Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 is for sale by auction right now on Car & Classic. To prepare for this, Tom and Myself
Now that our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 is back in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, classic car technician Jonn has begun his work
After being securely stored at The Hangar for the last few weeks, the time has finally come for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 received some attention in the East Coast Mini Club Facebook group recently. The names of Bridge Classic Cars
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 has recently returned to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. Coming back to be re-painted, it won’t be too
Our friend, SuffolkandFast, shared this a little while ago and it got us feeling all nostalgic about our 1967 Jaguar E Type Series 1 Racer
The day has come. Our beloved 1967 E Type Racer has left the building to start its new life on the twisting roads around Blackpool
Our one-of-a-kind E-Type is available to purchase through Car and Classic auctions. The reserve has been met and this auction will be coming to a
A beautifully and highly accurate one line description of our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Recreation was shared with over 85,000 of Car & Classic‘s amazing audience.
What a weekend! Now we’re back at base, it’s time for a re-cap of another classic car-fueled weekend. After a canceled 2020 show, Helmingham hall
Behind the scenes of our VW T2 Camper and Mercedes CL600 live draw Ellie has beautifully captured our 1967 Jaguar E-Type race car enjoying the
We’ve now received the new clutch for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car which can be fitted to replace the faulty one. We’ve
We’ve now got the new clutch in for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car which suffered from a faulty flywheel. Now with the
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race car is feeling rather poorly at the moment and is awaiting a new clutch from Norfolk Clutch and Brake who
Our custom build Jaguar E-Type race car has come back into the workshop for a new pressure plate as the one we’d fit had shattered
Thanks to Unusual Cars UK for sharing images of our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Car with their 152,000 members.
We are delighted to announce that we’ve teamed up with Car and Classic to share our Bridge Classic Cars’ services and competitions across their website.
The dawn chorus sounded a little different this morning. Accompanying the chirping birds on their morning song was the rumbling purr of an E-Type. Craig
It goes without saying, 2020 has been tough for everyone but there have been some positives! Bridge Classic Cars turned 16, we welcomed in more
We’re delighted to see that our treasured 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car has been featured in Car and Classic’s recent online magazine as
Another week has flown by! Once again we’ve had photoshoots, new arrivals and spectacular developments on our current projects. Behind the scenes and sneak peeks
We recently shot with local race car driver, engineer and enthusiast, Mike O’Connor, who took our amazing custom built Jaguar E-Type for a spin. These
Our week has been very busy with two photoshoots at the start of the week and new projects arriving in the workshop. Tr6’s new hood
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
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
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
We’ll start with the exciting news that our Orange race E-Type is nearing completion… As the UK enters a new national lockdown this evening, here
We had a walkabout this workshop this afternoon to see what everyone’s up to. One of our classic car technicians Pete has the 1996 Nissan
We’ve continued interior trim work on our 1967 Jaguar E-Type race car this week. Brian and Kath, our trim shop experts, have been making parts
Our superstar seamstress Kath in our trim shop has been designing and manufacturing a bespoke gear knob for the 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing car. She’s
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 is for sale by auction right now on Car & Classic.
To prepare for this, Tom and Myself headed over to the former RAF Bentwaters to shoot the car during the worst flooding scene in our area for nearly 40 years.
After gently driving the road-going racer across the site and into the infamous Hush House (the former engine test facility when the base was active). After getting the car in position, we took our time to carefully clean down the car ready for the shoot. It looked incredible under the down lights in the stark and industrial building, a complete contrast against its vibrant and eye catching Volcano Orange paintwork. After the car was cleaned down, we head into the control room where so many test engineers had gone before and hit the lights…
This wasn’t going to be like any other shoot though. We had decided to try something different and really push ourselves creatively in a short amount of time. Thinking back to the incredible photo shoot with our Chevron Formula 2 car, which had been shot by Freddie several years before in the same place, we decided to capture the racing E-Type using long exposures and carefully painting light across the bodywork and accents of the car as well as trying light painting through the background to give it a little more of an ethereal, artistic feel.
