Read all about our very successful Porsche Owners Club Meet here.
The Porsche Owners Club GB will be hosting a private and exclusive event at Bridge Classic Cars on Saturday 25th March 2023.
Members of the club will have the opportunity to have a tour of our workshop as well as enjoy refreshments and spend some time with like-minded fellow Porsche owners.
This event is for members only!
More information can be found here.
November 9, 2022 4:56 pm
Bridge Classic Cars will be attending the Classic Motor Show 2022 being held at the NEC in Birmingham.
We are very much looking forward to spending a day or two with an arena full of fellow classic car enthusiasts. The Classic Motor Show is a place to exhibit classic cars and bikes as well as to listen to talks from industry experts and spend plenty of time surrounded by classic vehicles.
There will be classic car displays, exhibitors of all things classic car related, classic car and bike clubs will be in attendance, and there will also be live music performances too.
This is one car show that we attend regularly. It is one of the biggest and best classic car shows and it is a place where you really can find everything classic car related. A number of the Bridge Classic Cars team will be in attendance this year and we are hoping to see lots of familiar faces as well as meet new friends too.
The Classic Motor Show 2022 runs from Friday 11th November through to Sunday 13th November.
We hope to see you there!
One recent addition to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop comes with much more importance than first meets the eye.
Our 1991 Maserati Bi-Turbo Spyder E was previously owned by Robert Furniss Riding. Known as Bob, Robert was a hardworking man. He progressed in his banking career into the role of Group Treasurer of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Bob had a keen interest in sailing while working in the city. However, after moving to the Isle of Man, his attention turned to collecting quality cars. He ended up getting involved with numerous car clubs and was even appointed as Chairman of the Conister Trust and Manx Classic Car Club. He was also President of the Manx Motor Racing Club and he became something of a classic car enthusiast.
Bob’s car collection grew to one of considerable size. In fact, he even moved to a large country house in order to have enough garage space to keep his ever-growing collection safe.
After his sad passing in May, Bob left his car collection (worth around £1.5million) to charity. He had been a keen supporter of local charities for a while. Even after his death, Bob wanted to continue to make a difference. He had a particular passion for maritime charities (thanks to his previous love of sailing) and for charities that helped young people.
The RNLI was named the Residuary Beneficiary of the Robert Furniss Riding estate. This meant that when his collection of cars went to auction (including our Maserati), the proceeds went to the charity. The funds raised will help support them in their extremely important work of keeping people safe at sea.
Our 1991 Maserati Bi-Turbo Spyder E is a very cool car. It is one of just 147 right-hand drive 2.8-litre Spyders made and brings a whole load of style to this modern classic.
However, what makes this car truly special is that its former owner was a hardworking individual who loved generously sharing his seemingly endless knowledge of classic cars with anyone who needed it. He supported multiple charities and has made a big difference to their operations.
Everyone at Bridge Classic Cars sends our condolences to Bob’s friends, family, and loved ones. We will make sure his Spyder is well looked after!
The lucky winner of our 1981 MGB GT LE, Martin Godwin, took delivery of his classic car earlier today.
Martin was randomly selected as the winner in our live draw held on 27th October 2022 with ticket number 1562.
Everyone at Bridge Classic Cars offers our congratulations to Martin and we wish him all the best on his future road trips in this beautiful car.
You can’t get much rarer than our 1905 Riley 9HP. With only 3 believed to be left in existence (including the one in our workshop), we understand how important it is to bring this truly classic car back to life.
Our team of highly skilled classic car technicians have been working hard to rebuild our 9HP and, despite numerous setbacks and challenges, progress is still being made in the restoration of this more-than-a-century-old car.
So many of us here at Bridge Classic Cars have been feeling very nostalgic ever since our 1966 Ford Cortina MK1 1500 GT arrived.
This is a classic car that a lot of people have fond memories of thanks to how popular they were through the 70s and 80s.
If you want to experience owning a Ford Cortina all over again, then you can enter the draw to be in with a chance of winning our 1966 Ford Cortina MK1 1500 GT as it is now live on Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.
As much as electric cars have gained in popularity in recent years, a key issue that has put some people off from making the switch over is their long charge times. Hyundai has come up with the next generation of more environmentally-friendly hydrogen-powered cars in the form of the new Hyundai Nexo.
Technically, the Nexo is an electric car. However, what makes it different to other electric vehicles is that it has an onboard fuel cell generating its power, rather than a big battery pack.
Using Hydrogen to feed the fuel cell means that you can completely fill the tank of the Nexo in around 5 minutes. This is substantially quicker than you can fully charge standard electric cars. What is potentially even more impressive is that, after a Hydrogen refill, you can expect a range of over 400 miles before you’ll need to top-up again.
