The gearbox for our 1960 Jensen 541R project is back in the building. The transmission had been with a trusted specialist for a rebuild as
After Tony collected the engine of our 1960 Jensen 541R, Paul fitted the clutch and brake master cylinders to the car. He then cut the
Paul has been busy working on the rear axle of our 1960 Jensen 541R. After stripping the old axle for parts, he prepped the removed
Tony has been out on the road transporting various cars over the last week. He has transported our 2002 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage from our
Tony has delivered the springs from our 1960 Jensen 541R to Owen Springs in Rotherham.
Classic car technician Paul has started preparing the front suspension for our 1960 Jensen 541R.
Our paint and body team have been hard at work moving forward on bringing our 1960 Jensen 541R back to life. Chris, our body and
The paint and body team have been working full steam ahead on our 1960 Jensen 541R formerly known as ‘Lilac’. Alan, one of our incredible
Christian has been hard at work in the fabrication bay making bonnet brackets for our 1960 Jensen 541R.
The door skins of our 1960 Jensen 541R have been painted in DTM black.
The near side lower corner of our 1960 Jensen 541R has been repaired by Alan. He also replaced both quarter-panel window rubber holders. Once all
The body of our 1960 Jensen 541R has been removed ready for work to begin on it.
Lydia has been stripping the seats of our 1960 Jensen 541R ready for new covers once the fabric has been chosen.
Since the chassis of our 1960 Jensen 541R returned to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, classic car technician Rob has been completing repairs. However, recently,
Classic car technician Rob has, once again, been working on our 1960 Jensen 541R. One of the areas he has been focused on is the
Classic car technician Rob has continued his work on our 1960 Jensen 541R. Rob has made new door steps and fitted these. He has also
Our 1960 Jensen 541R has stayed under the care of classic car technician Rob. Rob continued his work making and welding panels for the right-hand
Since the chassis of our 1960 Jensen 541R has returned from sandblasting, classic car technician Rob has found some old repairs that need to be
The chassis and body of our 1960 Jensen 541R has come back to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after their trip to the sandblasters. Now
Our 1960 Jensen 541 is back in the workshop and in the very capable hands of classic car technician Rob. In preparation for sandblasting, Rob
Our friends at Wyatt Polishing recently completed some restoration work and zinc plating for a number of seat runners and bonnet struts for the Jensens
Our classic car technician, Clinton, has been making parts that will ultimately go on to be fitted into one of our ongoing Jensen projects. The
The Jensen 541 was a car produced by Jensen Motors. Each one of these cars has an individual story to tell, but the story of
There are quite a few Jensens being restored in our workshop at the moment (7 at the last count including 541s, 541Rs, and an Interceptor
In the workshops right now, we have 6x Jensen 541’s in various states of repair or restoration. We have 3x Jensen 541’s and 3x Jensen
Mauro spent the afternoon in the booth preparing parts for a number of our Jensen projects. Blasted parts have been prepared and painted and will
The subframe from the 1960 Jensen 541R has arrived back at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after being sent away for blasting. The team sent
Local artist Paul Seymour has sent us in this beautiful watercolour painting of our 1959 Jensen 541R that he sketched at our stand at this
The Bridge Classic Cars team are currently in the process of stripping back and inspecting the chassis for our 1960 Jensen 541R, Lilac. The team
Work is continuing on the interior of this in-house handmade interior of the 1960 Jensen 541R we have in with us for restoration at Bridge
The gearbox for our 1960 Jensen 541R project is back in the building. The transmission had been with a trusted specialist for a rebuild as part of the project to get this incredible classic GT back on the road.
After Tony collected the engine of our 1960 Jensen 541R, Paul fitted the clutch and brake master cylinders to the car. He then cut the heat shield to shape and fitted it to the bulkhead.
Paul went on to prepare the fuel tank before fitting it. The flywheel has also been prepped.
Paul has been busy working on the rear axle of our 1960 Jensen 541R.
After stripping the old axle for parts, he prepped the removed parts for paint and plating.
Paul then went on to fit the rear axle and leaf springs as our 541R continues to make great progress.
Tony has been out on the road transporting various cars over the last week.
He has transported our 2002 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage from our storage facility to the main workshop. He then transported a customer’s 1964 Morgan 4/4 that had been running poorly.
Our 2023 Bridge C-Type Replica was next as this was loaded into the trailer ready to be delivered to its new owner.
Tony also transported the wheels from our 1974 Triumph TR6 before transporting our 1960 Jensen 541R engine too.
Tony has delivered the springs from our 1960 Jensen 541R to Owen Springs in Rotherham.
Classic car technician Paul has started preparing the front suspension for our 1960 Jensen 541R.
Our paint and body team have been hard at work moving forward on bringing our 1960 Jensen 541R back to life. Chris, our body and paint specialist, has spent a lot of time working the fibreglass on the classic GT car to get it not only structurally sound but in the best position to be worked later.
