More Vehicle Transport
September 13, 2024
Tony has been busy lately collecting multiple vehicles and securely transporting them to where they need to go. These include our 1966 MG Midget, 1976
1952 Austin A40
Classic Cars In Storage
September 2, 2024
Tony has recently taken 2 of our classic cars and put them safely into our secure storage facility. Our 1953 Austin A40 and our 1984
2024 Festival of Classic & Sports Cars set up and take down.
August 4, 2024
Set up began early for us on this year’s stand at the Festival of Classic & Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall Gardens. The week prior
Austin A40 Transport
July 31, 2024
Tony has recently transported our barn find 1952 Austin A40 from our storage facility to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
1952 Austin A40 in Storage
July 11, 2024
Our barn-find 1952 Austin A40 Sports Carbiolet has been moved by our transport team to its new home in our safe and secure storage facility,
Charged Up – Replacing the regulator on our 1952 Austin A40
June 26, 2024
Our workshop manager has been working on our very special barn-find 1952 Austin A40 sports cabriolet. After it having its first test drive late last
First step to getting our 1952 Austin A40 back on the road
June 6, 2024
Our technician Julian has been working on getting our barn-find 1953 Austin A40 back on the road after laying dormant for over 60 years. You
A Suffolk Barn Find
May 9, 2024
Earlier today, several members of the Bridge Classic Cars team headed to Ipswich to take a look at a true barn find. We’d heard about
More Vehicle Transport
September 13, 2024
Tony has been busy lately collecting multiple vehicles and securely transporting them to where they need to go.
These include our 1966 MG Midget, 1976 MGB GT, and our 1953 Austin A40.
Classic Cars In Storage
September 2, 2024
Tony has recently taken 2 of our classic cars and put them safely into our secure storage facility.
Our 1953 Austin A40 and our 1984 Rover SD1 (a very special 1 of 1 car!)
We also sourced a donor car for our SD1 in preparation for its restoration.
2024 Festival of Classic & Sports Cars set up and take down.
August 4, 2024
Set up began early for us on this year’s stand at the Festival of Classic & Sports Cars at Helmingham Hall Gardens. The week prior to the event was glorious sunshine all week and the forecast looked good going in to the weekend so with that in mind we started the installation of the stretch tent from our friends at Events Under Canvas on the Thursday. That meant we were able to start transporting our vehicles over to site and start to lay out the display.
It was certainly less hectic this year having time on our side and the centre tent was a new feature for us this year which was an exciting new addition.
Sunday morning was a bit of a breeze to be honest. A few banners and flags to put up and then we could sit down as a team, grab a coffee and enjoy the surroundings.
The day itself is always so busy at the show that you don’t really get time to enjoy what else is there. This year especially, I didn’t even get to leave the stand so I didn’t manage to see any of the cars on display but Nick, Molly and Rob got to enjoy it a bit more when they were out and about filming the show.
You can check out the proper photos from the day here
And after a full on day which was a huge success, I think the part that was truly quite special was being the last to leave the site after clearing down. I dropped Tamas back off by his car on the top field and then had the opportunity to look back at the incredible all. A few hours previous to these photos the fields were bustling with thousands of cars and spectators all enjoying the atmosphere.
The Festival of Classic & Sports Cars is one of the best shows of the year for us and this year was one of the best of all time. Thank you so much to the team at Helmingham and we are so proud to be a big part of this show and hope to continue our relationship for many years to come.
Austin A40 Transport
July 31, 2024
Tony has recently transported our barn find 1952 Austin A40 from our storage facility to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
1952 Austin A40 in Storage
July 11, 2024
Our barn-find 1952 Austin A40 Sports Carbiolet has been moved by our transport team to its new home in our safe and secure storage facility, The Hangar. Since coming out of its slumber, the team have worked very hard to get this car back to its former glory whilst also preserving the cars originality.
Now, it will be kept safe and dry for years to come.
Charged Up – Replacing the regulator on our 1952 Austin A40
June 26, 2024
Our workshop manager has been working on our very special barn-find 1952 Austin A40 sports cabriolet.
After it having its first test drive late last week, the team noticed that the charge light was not switch off while running. Looking into it further, John removed the wiring to the dynamo and checked its charge rate which was measured at 17.2 which indicated that the regulator was faulty – so the team fitted a new unit to the car and all was happy afterwards. And, John even had time to fix the interior mirror.
First step to getting our 1952 Austin A40 back on the road
June 6, 2024
Our technician Julian has been working on getting our barn-find 1953 Austin A40 back on the road after laying dormant for over 60 years. You can see the short film we did here of releasing the car from its hiding place.
To begin with, Julian worked on freeing up and rebuilding the entire brake system with new wheel cylinders and replacing any lines which had corroded or cracked. The previous owner had done a sterling job at preserving the cars bodywork and also its mechanicals, but over time rubber will perish and degrade regardless of its upkeep.
Next, Julian began to work on getting the original engine to fire up. This involved gently adding oil to the bores over a period of time and applying gentle pressure to the crank shaft to free off the pistons which had become corroded to the cylinder walls. Once it span over freely, he could check for spark and ignition which required a replacement coil and the little engine fire straight back into life. We couldn’t run it up for too long as Julian noted that the water pump and thermostat had been packed solid with corrosion and debris, so these were removed along with the radiator to be recommissioned.
A Suffolk Barn Find
May 9, 2024
Earlier today, several members of the Bridge Classic Cars team headed to Ipswich to take a look at a true barn find.
We’d heard about it but we hadn’t seen it so we had no idea the condition of the car that had been safely locked away since at least 1987.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Jenny, who owned the car. She quickly led us down her beautiful garden path to a small structure right at the bottom. With a padlock in place and things lent up against the doors, it was clear that the doors had been shut for quite some time.
After a bit of hard work, we were able to get the doors open and we got our first look at the car inside – a 1952 Austin A40 Cabriolet bodied by Jensen. The structure it had lived in for so long was just big enough for the car. That meant that it was difficult to get a full picture of the condition of the vehicle from it’s current position.
The front of the car looked to be in good shape so we were hopeful that the rest of the car might be in a similar condition. However, there was only one way to find out – it had to be moved out of storage for the first time in decades.
When the car was finally revealed to us, it was clear that it had been stored perfectly as everything seemed to be in fantastic condition.
As we looked closer and closer, we kept being surprised at how well the A40 had held up over its time off the road. Jenny’s husband, who sadly passed away, obviously knew how to look after classic cars as he had applied grease to the body and fully prepared the car for its long stay in the barn.
The interior also looks to have held up well, even revealing four spare tyres and the original hubcaps tucked away in bags in the boot of the car.
After a quick inspection in situ, our 1952 Austin A40 was loaded into the trailer and safely transported to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Now that it is here, it will be cleaned, recommissioned and back out on the road in the very near future.
5 responses to “A Suffolk Barn Find”
It was designed and produced with Jensen Motors so the body is a Jensen body. It’s a beautiful car to look at up close.
What a fantastic find. I hope you’re just going to recommission her and not go down the restoration route… it would be lovely to see her running iaround in her original patina where everyone can imagine the lifetime of stories she could tell.
Exactly that! A recommission is all that is planned. It’s lived a life that will be preserved as original.
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