When it comes to the Nexo’s environmental impact, you can drive knowing that you are keeping your emissions as low as possible. Hydrogen-powered cars, like the Nexo, produce emissions in the form of purified air and water. This is obviously much more environmentally friendly than petrol or diesel-powered vehicles.
There have been hydrogen-powered systems before but Hyundai has engineered the one used in the Nexo to make sure interior space isn’t sacrificed for the sake of powering the car. It does seem that the brand has been pretty successful in this too. The boot of the Nexo isn’t too far away from that of a petrol or diesel-powered SUV and there is a decent amount of space for passengers in the back of the car as well.
As the fuel cell and everything that goes with it have been so efficiently built into the Nexo, it has enough space to be used as a practical family car which is important considering its price.
Hyundai is expecting to sell the Nexo in large quantities. While this seems like an obvious thing to say, the price tag of a little under £70 000 might be too much for the vast majority of motorists to afford.
The Nexo certainly seems to have the potential for laying the foundations for the future of the motor industry. A practical car that drives well, has plenty of space and produces zero emissions does tick a lot of boxes of what a future-proof car looks like.
However, the cost, the low number of hydrogen filling stations, and the current popularity of electric cars could make it a challenge for hydrogen-powered cars like this to completely take over.
October 31, 2022 3:59 pm
Newly listed on MyClassics.co.uk is a 1970 Land Rover Series IIA. It is in need of some restoration work but it will no doubt be up and running again with a little bit of attention given to it.
This iconic classic vehicle runs although the current engine is somewhat smokey. A spare engine comes with the Land Rover though which has been seen running in another vehicle.
Full details can be seen here.
The Land Rover is also listed on eBay.
We recently delivered our 1970 Jaguar XJ6 Series 1 to the very lucky new owner – Martin Tyte.
Martin won this impressive classic car through Bridge Classic Car Competitions in our live draw on 20th October 2022, with ticket number 18.
Everyone here is very pleased to hear that Martin loves his new car and we wish him many happy years (and miles) in his stunning new Jaguar.
A little over a year ago, we said goodbye to our 1972 Chevron B20. Everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars loved this formula 2 car and, although we were happy it was going to a new owner, there was still quite a bit of sadness to see this very special car leave us.
However, today we are all very happy to see it back in our workshop!
Yesterday, we collected the car and transported it back to the workshop here in Suffolk. We were excited just seeing the B20 on our trailer making its journey to us, so you can imagine how excited we have been to actually have it back with us in person.
It has come back to us to be prepared for export as its adventure is set to continue overseas. Our classic car technicians will soon get to work on this very special car and we will certainly enjoy looking after it until the time comes for it to move on once more.
The classic car technicians here at Bridge Classic Cars spend their days working on a wide range of classic vehicles.
As quite a few of the classic cars that find themselves in the workshop are very rare, it’s not surprising that the technicians have to be creative, experienced, and highly skilled in what they do to make things come together as planned.
A classic car technician is able to look at a classic car in a seemingly ruined state and see beyond what is in front of them. They know how beautiful the shell of a vehicle once was and they know that they can return it to that condition again.
Working on such a range of classic cars provides a lot of challenges. From preparing a Jensen 541R for a repaint to trying to rebuild an ultra-rare 1905 Riley 9HP from pictures, each day provides new challenges, requires new skills, and a whole lot of passion for classic cars.
We are very lucky to have such experienced classic car technicians in our workshop. It’s only through years of experience that the team is able to restore some of the most beautiful, most challenging, and some extremely rare classic cars.
The Bridge Classic Cars workshop tends to be a pretty noisy place to be. Whether it’s the technicians sharing a joke, the body of a classic vehicle being worked on, or the sound of heated discussions about the best way of resolving one of the many problems that have to be faced every day. Whatever the cause of the noise, you can be sure it’s classic car related and that the classic car technicians are hard at work restoring a classic vehicle back to its former glory.
If you’ve never seen a classic car technician in action before, the below photos give just a little insight into what a “normal day” looks like for them.
Everyone at Bridge Classic Cars is extremely sad to hear about the unexpected passing of GenX Radio Presenter Tim Gough.
Our director Craig was recently interviewed on GenX and found the team there to be a friendly and professional group of people. We would like to send our condolences to everyone at the radio station as well as to Tim’s friends, family, and listeners.
More details about Tim and his work can be seen on the GenX Radio website.
October 25, 2022 9:42 am
Today, Bridge Classic Cars are at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford attending the latest H and H auction. There is a wide range of vehicles available and we are always excited to see which ones catch our eye.