The fibreglass contained lots of small cracks, holes and imperfections which Chris had to reglass by hand before allowing them to cure and then be sanded back and rechecked, before the hole car and all panels taken into the booth to have its first layers of epoxy primer laid down.
Meanwhile, our fabricator (also called Chris) has made up a new set of bonnet stay brackets specifically to work with this chassis.
The paint and body team have been working full steam ahead on our 1960 Jensen 541R formerly known as ‘Lilac’.
Alan, one of our incredible technicians here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ, has been working on getting the bonnet of this fibreglass GT car back into one piece… Over years of use, and the material itself, the bonnets of these cars can become very fragile and are prone to cracking in certain areas. Thankfully, with over a dozen of these fantastic cars having been restored by the team we know where they need to be reinforced and strengthened which is exactly what Alan has been working on. As well as strengthening known weak spots, he has also been building up layers in certain areas to give the entire panel a uniform thickness on the top side and also to build up areas in order to give it the correct panel gaps when the car goes back together.
Christian has been hard at work in the fabrication bay making bonnet brackets for our 1960 Jensen 541R.
The near side lower corner of our 1960 Jensen 541R has been repaired by Alan. He also replaced both quarter-panel window rubber holders.
Once all the repairs on the underside of the body were complete, Alan masked out the parts that need sealing when they are attached to the body frame. He then blacked the whole underside of the body.
While this was happening, Christian fabricated a boot latch bracket.
The body of our 1960 Jensen 541R has been removed ready for work to begin on it.
Lydia has been stripping the seats of our 1960 Jensen 541R ready for new covers once the fabric has been chosen.
Since the chassis of our 1960 Jensen 541R returned to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, classic car technician Rob has been completing repairs.
However, recently, Rob progressed to starting the long process of putting our 541R back together again. The main body is now back on the chassis and the whole thing is starting to look much more car-like.
There is, of course, still a long way to go before the car is anywhere close to being ready to leave us but, it’s always great to see progress being made on restoration projects like this.
Classic car technician Rob has, once again, been working on our 1960 Jensen 541R. One of the areas he has been focused on is the right-hand side rear body frame and B post. These were both made and welded into place.
Rob then went on to repair and weld the front bulkhead and A posts on both sides before clamping the newly made boot floor ready for welding. The new boot floor was made by Monty to help in the restoration of our rare Jensen 541R.
Classic car technician Rob has continued his work on our 1960 Jensen 541R.
Rob has made new door steps and fitted these. He has also made the left-hand B post and welded this in before doing the same for the left-hand rear body frame parts.
The rear floor mounting panels were replaced too.
Our 1960 Jensen 541R has stayed under the care of classic car technician Rob.
Rob continued his work making and welding panels for the right-hand rear wheel arch. Once this was finished, he began the process all over again on the left-hand side of the chassis. This involved more cutting and welding.
Like the right-hand side rear wheel arch, the left-hand side also needed to be fabricated and welded into place.
The chassis of our 1960 Jensen 541R is still undergoing work and, with more repairs needed, it is likely to stay with Rob for a bit longer before its able to move on with its restoration.
Since the chassis of our 1960 Jensen 541R has returned from sandblasting, classic car technician Rob has found some old repairs that need to be cut out and corrected. These repairs have clearly been done at some point in the car’s life before it found its way into the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
Now that it is with us, and in Rob’s capable hands, the old repairs will soon be rectified and the chassis will be in much better condition.
Rob started with the right-hand rear wheel arch. He has been cutting out the bad repairs from previous work so he can then return the car back to its original condition.
A new wheel arch was made and welded in before more bad repairs were cut out and removed.
Work continues to bring our 1960 Jensen 541R back to life. The poor past repairs have provided an additional challenge to Rob and the rest of the workshop team but, once resolved, progress will continue to be made on this beautiful classic car.
The chassis and body of our 1960 Jensen 541R has come back to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after their trip to the sandblasters.
Now they are back with us, the restoration of our 1960 Jensen 541R can continue.
Our 1960 Jensen 541 is back in the workshop and in the very capable hands of classic car technician Rob.
In preparation for sandblasting, Rob has removed the body and the roof frame.
With a history like this car has, it is exciting to see it progress through its restoration journey and be one step closer to being back on the road (even though there is still a long way to go yet).
Our friends at Wyatt Polishing recently completed some restoration work and zinc plating for a number of seat runners and bonnet struts for the Jensens currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.
When components like this look as good as they now do, you can tell that the fully restored cars they become a part of will be as beautiful as ever.
Our classic car technician, Clinton, has been making parts that will ultimately go on to be fitted into one of our ongoing Jensen projects.
The bonnet strips he made can be seen in the photos below.
The Jensen 541 was a car produced by Jensen Motors. Each one of these cars has an individual story to tell, but the story of the Jensen 541, in general, is one that many car enthusiasts should be keen to hear.
