Bridge Classic Cars at Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More than 120 years after the very first run was held, last Sunday saw 2017’s Bonhams London to Brighton Car Run and Bridge Classic Cars was there to experience the event for ourselves.

We even bumped into some familiar faces too, here’s Gordon with the host of BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show, the legendary Chris Evans.

Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world’s longest running motoring celebration.

The vast number of entrants, from across the globe, who continue to participate in the Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run supported by Hiscox pays testament to the ever-growing popularity of this event.

In true tradition, the Run takes place on the first Sunday of every November and commemorates the Emancipation Run of 14 November 1896, which celebrated the passing into law of the Locomotives on the Highway Act. It was this Act that raised the speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ from 4 mph to 14 mph and abolished the requirement for these vehicles to be preceded by a man on foot. The early law required the man on foot to carry a red flag but that requirement was abolished in 1878. The Locomotive Act was still widely known as the ‘Red Flag Act’ and, to mark this milestone, a red flag was symbolically destroyed at the start of the Emancipation Run, just as it is today before the start of the Run in Hyde Park.

In 2017, as ever, the Run represents a rare opportunity for participants to take their extraordinary automobiles on this historic 60-mile journey from Hyde Park in central London to the seafront in the Sussex resort of Brighton. Few events in today’s international calendar can claim such individuality, personality and character as the Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run supported by Hiscox, where over 400 examples of pre-1905 manufactured vehicles enter the pioneering spirit and engineering ability of the early motorist.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16019,16018,16017,16016,16015,16014,16013,16012,16011,16010,16009,16008,16007,16006,16005,16004,16003,16002,16001,16000,15999,15998,15997,15996,15995,15994,15993,15992,15991,15990,15989,15988,16021,16080,16079,16078,16077,16076,16075,16074,16073,16072,16071,16070,16069,16068,16067,16066,16065,16064,16063,16062,16061,16060,16059,16058,16057,16056,16055,16054,16053,16052,16051,16050,16049,16048,16047,16046,16045,16044,16043,16042,16041,16040,16039,16038,16037,16036,16035,16034,16033,16032,16031,16030,16029,16028,16027,16026,16025,16024,16023,16022″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Children In Need Bus”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16083,16084,16085,16086,16087,16088,16089,16090,16091,16092,16093,16094,16095,16096,16097,16098,16099,16100,16101,16102,16103,16104,16105,16106,16107,16108,16109,16110″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Collecting our 1991 TVR SEAC – J15 EAC

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It’s collection day of our 1991 TVR SEAC and we couldn’t resist taking our newest addition out for an extra long drive.

On the way back from East Bergholt our first stop was Raydon airfield for a photo opportunity.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”15838,15837,15836,15835,15834,15833,15832,15831,15830,15829,15828,15827,15826,15825,15824,15823,15822,15821,15820,15819,15818,15817,15816,15815,15814″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We then called in to visit someone in Westerfield so another photo opportunity to be had.

You can never have enough photos!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”15841,15842,15843,15844,15845,15846,15847,15848,15849,15850,15851,15852,15853,15854,15855,15856″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Final stop…home. Her she is outside Bridge Classic Cars HQ being admired by everyone who passed by.

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Coming Soon – 1949 Mk V1 Bentley Special

Here we have a one of twelve very special Bentley specials built by the legendary John Anderson

Starting its life as a matching number. Our 1949 Bentley MK V1 was rebuilt in 1984 by the specialist restorer John Anderson, of vintage Bentley Special fame and manufacturer of the million-selling “Sugar Mouse”

It has been re-trimmed in recent years and sports new tyres.

It performs faultlessly and IS a matching number car.

It spent most of its life in Australia until the owner died and it was sold to Anderson’s son. It was shipped back to Scotland where the previous owner acquired it.

John Austin Anderson was an engineer, a confectioner, a restaurateur and car constructor.

Born in Crieff, Perthshire on the 12th August 1930 and got married in 1954 to Pamela Cousins, John Anderson ran a catering and confectionery business in Perthshire.

Specialising in Scottish sweets and is famous for the “Sugar Mouse” he is better known as one of the pioneer builders of Bentley “specials” in Britain.

The world of vintage motoring holds a particular fascination for those many individuals who enjoy the performance of vehicles from a previous generation and the most prestigious make of any vintage car is the Bentley, which has always attracted a substantial following from its earliest days.