Here are some of the results:
Using our tripod and the cameras exposures set to around between 10 and 30 seconds, with the cameras light sensitivity turned all the way down. We began capturing the exterior shots of the car. With myself on the controls of the camera and Tom armed with a single diffused studio light (connected to a portable power pack), we began to slow work our way around the car using the studio light to paint the light over certain areas of the car to give it correct exposure but also to amplify the wonderful form and curves of the vintage E-Type.
Because of the amount of moisture in the air (we shot this at the height of the local storms, and hence why the car was shot inside) the headlights remained fogged up which adds to the vicious look of this road-going racer.
To capture the detail shots of the car, or ‘beauties’ as we refer to them here in the marketing department, we adopted the same approach of carefully dancing the highlights across the bodywork after triple checking the triple checks to make sure the focus was laser sharp on the area we needed.
Things like the Monza filler, a distinct feature on our E-Type, or the quintessential rear lights all had to be captured this way. Although more time consuming, allowed us to achieve the best result. For a few hours, it was a case of systematically going through every angle and aspect of the car with Tom, to capture everything that we needed. The trickiest part of the shoot, was actually the interior.
Because most the interior is covered by the roof, it tends to be the darkest aspect of the car. It’s also the easiest part to be able to see reflections in as almost from every angle you have a glass surface.
Once all of the essential photos were ticked off the list, it gave myself and Tom a bit of time to experiment with some more ‘artistic’ style shots to round off the shoot and add a sense of flair to this one of a kind classic.
Continuing with the use of long exposures to capture enough light to correctly show the car but also show off the menacing and purposeful character of our E-Type, we decided to play with highlights and framing. Using the torches on our smart phones, we worked our way round the car at speed to highlight the haunches and lines, while also creating patterns and shapes to display the car inside of what was essentially a stark and empty background.
The results, are something that we as a team are very proud of capturing for the auction of the car with our friends at Car & Classic.
Also, we offer full photo shoots with your pride and joy by the team here at Bridge Classic Cars. Click here and inquire.
Now that our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 is back in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, classic car technician Jonn has begun his work on getting it ready to get back out on the road.
In the early stages of this new round of work, we are looking forward to seeing what the future holds for our racing E-Type.
After being securely stored at The Hangar for the last few weeks, the time has finally come for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 to come back into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop in preparation for its transformation to begin.
By the time it leaves us, it will look very different to its current racing persona and we are very much looking forward to seeing it move into the next chapter of its life.
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 received some attention in the East Coast Mini Club Facebook group recently.
The names of Bridge Classic Cars Directors, Gordon and Craig Ranson can be seen on the car.
Our racing E-type is back with us and we are very much looking forward to getting it running and ready for more photo opportunities in the future.
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing Series 1 has recently returned to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Coming back to be re-painted, it won’t be too long before this impressive car looks very different to how it does now.
As you can see from the pictures below, even in the trailer, it is a fantastic-looking Jaguar!
We love having unique vehicles in the workshop and this certainly fits the bill.
Our friend, SuffolkandFast, shared this a little while ago and it got us feeling all nostalgic about our 1967 Jaguar E Type Series 1 Racer that we built in house.
Mike drove the racer for the photo and video shoot of the car. We at Bridge Classic Cars are massively proud of this project which was entirely built by our amazing in-house team from the ground up. To watch the video that we made to go along with the car, just click on the video below.
The day has come. Our beloved 1967 E Type Racer has left the building to start its new life on the twisting roads around Blackpool with its very lucky new owner.
Those who have been following along with the story of this Volcano Orange E Type will have seen the amazing film and also the wonderful article in Car & Classic about the car. But, like all good things they must come to an end. Our time with this fun in-house built E Type at Bridge Classic Cars has come to an end.
Carefully loaded into our very own enclosed transporter, and safely secured down by our in-house transportation team it was on the first journey of its new life far from us here at Bridge Classic Cars in Suffolk.
