ve discovered two pictures of our Morris. Having spoken to Elaine and Maurice at Gourmets Choice (Sutherlands Of Portsoy) they’ve have explained the story behind our Morris.

An image was discovered in the archives of grandfather Sutherland sitting in one of the original A J Sutherland vans.

As part of a recent re-marketing and re-branding campaign, the Sutherland family decided to replicate the original image using a classic vehicle with Maurice sitting in the driving seat.

Due to the quality of the original image, they were unable to use this in their campaign but a family friend owned a classic Morris that he kindly donated for the shoot for them to match the branding.

Elaine has kindly sent us the original image to which this campaign was all based around. We believe the vehicle to be a Vauxhall.

 

How our 1965 Amphicar once looked

November 27, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Found in the archives of Beverly Hills Car Club sold inventory is our 1965 Amphicar in it’s original colour combination of white with red and white interior.

The pictures were taken on 5th November 2015.

At this stage we are unsure whether the car left the US in white or whether it was re-sprayed to red before arriving in the UK. More research is needed…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16380,16381,16382,16383,16384,16385,16386,16387,16388,16389,16390,16391,16392,16393,16394,16395,16396,16397,16398,16399,16400,16401,16402,16403,16404,16405,16406,16407,16408,16409,16410,16411,16412,16413,16414,16415,16416,16417,16418,16419,16420,16421,16422,16423,16424,16425,16426,16427,16428,16429″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Another little gem hidden away in a barn…

November 27, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We were invited to view a fantastic little gem tucked away in a barn in Suffolk today.

This early 1970 MG Midget has been dry stored for a number of years and is one of the most solid examples we’ve come across.

Hopefully sometime in the not-too-distant future she’ll be brought out for a sympathetic restoration to get her back on the roads.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16857,16858,16859,16860,16862,16863,16864,16865,16866,16867,16868,16869,16870,16871,16872,16873,16874,16875,16876,16877,16878,16879,16880,16881,16882,16883″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Snow falls on Long Melford’s Olde Christmas fair

November 27, 2017

Source: East Anglian Daily Times

The first Long Melford Olde Christmas fair has been hailed a success by organisers, with more than 1,000 people turning out to the event yesterday.

The entire village centre was covered in snow for the occasion, by 10 snow machines that lined the main street, as crowds welcomed Father Christmas and two of his reindeer and donkeys.

Carol singers and a silver band entertained villagers and their guests before the event culminated with a lantern parade at dusk.

Emma Butler Smith, who is on the organising committee, said: “It was brilliant, absolutely fantastic.

“It’s the first time we have done it, but the hope is that it’s the first of many and it becomes a big village tradition.

“Everyone loved Father Christmas. People have been in and out of the shops…the pubs and cafes have done a roaring trade.”

The event has been funded by grants from Long Melford Parish Council and local businesses, as well as donations from residents, and funds raised through the sale of raffle tickets and bake sales in the run up to the event.

Any remaining funds will be used towards the costs of next year’s fair.

Progress on our 1967 Jaguar E-Type

November 21, 2017

We’ve reached the end of another busy day here at Bridge Classic Cars and as I switch the lights off in our workshops I have, sitting in front of me, our stunning 1967 Jaguar E-Type 2+2 Series 1 project.

It’s lovely to look back at just how far we’ve come with this car.

…and not far from being complete, here she is now.

Fitting up the E-Type heat shields

November 21, 2017

Tommy has now successfully fitted up the engine heat shields. The heat shields run all the way underneath the car from down pipes through lengths of transmission tunnel. There are 4 heat shields in total.

 

Transforming the look of the wire wheels

November 21, 2017

As part of the project to improve the overall look of our 1949 Bentley Special we decided to re-colour the wire wheels in a deep red finish. A lot of the racing cars from the era used this colour wheel and we felt that it would really lift the look and styling of the car.

Once are now waiting on the aluminium panels to return from the polishers, we have a few improvements to the exterior that we would like to make and the whole car will undergo a full detail.

More Amphicar images for reference…

November 20, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are taking lots and lots of images whilst stripping down our 1965 Amphicar.

It is critical on all restoration projects to take as many pictures as you can as these may come in very useful when rebuilding the car.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16453,16454,16455,16456,16457,16458,16459,16460,16461,16462,16463,16464,16465,16466,16467,16468,16469″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Coming In Soon: 1967 Austin A35 Van, 1957 Morris 1000 Van, 1960 BSA Scooter

November 20, 2017

Due in soon are three new additions to the Bridge Classic Cars family. Currently residing in the north of Scotland, all in the one private garage we have a 1967 Austin A35, 1957 Morris 1000 Van, 1960 BSA. We originally visited to view the 1960 BSA scooter but no way could we resist these cracking little vans.

First up we have a 1967 Austin A35 Van – it looks to be originally used as the works vehicle for Ian Stephens of Walsall, Painters and Decorators.

Next up we have a Sutherlands of Portsoy sign written van. Our beautiful 1957 Morris 1000 van comes with the signage still visible and having carried out a little research (Googled the name!) we can confirm that Sutherland’s still runs very successfully to this day. Sutherlands of Portsoy is based in the small fishing village of Portsoy in the North- East of Scotland, they produce the finest Smoked Salmon for discerning customers around the world. The story of the van and it’s origins can be found here:

And finally, the reason for our initial visit; our very rare 1960 BSA scooter with matching brand new helmet!

 

Jensen FF Bodywork Progress

November 20, 2017

We are making good progress on our 1969 Jensen FF bodywork preparation.

Unfortunately age has gotten the better of the offside door so what we thought would be a relatively easy part of the project to correct a slight paint issue has turned into something slightly more alarming. Work is required to correct the area in question and to prevent it from reaching any further.

Nothing we can’t put right with a little more time.

1949 MGYT restoration complete and ready for photo shoot

November 17, 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A little over a year ago we took a call from an excited Mr McDonald who had just received confirmation that he was now the proud owner of an original, 1 owner, 1949 MG YT.

At the time, the car was living out in Cyprus but was due to board the ship any day to arrive with us in Felixstowe.

Some time later we received the call that she had arrived at the docks and would be making her way to our Ipswich workshops for what we thought would be a fairly standard recommission and health check.

As you can see from the day she arrived, this was not the case.

But after many months of hard work and a very emotional journey, here she is today, all complete and back to how she was when she left the factory back in 1949.

All that’s left to do now is the traditional completion photo shoot.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16274,16275,16276,16277,16278,16279,16280,16281,16282,16283,16284,16285,16286″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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.

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