One of the cars being auctioned is our 1934 Riley 9 Lynx so we are particularly excited about that.
The Imperial War Museum is an impressive venue to see all of these beautiful classic cars.
We are on the lookout for some competition cars for Bridge Classic Cars Competitions so, maybe your next car is in one of our pictures below.
October 19, 2022 1:10 pm
Bridge Classic Cars Director Craig was once again interviewed on the radio. This time it was by James Hazel on Gen X Radio.
Craig had a good chat with James and spoke about what we do, how Bridge Classic Cars began, and how, through Bridge Classic Cars competitions, we are giving everyone the opportunity to own a classic vehicle
The full interview can be listened to below.
Bridge Classic Cars Director Craig was recently interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk.
He was part of a live feature on Mark Murphy’s show where he talked about what we do, plans for the future, as well as sharing the story of how Bridge Classic Cars came to be. He even spoke about how some of our classic cars have been used in the TV and film industry too!
The full interview can be listened to below.
A big name is entering the world of electric vehicles, with Rolls-Royce saying that delivery of the all-electric Spectre will begin towards the end of 2023.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a lightweight, less luxurious Rolls-Royce though. The Spectre has a kerb weight of 2975kg and comes with all the style and luxury we have come to expect from the brand. It’s also 5 metres long and 2 metres wide with 23-inch wheels. This is certainly not the type of car you might imagine as being all-electric.
With Spectre, Rolls-Royce is joining the electric world in an emphatic way. They aren’t just joining to be a small-time player, the brand wants to make an immediate impact. Rolls-Royce says that its entire range of vehicles will be electrified by 2030. If that’s the case, it can certainly be said that they have hit the ground running.
When it comes to luxury and style, there is a lot to talk about with Spectre. The doors, for example, are the largest doors on any Rolls-Royce model measuring an impressive 1.5 metres in length. These can be opened with the simple press of a button and provide plenty of room to make a comfortable entrance and exit.
For those who want to add a unique luxury car to their collection, Spectre can be made in the colour Chartreuse. This has never been an exterior option for any previous Rolls-Royce model. The colour is meant to replicate that of the French liquor with the same name.
Inside the car, you have woodwork, leather, illuminated fascia, and the recognisable starlight headliner.
When it comes to numbers, Rolls-Royce says that the Spectre has a range of 520km (323 miles). It has 10 driver assistance systems, and the highly intelligent onboard system has more than 141 thousand send/receive functions, 25 thousand sub-functions all made possible by 7km of cabling.
In terms of power, it has 576hp, offers 900Nm of torque, and is expected to be able to cover 0-60mph in a little over 4 seconds.
While all this might sound a little much, it perfectly fits with the Rolls-Royce lifestyle of exuberance and total luxury.
We have worked on some fantastic classic Roll-Royces before (see the below photos). That’s why we know that the Spectre will be an inspiring car to see. It’s safe to say that we are very excited to see it when it gets on the road next year.
Colin Chapman, the late founder of Lotus, once came up with a great idea to put any lotus to the ultimate test. The idea was simple yet provided a challenge to both the car and the driver. You leave your desk when you finish work on a Friday afternoon and drive to Rome and back again, in time for work on Monday morning.
To make things more interesting, if anyone did the route and was able to provide a photograph of the car outside the colosseum, Colin would pay the expenses of the trip.
This trip was recently recreated in a Lotus Exige 410 Sport, albeit over a slightly longer period of time. The idea of doing the journey between leaving your desk on a Friday afternoon and being back in time for work on Monday morning is just the type of micro-adventure that can bring excitement to many car lovers’ weekends.
Of course, doing it in a car like a lotus makes it even more appealing. We wouldn’t mind giving it a go in any one of the classic lotuses that we have restored here at Bridge Classic Cars.
Looking after a classic car brings some additional responsibilities than looking after a modern car. Something that you may not have considered is classic car storage.
With a newer car, you’ll likely be driving it on a regular basis. However, with a classic, it may be parked up for extended periods of time – over winter for example. Leaving a classic car to sit unprotected can have some very negative consequences. Issues such as rust, corrosion, parts seizing, dead batteries, and locked brakes to name just a few are fairly common.
If you are looking for ways to properly store your classic car, there are some things to keep in mind.
If you are fortunate enough to have a brick garage at home, then this is likely to be a very good place to store your classic car.
Brick buildings are very good at maintaining a stable temperature and keeping the environment relatively moisture-free. Both of these things are important if you want to prevent damage-causing condensation from forming during the colder months of the year.