As it left, the Bridge Classic Cars team thought about the good times that have been had with this brightly coloured flash of fury. The hours of hard work, devotion and fanatical attention to detail put in by all the members of our highly skilled and enthusiast led team. The film shoot with SuffolkandFast on a misty and foggy morning up at RAF Bentwaters or our very own in-house marketing guru Freddie driving the car back from Helmingham Festival of classic and sportscars while it popped, banged and spat flames as it passed the pub filled with local enthusiasts thanks to its rebuilt engine.
But as the doors closed on our bespoke transporter, we could all smile and know it was going off to be loved and cherished by its new owner. To live and breathe on new roads high above the north/south divide where an entirely new group of enthusiasts and bystanders can enjoy and appreciate this remarkable, one-off road racer.
Our one-of-a-kind E-Type is available to purchase through Car and Classic auctions. The reserve has been met and this auction will be coming to a close on Thursday 26th August at 9.00 pm. View the listing here.
It’s not often that a competition-spec E-Type comes up on the open market, and even rarer that a road-registered, fully rebuilt and extensively upgraded example rears its head.
Offering the unique opportunity to buy a virtually brand-new E-Type 2+2 with numerous enhancements that both improve the performance and usability of the car, this gorgeous Volcano Orange example has been finished to the highest standards and has evidently been a true ‘passion project’ for the builders – an opportunity too good to miss, and likely one that will never be repeated.Â
Be sure to get your bids in thick and fast if you want a chance to own this stunning S1 E-Type.
A beautifully and highly accurate one line description of our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Recreation was shared with over 85,000 of Car & Classic‘s amazing audience.
What a weekend! Now we’re back at base, it’s time for a re-cap of another classic car-fueled weekend. After a canceled 2020 show, Helmingham hall played backdrop for a wonderful show. Charlotte and the Bridge team were all at the show to present our restoration projects and current competition lineup. We even closed out the show by drawing the winner of our 1959 Jaguar MK1 which was Shaun Clarke, with ticket number 1486.
Here are a few snaps we took at the show.
Were you at the show? It was lovely to meet so many of you yesterday.
Behind the scenes of our VW T2 Camper and Mercedes CL600 live draw Ellie has beautifully captured our 1967 Jaguar E-Type race car enjoying the sunshine at the door to our hangar.
We’ve now received the new clutch for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car which can be fitted to replace the faulty one. We’ve also manufactured a bracket for the starter motor as it wasn’t engaging. Once everything is fitted back together again, it will need a test drive to understand if it is running correctly or not.
We’ve now got the new clutch in for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car which suffered from a faulty flywheel. Now with the new part, we hope this one will be able to handle the speed.
Our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race car is feeling rather poorly at the moment and is awaiting a new clutch from Norfolk Clutch and Brake who are fabricating a new heavy duty clutch.
Our custom build Jaguar E-Type race car has come back into the workshop for a new pressure plate as the one we’d fit had shattered and fractured during one of our test drives. Unfortunately, the element was faulty, thus leading to this dramatic fracture. Our beloved Jaguar has gone from a roar to a pur but we’ll have it back up and running soon.
We’ve also found that the clutch slave cylinder was leaking which we are now endeavouring to fix.
Thanks to Unusual Cars UK for sharing images of our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Car with their 152,000 members.
We are delighted to announce that we’ve teamed up with Car and Classic to share our Bridge Classic Cars’ services and competitions across their website. If you’re used to perusing the classifieds of Car and Classic, you’ll start to see our adverts popping up.
We’ve featured several times in Car and Classic’s Magazine. Most recently, our E-Type Racecar received a beautiful write up from Head of Editorial, Chris Pollitt. You can read Chris’ article here: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/magazine/e-type-racer-built-for-the-thrill
We’re excited by this partnership and cannot wait to reveal more of our exciting plans with Car and Classic.
The dawn chorus sounded a little different this morning. Accompanying the chirping birds on their morning song was the rumbling purr of an E-Type.