Not all Bentley enthusiasts could afford a vintage model and of course by opening up a market to those who saw the potential in some pre- and post- Second World War cars which had fallen into a state of disrepair. Thus grew up a movement in the revival of old cars that otherwise would have been consigned to a lesser fate.

Anderson became an expert in this new activity.

He was born and grew up in the Perthshire market town of Crieff, where he was to spend almost all his life.

He attended the Morrison’s Academy and joined the Officers Training Corps as bass drummer in the school pipe band.

He moved south in 1949 to take a degree in production and mechanical engineering at the Technical School of the De Havilland Aircraft Company in Hatfield.

His intention was to join the RAF and he had already had his pilot’s licence. In 1953 it was discovered during the RAF medical examination that he was a diabetic.

As a career as a pilot was now out of the question, Anderson, newly married, returned to Crieff in 1954 to take over the catering business Gordon & Durward, founded in 1925 and taken over by his father, George (known as “Coffee Joe”), in 1947.

John Anderson developed it in particular as a manufacturing confectioner. The market for his products ranged from exclusive outlets in big cities to the legion of small businesses servicing the Scottish tourist industry.

One traditional line, the Sugar Mouse, blossomed in particular: in one year in the early 1970s the production total topped a million.

Although catering and confectionery took virtually all Anderson’s time, it was not where his heart lay.

His ambition to be involved with things mechanical was unfulfilled.

In 1970 he began a small private collection of motorcycles, the oldest being a 1926 Sunbeam and the newest a 1953 Norton International.

He restored everything to exacting standards.

In 1974 he turned his attention to Bentley motor cars and it was the beginning of an all-consuming interest.

Anderson’s approach was driven on the unusual history of the company.

Bentleys were built in Derby until the outbreak of the Second World War, when the production lines were given over to Merlin for Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito, Lancaster and other aero-engines.

After the war, Bentley production was transferred to a Rolls-Royce satellite factory at Crewe.

The pre-war practice was of sending out the chassis for coachwork designed by selected specialists was abandoned in favour of sending them to a reduced number of specialist body-builders.

Because post-war steel was often of poor quality, the bodies tended to rot, although the chassis generally remained strong.

This was where Anderson stepped in, applying his aeronautical engineering skills he had learned at De Havilland’s.

He would strip a car down to its chassis, clean it up, shorten the wheelbase and reinforce it with a cruciform, moving the engine back to improve the weight-distribution and thus the handling of the car.

He replaced the Bentley rear axle with a Jaguar one which was better to absorb the torque and power.

He generally rejected the easy option of fibreglass coachwork in favour of the traditional ash frame clad in aluminium.

His cars looked good, and they performed beautifully.

Anderson and his small team of helpers built no fewer than 12, Mark VI Bentley specials and the standard post-war model was nicknamed “the Big Bore” because of its power.

All the cars took two years of work before emerging as a “sports special”.

Each one was different and he learnt as he worked.

All of Anderson’s cars were sold on completion so that he could finance the next project and to even higher standards.

His scrupulous honesty ruled out any short cuts and for all that he was said to be a man of deep personal modesty, his rigorous approach set standards that are still observed by amateur builders.

Being only one of twelve ever built these very special cars do not come up for sale very often and Bridge Classic Cars feels honoured that we can offer such a rare car to one of our deserving customer.

A sure fire investment for the future and will stand pride of place in any collection.

Coming soon – 1991 TVR 450 Seac

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Arriving on Thursday is the newest addition to the Bridge Classic Cars family, a 1991 TVR 450 Seac.

Perhaps dreams do come true, I (Gordon) was fortunate to own a TVR 450SEAC when they were only about 3 years old and I often still see my car in various press releases, sporting its own SEAC registration mark. It is now heavily modified as lots are and not the car I had an immediate love affair with.

Like all of us car junkies, I have always regretted the sale, as it was one of the most heavily imprinted motoring experiences of my life.

It had to be sold as it probably needed something I couldn’t afford, or perhaps it was just time.

I nearly bought one last year, or should I say an expensive swap for one of my cars but it wasn’t to be.

Imagine my surprise when one of our technicians Tommy, clad in his Bridge Classic Car shirt,  went to buy a new bulb for his bike from our local bike shop Moons.