Before storing your car in your garage, you will want to make sure any gaps are sealed. Big gaps under the door etc, should be covered to stop too much cold air from being able to make its way inside. You should also think about how secure your garage is. Upgrading your locks to a more robust system might be called for if you are worried about the security of your classic car in storage.
Storing your classic car in your garage is not always the best option for you though. Unless you have a window that you can open to improve air circulation, you might struggle to maintain a suitable storage environment. You will also need to look at the temperature. In particular, how much it fluctuates to avoid any heat/cold issues caused to your car.
If you don’t have a garage to store your classic car in then you might choose to store it outside. If this is the case, you should ideally invest in a car cover that is perfectly suited to your vehicle. Finding the perfect car cover might not be possible though. If you are unable to find a cover that is the exact size of your car, then choose one that is slightly too big. You can use pegs (or similar) to secure it in place to make sure everything is suitably covered and protected.
When storing your classic car outside, it’s important to protect it from direct sunlight. It should also be protected from rain, bird mess, and pretty much any other form of moisture that could potentially damage it.
Lifting your car off the ground during outdoor storage can go a long way in protecting your tyres, wheels, and the underside of the vehicle too.
If you want to give your classic car the very best chance of being stored correctly, then using a classic car storage service will likely be your best option.
A professional car storage service can provide the best possible environment for safe and secure classic car storage.
If you’re looking for a car storage service, there are certain things that you should keep an eye out for:
At Bridge Classic Cars, we are passionate about all things classic cars. That’s why we have a safe and secure vehicle storage facility.
Not only is The Hangar monitored by 24-hour security, but we also use Carcoons to make sure your beloved car is stored in the best possible environment. If that isn’t enough, the location of our storage facility is kept secret to avoid it getting too much attention.
As experts in classic car restoration, we have a team of highly skilled classic car technicians who will perform regular checks on cars in our care. We can even collect your car, store it, and deliver it back to you, ready to drive, whenever you choose.
More information about Bridge Classic Cars vehicle storage can be found here. Or you can contact us directly at 01473 742038 or by email at info@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk
Hintlesham Golf Club will be hosting a Remembrance Day Luncheon on Sunday, 13th November.
There will be a sit-down meal as well as musical entertainment from Bridge Classic Cars’ very own Molly and her 1940s Trio – The Three Chordettes.
Arrival is from 12:30 pm for a 1 pm service.
If you would like more details or to make a booking, contact the golf clubs events team on 01473 652761 or email office@hintleshamgolfclub.com
On Sunday, the seafront at Felixstowe (just down the road from the Bridge Classic Cars Workshop in Suffolk), was treated to a display of supercars.
Everyone who had chosen to visit the beach for the day got to enjoy the sight of 15 supercars travelling together. The cars had actually driven in convoy through several parts of Suffolk including Sproughton and Woodbridge before heading to Felixstowe.
The event was organised by members of The Drivers Union which is a supercar owners club. As they lived locally, it made complete sense that they should treat their home town to all the joy and excitement that comes from being up close and personal with a supercar.
The full story can be read in the East Anglian Daily Times article.
There were several supercars that took part including some older Ferraris and Porsches. It’s a shame the Bridge Classic Cars team were not in Felixstowe at the time as we would have loved to see the cars in all their glory. Instead, we will make do with looking at the below photos of some of the classic Porsches we have worked on in the past.
We were recently featured in an article by the East Anglian Daily Times.
The article covers the story of how Bridge Classic Cars came to be, what we do, and what we hope to achieve in the future. It also includes some great photos of the workshop as well as a detailed explanation of some of the processes involved in restoring a classic car.
The full article can be read here.
We recently received a great email from one of our customers. We are currently restoring their 1958 Jensen 541R and a lot of work has been completed on this classic car over the last few weeks.
At Bridge Classic Cars, we do our best to keep everyone up to date with everything that is happening in our Suffolk workshop through our regular blog posts, our social media channels, and by meeting people face-to-face at classic car events throughout the year.
The team work extremely hard to restore all of the cars they work on to the highest of standards. That’s why it always feels so good to get some very positive feedback from our customers who want to let us know that they appreciate what we do.
Receiving a testimonial like this is the reason we do what we do, so thank you for the great feedback – it will be shared with the team.
“I’m enjoying every update. I’m impressed with what Lydia and Brian are doing. I like the leather and vinyl combo very much. So pleased with the rear seat now. The paintwork looked great as well and I’m sure when it gets its final touch-up, alignment and the few flaws attended to that it is a real work of art.
I would appreciate it if you can complement the staff that is doing this great work for me.”
If you want to get technical about it, then a car becomes a classic car somewhere between the age of 15 and 40 years old (depending on who you ask!) However, classic cars are more than just old cars. They are special cars. Classic cars are timeless cars, and it seems unfair to label them purely based on their age.