Craig was up early at our hanger this morning and decided to take our 1967 Jaguar out for a spin to keep it fresh and the Suffolk sunrise did not disappoint! What better than a beautiful car against a stunning backdrop.
You can take a closer look at its restoration journey and previous photos here or take a look at it on our ‘For sale’ page here.
It goes without saying, 2020 has been tough for everyone but there have been some positives! Bridge Classic Cars turned 16, we welcomed in more unique and interesting cars, expanded the team and took new ventures.
This year we introduced our competitions back in May. With an uncertain year ahead of us, we wanted to provide some excitement to our followers, and what better way than to offer the chance of winning a car for less than £20! It wasn’t easy at first, but now with over 21 winners and up to 4 competition cars running at the same time, we’re doing better than ever. So far we’ve given away £561,197.00 worth of classic cars!
This week we’re delivering our latest winning cars, our 1974 VW Beetle that was won by Colin Knight and our 1995 Jaguar XJ6 who was won by Nick Nicola just before Christmas! We’re being careful to make the delivery as safe as possible, complying with tier 4 guidelines but we can’t wait to see Colin and Nick’s reactions!
Its been a long restoration, but we were delighted to announce the completion of our very own project, our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car Replica. Its come a long way from the decrepit shell we started with in 2017. Every detail, right down to the colour has been custom made and designed. This truly is a Bridge Classic Car. You can see it’s story here.
We love every and any classic car and are in turn, we’re equipped to fix and restore any classic too, but 2020 for us was the year of the Jensen. We’ve had eight 541R/541S’s in this year, some of which are still with us being completed. With only 193 Jensen 541R’s and 127 541S’s ever made worldwide, to have so many in at all really is outstanding, let alone all at the same time.
The 541R models were manufactured between 1957 and 1960 when they were later replaced by the 541S that ran from 1960 to 1962. Whilst each car is incredibly unique with its story and bespoke restoration, they are also very similar, and as you can imagine, with 8 very similar cars in at the same time, it took a while to get our heads around which was which when referring to them.
2020 saw the birth of the Trim Shop. Whilst we’d had individual trim specialists working with us before, we were yet to dedicate a department to it! Last year saw the creation of the Trim Shop, giving the speciality its own workshop and team which continued to grow throughout the year. Originally just Kath and Brian, we have welcomed a new face to the team recently. Lydia has now joined us and is another much-valued member of the trim shop. Having our own trim department allows us to continue keeping all our restorations under one roof, limiting the outsourcing as much as we can.
We’ve also had Ellie join this year, adding to the marketing department. Previously we had just Freddie, and briefly Charlotte doing our marketing, but as the company started to grow, we found the need to take on another set of hands for our marketing and visuals.
We’ve had some very unique cars in this year, including this original 1972 Chevron B20. Its seen top racing drivers, international races and a big crash in its lifetime and nowWe’re selling this on behalf of the owner but in the meantime, we’re enjoying housing this incredible special car. You can find out more about its history on our blogs.
The latter part of this year saw us start shooting some of our cars in a more editorial and creative style. Whilst we’ve always organised high-quality shoots of all our competition and for sale cars, we decided to add models to some of the shoots to make them a bit different.
Now we have both Freddie and Ellie on shoots, it means we can also get behind the scene insights into our shoots.
Another interesting and heartfelt restoration this year was our 1972 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 that we restored. In memory of their late uncle, the owner paid to have a commemorative plaque fitted by the handbrake. We also embedded one of their Uncle’s favourite cufflinks above it as well. As we always say, each restoration is special and every car carries its own stories, but this one was particularly special.
Last January, we had our open morning car show that proved to be incredibly popular. After having to cancel our 2021 January open morning show, we hope to organise one for later this year.
We’re delighted to see that our treasured 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car has been featured in Car and Classic’s recent online magazine as well as listed on their for sale section.
You can read the full article here.
This beautifully written article by Chris Pollitt really does highlight the hard work our team put into our Jaguar E-Type project.
We, of course, love this car but it’s even more rewarding to see others appreciate it. We hope that from this, our Jaguar will soon make its way to a new home.