“You wouldn’t be interested in an old TVR would you?” Said the owner.

“I can take some details and ask back at base”, replied Tommy

“It’s a friend of mines car, a TVR 450SEAC and its local.”

Brimmed with excitement Craig and myself went to see it on Saturday morning and after a TVR 450SEAC drive the car was bought.

She has also been modified and sports a 460SEAC badge for the reasons below.

She has a cross-bolted custom built 4.6 engine.

The cost of the engine was £4000, but it has made it much more user friendly car in traffic. She still has awesome power, (300 bhp, which is about the same as the standard 450 engine, but with a much broader torque curve).

4.6 Lighten and Balanced.
Pocketed Pistons.
Extra Oil Ways.
Modified Big Value Heads.
Hybred 200 cam.
Large Plenum Top.
Large Trumpet Base.
Full Polished and Ported.
Rocker covers – stove enamelled in pearl red, with the polished TVR logo.
Polished Plenum Chamber.
Polished Airflow Meter.
Polished Stainless Induction Pipe.
Radical ignition set (the plug leads inserted through polished stainless tubes).
Bought from Radical Ignitions – this is the 1st set for a fuel injected V8.
Stainless braiding throughout.
Hand Polished X Spoke OZ Wheels.
Clad in Monza red with full black leather that was replaced at a cost of over £2000 which includes a superb set of lumbar adjusting Recaro seats.

All polishing was done by one of the previous owners or at M&G Metal-finishers at Sowerby Bridge.

She has a full Stainless Steel Exhaust with a one-off silencer designed by Act Products and  was manufactured by JP Exhausts in Macclesfield.

The cost of silencer alone was £215 and the exhaust has since been modified further with a side exit pipe.

Although this exhaust was supposed to be fairly straight forward. It apparently turned out to be anything but, as it exited where the fuel pumps and fuel pipes were mounted. A large heat shield had to be made and this has given it much better ground clearance, as the original SEAC exhaust runs under the rear diff.

Fitted with Griffith stainless roof struts, a push button start and a roll cage with race harnesses.

The roll cage looks stunning and has certainly tightened the handling , and of course with the obvious safety benefits.

The car has won a lot of concours competitions but the real pleasure is driving a car that looks and sounds like nothing else!

Now for the added bonus:

This is the last of the limited 450 SEAC’s to be made and we have the literature to proof this.

The last three were special order and of course this is one of them.

It has a very comprehensive service history and as you see from the pictures it is in superb condition.

She drives superbly and the sound is glorious. Like nothing you have heard.

It is the easiest car to drive and you will never be able to remove the smile when you are behind the wheel.

This is a true collectors piece and will only keep going up and up in value because of its rarity, its condition and its pedigree.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”15744,15745,15746,15747,15748,15749,15750,15751,15752,15753,15754,15755,15756,15757,15758,15759,15760,15761,15762,15763,15764,15765,15766,15743″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Spotted In Ipswich

Spotted yesterday in Ipswich by @alexj22o.

1956 Austin Healey in for a general health check

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In our workshops right now is our beautiful 1956 Austin Healey.

Although a MOT is not required by law we have been asked to give her a full health check in line with the latest MOT requirements.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”15701,15702,15703,15704,15705,15706,15707,15708,15709,15710,15711,15712″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Jensen 541S Front Grilles – packed up and ready to go to Australia.

As one of the only manufacturers, or perhaps the only manufacturer of the classic Jensen 541S front grilles we often get approached by the 541S owners who are looking to freshen up or even restore theirs.

With only 127 Jensen 541S’ produced it is great that we still know of lots in existence and we now know that there will soon be one back on the road over in South Australia. Peter Jackson is currently in the process of restoring his own and we have a brand new set of front grilles currently en-route to Australia for him.

Can a Bugatti handle a drive-through?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Source: BBC News and Archie Hamilton Racing

Former racing driver Archie Hamilton has become an internet star by putting luxury cars in everyday situations.

In one of his most viewed videos on YouTube, he wanted to see if a £1m Bugatti Veyron could handle a fast-food drive-through.

The 26-year-old, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, once competed at Le Mans but now makes a living by posting motoring reviews online.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnavx6PfZCU&t=7s” title=”Archie Hamilton Racing”][/vc_column][/vc_row]