You only have to look at classic vehicles such as our 1987 Lotus Excel or our 1970 MG C Roadster to see how impressive they are to look at. It doesn’t take an expert to see that they look quite different from some of the modern cars we see on the roads today too.
A big part of this is because classic cars were designed and built in a time when there was less of a focus on safety, emissions, and alike. Instead, it was all about making the car look good and giving the driver an experience they would hold on to anytime they got behind the wheel.
Modern car manufacturers have to compete with other leading car manufacturers. As a result, you get a lot of similar-looking cars. Back when classic cars were built though, designers could break the mould and let their imagination and creativity run wild.
This isn’t always true as, sometimes, you will need the assistance of a classic car technician. This is particularly the case if you are trying to restore a classic car. If this is something you are thinking about, it’s well worth working with the highly trained and highly skilled technicians at Bridge Classic Cars to give you a helping hand with your latest restoration project.
However, If you have some level of mechanical knowledge, you might be surprised at how much you can repair, replace, or improve on a classic vehicle. Modern cars tend to be full of complicated electrics, and manufacturer-specific parts. This usually means that nothing can be replaced without plugging the car into a laptop first. Classic cars don’t need any of that.
With traditional tools, a skilled classic car technician can strip and rebuild most components of a classic car. They will be able to do this without a laptop or specialist tool in sight.
Perhaps one of the most important factors to consider when deciding if a car is a classic or not is whether it was built by human hands or by a machine.
True classic cars would have, at least in part, been built by hand. This is something that can never be replicated by machines. As every hand-built car will have minor differences, each one will be as unique as the people who own them.
When we are working on restoring classic cars, our technicians don’t just rely on made-to-order parts. They fabricate their own to make sure everything fits perfectly and things look exactly how they should.
Sometimes, a car will be deemed a classic or not based on its age (for insurance purposes, etc). However, true classic car enthusiasts know that there is much more to it than that.
Classic cars feel different, look different, and give you an entirely different driving experience. Some modern cars are great. There’s just something about classic cars that makes you want to get back behind the wheel time and time again.
September 29, 2022 10:28 am
After going through a thorough inspection and assessment in the workshop, the team have confirmed that our 1994 Ducati 750 SuperSport is ready to go!
This means that you can now enter the draw for your chance to win it.
Head over to Bridge Classic Cars Competitions for more information about this stunning bike, including how to win it for yourself.
The classic car technicians at Bridge Classic Cars can turn their hand to many jobs. One job that you might not expect them to excel at though is carpet fitting! However, that’s exactly what they have been doing with our 1978 MG B GT.
The exterior of this classic car is enough to catch many people’s eye but, for its owner, the interior needs to be equally as well finished too.
That’s why new carpet and interior trim have been fitted recently. Installing carpet in a classic car takes a steady hand, a keen eye, and a good amount of patience. Luckily the team in the workshop have a whole load of experience (and skill) in these areas and, as you can see from the photos below, the interior of this stunning car is coming together nicely as a result.
It’s always an exciting time when we see the arrival of a new car into our workshop. One of the most recent additions is our 2000 TVR Chimaera 450 in blue.
Once we have finished lovingly staring at this beautiful classic car, our classic car technicians will take control of it in order to inspect and assess its current condition.
While this classic car is with us, it will undergo a full MOT and service, have a new induction hose fitted, and our classic car technicians will investigate an issue with the radiator fan that is causing it to run continuously.
This looks to be an exciting project for Bridge Classic Cars, so expect plenty of updates very soon.
After being recently repainted, our 1981 MG B GT LE had new glass and trim installed.
This has not only made the car look neat and tidy, but also taken it one step closer to getting back on the road for everyone to see and enjoy!
The team of classic car technicians at Bridge Classic Cars found some areas of corrosion on our 1986 Daimler DS420 a little while ago.
In order to fully inspect all of the corrosion areas, the team have had to gain access to some tricky parts of the car.
Recently, the servo was removed to give our classic car technicians better access to specific areas of corrosion. Once removed, work could begin to resolve some of the corrosion issues as the Daimler continues its journey of restoration.
Scott, one of our classic car technicians, has been hard at work on the restoration of our 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona.
From having his head under the bonnet to being under the car itself (and everywhere else in between), Scott continues to restore this incredible car so it can be back on the road where it belongs.
There has been a lot of work completed on our 1978 MG B GT to get it into its current state.
As it continues to be beautifully restored here at Bridge Classic Cars, our classic car technicians, like Rob, can always be seen working hard to lovingly bring this classic car back to all of its former glory.
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