If you’re interested in purchasing it, you can see more about its specifications here.
“The build, which was complete this year, took over three years in total. This is down to the fastidious nature of the team at Bridge, and also the desire for this car to be perfect, not rushed.”
“It’s become more than just an E Type. It’s something more. Something exciting, something unique and something so loaded with personality and character it makes other E Types look… muted?”
Another week has flown by! Once again we’ve had photoshoots, new arrivals and spectacular developments on our current projects.
On Tuesday we shot the second half of the content for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 race car replica. For this, we took it to the track at Bentwaters where our skilled F1 Test Driver, Mike O’Connor, put it through its paces.
We’ve also shot our new competition car, the Jaguar XJ6. Here’s a sneak peek at the XJ6 in motion. For these kinds of shots, we often get Ellie to drive and Freddie to shoot the car in motion. This allows moving shots to be done efficiently when it’s separate to a staged shoot with a model/talents such as the Jaguar race car above.
The XJ6 has already gone live and has proved to be incredibly popular with almost a quarter of the tickets having sold out in one day! Get your tickets quickly as the launch sale is ending soon!
We’ve had a beautiful red 1979 Chevrolet Corvette C3 arrive which will soon be a competition car. It underwent an intensive valet by our talented friend at Viper Auto Valets.
A stunning Jaguar XJ6 auto and a classic 1979 Daimler 4.2 Sovereign XJ6 Series III Automatic have also arrived this week, ready to be a competition cars. You can find more about the Jaguar and Daimler here!
The sill and footwell carpet has been cut and glued down as well as the carpet around the gearbox tunnel. Brian has fitted the front and rear footwell carpets on the passenger side too. Metal rails & air vent covers have been fitted to the scuttle panels. The passenger side scuttle panel and front footboard have both been fitted in place this week.
Although a lot of the carpets and back seats have been made, there’s still the front seats to make and fit.
Upon inspection, we identified some modifications needed on the grey Jensen’s doors to make sure all components align correctly.
Our 1973 Triumph TR6 has had new speakers and speaker holders made and installed by our technician Mauro who’s been working exclusively on the TR6. Adam, our auto electrics specialist has also been doing some work on the TR6, changing the sidelights to indicators to comply with UK road laws.
The new bonnet has been attached on the 504, the latches have been modified, gaps lined, bonnet painted and now fit! It’s so rewarding seeing this beautiful car looking whole again!
We’ve had a rubber mystery in the workshop, but luckily enough Gordan used his detective skills to figure out a nifty solution! The Peugeot 504 was in need of new rubber sills however we couldn’t find anywhere that sourced them. By matter of chance, in our Amphicar box of spare bits and bobs, we found some rubber extras that fit the 504 perfectly! A tip for anyone looking for Peugeot 504 rubber sills, head over to Gordons Imports and get some Amphicar rubber!
The Peugeot 504 has also been started for the first time in quite a while! This was its debut since being reassembled and its sounding good!
The Morris Minor 1000 is ready for a test drive! It will be the first time it’s been started and driven in a while so it’s going to be an exciting development! To get the Morris ready for its start-up, our engine technician Ady has cleaned the carburettors and given it a pre-startup service.
We recently shot with local race car driver, engineer and enthusiast, Mike O’Connor, who took our amazing custom built Jaguar E-Type for a spin. These supplementary visuals go hand in hand with the shots we captured of the car itself which can be seen here.
Our week has been very busy with two photoshoots at the start of the week and new projects arriving in the workshop.
Our trim shop has been fitting the frame to the TR6. This includes riveting straps to the frame bars, marking positions for fasteners around the rear of the hood and fitting those fasteners in position. The next step is to clip the front edge of the cover in place while the fasteners are riveted to the metal bar inside the hood.
Brian, one of our trim shop specialists the glued velcro to the sidebars and screwed in metal channels for the side rubbers. Once all the fasteners have been fitted, Brian could then fit the cover to the car.