If you want to know more about these truly iconic classic cars, then this brief history of the Jensen 541 can give you a good idea of how special (and rare) these cars really are.
At the Earls Court Motor Show of 1953, the Jensen 541 was shown to the public for the very first time. It would be another eight months before production properly started but, this was the date when the world was officially introduced to the 541.
Up until the 541, Jensen had mostly been using aluminium for the bodywork of their Interceptors (there were restrictions on the use of steel still in place as the world recovered from the second world war). When it came to making the boot lids of the Interceptors though, Jensen played around with a new material of the time – fibreglass.
When working on the idea for the 541, Jensen wanted to do something big, so they decided to make a lot more of the car from this new wonder material.
In June of 1954, production of the Jensen 541 began. At the time, you could buy your very own 541 for £2146.
A little over 2 years after production of the 541 began, the 541 Deluxe was introduced. As this was a more luxurious car that featured all disc brakes, the price of the car increased to £2626.
Only 53 Jensen 541 Deluxes were made in total.
A year later, the 541R was introduced. When first released, these were fitted with Austin Princess (DS7) twin-carb engines, and an overdrive gearbox. The price tag for a 541R, at the time, was £2866.
At the beginning of 1958, the very last Jensen 541 was made.
Two years later, the Jensen 541R was pulled from production too. At this point, less than 200 541Rs had been made. Jensen had now moved on to the Jensen 541S which had a larger interior, and automatic transmission as standard. Due to these upgrades, the 541S cost £3195.
At the beginning of 1963, production of the Jensen 541S ended. Less than 150 had been made before being replaced by the Jensen CV-8 which had been introduced the previous year (1962).
Jensens have had a strong presence in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for a long time. Our team of classic car technicians have restored multiple 541s and some of our current projects include a few more too.
Considering only a few hundred of these classic cars were made, we love seeing them in the workshop. We love working on them, and we love getting them back on the road for everyone to enjoy.
There are quite a few Jensens being restored in our workshop at the moment (7 at the last count including 541s, 541Rs, and an Interceptor MK3).
As there is a lot of work to get done on these classic cars, it’s usually very beneficial to bulk produce some of the smaller parts so they are always available if and when our classic car technicians need them.
Clinton has been busy handcrafting several components that will eventually go on to be part of several of our Jensens. As you can see from the photos below, he has been making bonnet hinges and rear seat location pins. Even small parts like this play a big role in classic car restoration.
In the workshops right now, we have 6x Jensen 541’s in various states of repair or restoration. We have 3x Jensen 541’s and 3x Jensen 541R’s.
Sometimes, when fabricating parts it is much more time and cost effective for Clinton to produce more than one item. In this instance, Clinton has been working on re-producing the rear demisters and vents as well as bonnet stops and clamps.
With so many successful Jensen restorations now complete, we have the tooling for a lot of the parts that are required on the Jensen. If you are looking for Jensen parts for your own car or need assistance with fabricating certain parts for your classic car feel free to get in touch and we’d be more than happy to assist.
Mauro spent the afternoon in the booth preparing parts for a number of our Jensen projects. Blasted parts have been prepared and painted and will now be wrapped up ready for reassembly.
The subframe from the 1960 Jensen 541R has arrived back at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop after being sent away for blasting.
The team sent away the subframe for blasting to get a better look at the condition of the piece. Once it arrived back, the team have noticed that several of the mounts and brackets are heavily bent and misshapen while the bottom of the subframe has some areas of corrosion.
The subframe will be taken over to our in-house fabrication shop to be repaired and further checked over.
Local artist Paul Seymour has sent us in this beautiful watercolour painting of our 1959 Jensen 541R that he sketched at our stand at this years Helmingham Hall Classic & Sports Car Festival.
We brought along the 541R which is in the early stages of its restoration with us.
We’ve even got some photos of Paul at work while he roughed out the sketch which you can see below and head over to his website and check out some of the other amazing artwork he has done and the tuition courses he offers.
The Bridge Classic Cars team are currently in the process of stripping back and inspecting the chassis for our 1960 Jensen 541R, Lilac.
The team have been looking into the depth of any corrosion and also to the extent of previous repairs to the chassis which will need to be rectified and corrected by the team to bring this frame back to better than new.
Keep a look out on the Bridge Classic Cars news page soon for more updates on the 1960 Jensen 541R.
Work is continuing on the interior of this in-house handmade interior of the 1960 Jensen 541R we have in with us for restoration at Bridge Classic Cars.
This entirely bespoke and fitted interior being made by our in-house trim shop shows the level of detail needed for such a unique and classic car. The foams are individually cut and refind to make sure that the seat fits the owner well but also follows the classic, following lines of the original interior trim.
The Jensen 541 family are all so unique and entirely handbuilt that the interiors are as individual as the car. This particular car is a very special project to us here at Bridge Classic Cars so keep an eye out on our news page for more updates on this fantastic example of the marque.
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