Our Lotus Esprit has had a new water pipe fabricated from stainless steel to replace the old aluminium one that had rusted. This was made by hand in our workshop.
Although finish, the 1967 Jaguar E-type series 1 race car is always an ongoing project with new alterations being done frequently. This week a new door latch and release cable was fitted.
Our 1965 Triumph TR5 has had its split dashboard repaired. Refurbished by hand in our workshop, its now ready to be re-installed.
The trim shop has added wadding to the rear-seat centre section, glued the cover at front & back down and turned the fabric around the hinge at the back. The seats have also had the sides glued and pulled tight. Wadding has been added as well as extra foam to the side section of the rear seat base.
Primer has been done and its now ready for the fiberglass to be smoothed and corrected and the colour to be applied.
The Gold and Burgundy Jensen 541S had an issue with its engine which Ady, our engine specialist soon diagnosed as a cracked oil way. Oil was leaking into the water pipe. To discover the issue, Ady had to fill the oil way with water and push air through the pipe to identify the issue.
Both Monday and Tuesday were jam-packed for our marketing team with two photoshoots for our race cars, the Jaguar E-Type and the Chevron B20. We’re excited to share the results of these shoots. A big thank you to Ellough Park in Beccles for allowing us to shoot on their track and to Mark O’Connor who featured in the Jaguar E-Type photos. As an F1 test driver and stunt driver, he was the perfect person to get behind the wheel and model for the shoot!
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!
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.
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!
We’ll start with the exciting news that our Orange race E-Type is nearing completion…
As the UK enters a new national lockdown this evening, here at Bridge Classic Cars we remain open for business as per our recent statement. The new measures come in to force on Thursday 5th November and expected to last until Wednesday 2 December.
This morning, we are introducing you to and looking forward to some exciting new projects hoping to be heading our way in the new year.
Here is a brief over view of some recent discussions we’ve been having and some exciting projects that we are hoping to be involved with very soon.
Our 1973 Triumph Stag has sadly been a stalled restoration for some years. Having been prepared and painted a few years ago the car has been sitting still ever since. The owner has now made the decision that the car must be completed and back on the Suffolk roads so we are hoping to be of assistance with this one very soon.
Next up we have our 1948 Triumph Roadster 2000. Again, a stalled restoration project that may possibly be in our workshops early 2021 to be completed and returned to the UK roads.
As you know, we love a Jensen 541. Here is an ongoing restoration being carried out by the current owner and a key player in the Jensen 541 world. The car is now ready for body preparation and paint so we are hoping to see her with us in the paint shop early to middle of 2021.
In 2019 Chris started the restoration of his father’s 1959 MGA Twin Cam. Now in the very safe hands of ex-TVR head technicians, the car is looking wonderful and taking shape nicely. We are hoping to take on the responsibility for the car, once completed. The current owner resides overseas and wants to find a good home for the car. It has been in the family for many many years and it would be lovely for it to find a new home with another family for many many years to come.
A project for Kath and Brian for early 2021 will be our South African 1980 Porsche 928 from our friends at Horizon Classics. The Porsche has recently undergone a full engine rebuild and body work improvements. Steve is currently awaiting the brand new, original Porsche material at which time the car will make it’s way over to our Trim Shop in Suffolk for a interior refit.
Finally, we look forward to welcoming our 1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle 1303 to the Bridge Classic Cars family. We are hoping to collect this incredible car from the north of Scotland very soon, hopefully when we have the opportunity to get out on the road. We will update you very soon on this one!!
We had a walkabout this workshop this afternoon to see what everyone’s up to.
One of our classic car technicians Pete has the 1996 Nissan Patrol up on the ramp. “I’m working on the front disc brakes” he explains “the inner seal on the hub has gone.”
Pete’s lined up the front-wheel-drive axel, marking out exactly where each component goes, so it can go back together the exact same way.
The seats on our 1972 MGB Roadster are back from Kath in our in-house trim shop. Tamas is now fitting the seats back into car. “I’m also removing the wheels ready to go into paint” Tamas tells us “as well as refitting the luggage rack back onto the boot”.
Another MG also in the workshop, is our stunning 1960 MGA. Keen to modify the car, her owner is opting for heating to be installed. Some classics would have these modern ‘essentials’ as optional extras back in the day.
“We had to order the heater box from America” our expert Paul explains. “We’re also doing some minor improvements on the gearbox and pistons.” Paul’s also added another mirror that the customer’s asked for. Along with changing the rubber trim around the boot and bonnet from grey to black.
Classic car technician Scott’s continued fitting various bits and pieces onto our 1957 grey Jensen 541R. “I’ve been making the cable ends for the grill flap mechanism” he tells us. The front grill on the 541R opens to act as a cooling aid for the engine. The driver controls this mechanism from the front seat.
Scott’s also fitted the new windscreen washer system this week. Including new washer bottle, pipework and washer jet system.
Our impressive 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Car has reached a milestone moment today! Our Director Gordon and workshop manager John got her engine roaring and even got flames firing out the exhausts!
This is a very exciting moment here at Bridge. After quite an exhaustive restoration, it’s a beautiful thing to finally have a car up and running again.
Gordon even managed a quick test drive round the car park!
In the trim shop our interior experts Kath and Brian are making great progress on our 1960 Black Jensen 541R. The back seats, front seats and centre console all now in position.
Rosie the dog even came to say hello!
Our car electrician Adam has been working on the 1965 Amphicar’s wiring. “I’ve been tidying up the engine bay wiring” Adam explains. “All the engine accessories and wiring wasn’t waterproof. Which for an Amphicar- is pretty important!”
Interestingly, the Amphicar’s engine is in the boot, much like boat engines are. Whereas under the bonnet, is where the fuel tank and storage space is.
Our engine expert Ady’s is getting ready to put the engine back in our 1972 Peugeot 504.
He’s also done some engine work on the 1953 Ford Taunus Transit Van. “It was running a bit rough. So, I’ve done a few engine tweaks and am hoping to do an oil and filter change next.”
Last but certainly not least, our body shop expert Anthony has been working on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. “We need to get the underseal off the metal shell” explains Anthony. “It’s really tough to remove so we use a method of literally burning it off, it’s almost like melting it.”
Phew! What a busy week we’re having here at the workshop. As we fast approach the weekend I think everyone earned a well deserved break. Well done Bridge Class Cars team!
We’ve continued interior trim work on our 1967 Jaguar E-Type race car this week. Brian and Kath, our trim shop experts, have been making parts for the centre console.
“I made the base for the Jags chubby box out of ply wood” explains Brian. “I started by cutting all the separate sections, gluing them into position. Then screwing the finished box into the centre console.”
The leather was then marked out and cut to shape around the box. Foam’s been added around the edge to give the box a nicer shape. “I fitted the leather around” describes Brian, “then glued neatly around the edges.”
Kath’s been working on our race car too. She’s been making the pattern for the gaiter surround. “I mark out the pattern then transfer this to the leather” Kath tells us. “I then stick the edges neatly in place, cut out the centre and stitch the surround to tie in with the rest of the design.”
Kath’s then fitted the surround around the gaiter and added the gear knob she made earlier.
Brian’s then fixed the finished box into the centre console and covered the screws with a matching carpet panel. Now both parts are looking right at home in the race car.
That’s some awesome team work Kath and Brian – great job trim shop!
Our superstar seamstress Kath in our trim shop has been designing and manufacturing a bespoke gear knob for the 1967 Jaguar E-Type Racing car.
She’s use the existing gear knob to create the pattern. “I make sure I leave the thread tails,” explains Kath, “as I’ll use these later to sew them together later.”
“I’ve then put all the pieces together and used those thread tails to sew the pieces together in a crisscross and pull tightly to secure.”
We’re super impressed with the final look. Now it’s time to couple the gear knob with the gear shift gaiter Kath made earlier and this part of Jaguar E-Types restoration is complete!
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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