Like many classic car enthusiasts, Steve has always appreciated the look of his classic Ford Escort XR3. Knowing how much he loves his car, Steve’s daughters chose to celebrate Father’s Day by working with us to arrange one of our
The Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop in Pettistree, Suffolk has recently welcomed this glorious 1968 MGC. This car will go in for our in-house restoration technicians to assess the entire vehicle to see what may need doing to this fantastic
Bridge Classic Cars have the honour of welcoming a 1990’s hero into our workshop in Pettistree, Suffolk. The legend that is the 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10. This classic American supercar will go into our workshop for our restoration teams to
It’s always incredible when old projects come back to visit. Especially ones that have gone out there and developing a life of their own. For example, this bright blue 1967 Austin Mini 850 belongs to our dear friend Simon. Simon
Charlotte, our Bridge Classic Cars Competitions presenter, has been off on holiday but she’ll always manage to find something cool and classic for us back home. This time, she found a familiar friend in the Big Apple. Whilst in New
Jaguar. A legendary name in both performance and luxury. Just the name is enough to conjure images of elegant, long-legged coupes and saloons powered by the now infamous XK straight-six engine. But, what is the story behind this incredible powerhouse
One of the best parts about the process of someone winning a dream classic from Bridge Classic Cars Competitions is the look on their face when their new pride and joy is revealed to them for the first time. It’s
The hen’s tooth that is our 1965 Amphicar. A lot of love and time has gone into making sure this half car/half boat is ship-shape and bristol fashion for its next lucky owner. On a glorious summers morning, our in-house
The marketing team went up with Workshop manager, John last week to photograph the two Jensen’s that have just left us. Whilst Ellie shot the main visuals, Freddie worked on a behind the scenes video. The final photos, shown below,
We went up to shoot our Ford Anglia whilst the sun was out. The team met Charlotte up at the Bentwaters to shoot the photos and videos which you can see below:
Photographer Lydia Harper and her team came down to photograph our 1963 MG B Roadster last week as part of a new campaign with Deus Ex Machina. Her team, part of her own creative agency, Parc Fermé, included Matt Wild
Photographer Lydia Harper and her team came down to photograph our 1953 Francis Barnett Trials Bike last week for a new campaign with Deus Ex Machina. Her team, part of her own creative agency, Parc Fermé, included Matt Wild (Videographer),
This stunning 1940 Alvis has come in today for a new hood headlining as this one has had a run-in with his cats. The owner of this classic Alvis has it as his pride and joy and drives it as
With all three minis individually shot, it only left the finale: Bridge Classic Cars does the Italian Job. Directed, shot and produced by our marketing and visual gurus, Ellie and Freddie. The team got together Craig, Hannah and Charlotte with
We took our 1996 Mini Cooper 1.3 over to Bentwaters for its photoshoot. We were lucky with the good weather and bright sun for our photos and videos. As usual, the team split in two with Freddie handling the videos
We headed out to Bentwaters to shoot our classic 1969 Mini Deluxe, which is one of three of our most recent mini madness competition release. This mini in particular comes bursting with stories and personality including its own Mini World
Last week we ventured out with our friend and model, Hannah, to shoot our 1980 Mini 1275 GT, which you now know is one of three of our grand mini reveal. This characterful orange classic is not only fun to
On Monday, Mauro and Ellie took the lorry and our 1958 Jensen 541R over to Glevering Mill to shoot it for our website. This stunning British classic is up for sale with us on our website, eBay, Car and Classic
A few weeks ago our marketing team and our friend Jack, headed over to Bentwaters early one morning to film and shoot the latest competition car. With sunshine streaming through the trees, you could easily overlook how brisk the weather
A while back we shot some stunning photos of our lovely 1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo with model Carnell (@carnage_kicks). Using a smoke granade to create an artistic approach, we spent the afternoon shooting a series of interesting portraits with
We take a look behind the scenes on our photoshoot of one of our most recent for sale cars, this stunning 1972 Alfa Romeo Spider Series 2. We took the Alfa Romeo out onto some Suffolk roads to take some
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. 2020’s Winners This year
On a brisk winters morning last week, our marketing team and Craig set out to photograph and video our stunning 1979 Chevrolet Corvette which is currently one of our competition cars. As the sun rose on another frosty morning, we
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 On Tuesday we shot the second half of the content for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type
Join us on the third instalment in our new series: Behind The Scenes. Although we give frequent behind the scenes updates on our workshop, we wanted to show you some of the processes that go into our visuals. With every
Join us on the second instalment in our new series: Behind The Scenes. Although we give frequent behind the scenes updates on our workshop, we wanted to show you some of the processes that go into our visuals. With every
Join us on our new series: Behind The Scenes. Although we give frequent behind the scenes updates on our workshop, we wanted to show you some of the process that goes into our visuals. With every competition car and for
We’ve done two mini photoshoots recently up at the hanger at Bentwaters. Check out the photos below! 1998 Jaguar XJR Supercharged 1979 Mini Clubman Estate
Like many classic car enthusiasts, Steve has always appreciated the look of his classic Ford Escort XR3.
Knowing how much he loves his car, Steve’s daughters chose to celebrate Father’s Day by working with us to arrange one of our classic car photoshoots.
For the photoshoot, Steve and the Bridge Classic Cars team headed out to our Bentwaters base for a fun-filled day of classic car appreciation. From these behind-the-scenes shots, you can see how much fun we all had. It wasn’t just Steve who got to enjoy how cool his classic car looks either – we all saw, first-hand, how cool it really is!
Steve is left with some great photos and his daughters are left with an extremely high bar that they have set themselves for their next gift idea!
The Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop in Pettistree, Suffolk has recently welcomed this glorious 1968 MGC.
This car will go in for our in-house restoration technicians to assess the entire vehicle to see what may need doing to this fantastic and rather rare sports car.
The MGC is a 3 litre straight-six powered MG Roadster built between 1967 and 1969. This is one of 4542 Roadsters built during its entire production run.
Bridge Classic Cars have the honour of welcoming a 1990’s hero into our workshop in Pettistree, Suffolk. The legend that is the 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10.
This classic American supercar will go into our workshop for our restoration teams to assess and report on the car.
Keep your eye out on the Bridge Classic Cars news page for more on this incredible car.
It’s always incredible when old projects come back to visit. Especially ones that have gone out there and developing a life of their own. For example, this bright blue 1967 Austin Mini 850 belongs to our dear friend Simon. Simon owns this incredible little car that hides a small secret.
Well, it’s not a small secret at all. This Mini has been converted to have an electric drive train out of a Tesla… The equivalent of 300BHP in a tiny package is always guaranteed to put a smile on your face. We here at Bridge Classic Cars did the bodywork and paint for the project. It was delivered to us as basically a bare shell with all the potential in the world ahead of it. Our expert restoration teams set about preparing the car for its new electrified life.
The conversion itself was handled by our friends over at Team C (formally the East Anglian Mini Centre) and also by Electric Classic Cars in Wales.
With the project gaining popularity across the world (it was also recently at the Classic Show at the Birmingham NEC) several media outlets have picked up the story of this wonderful car and its sentimental attachment to Simon. Recently it was featured in The Telegraph and very soon it will be beamed into your homes on the Discovery Channel. Before then, however, it will appear on ITV news in a segment filmed in our workshop.
So, we wanted to take you behind the scenes of the shoot along with Freddie, Nick and Gordon from Bridge Classic Cars to give you a sneak peek at what you can expect. This Mini is truly beautiful, the colour was incredible in the winter sun. The brightwork glistened and all of its small and special details were on display for everyone to see. After speaking to Simon on his own about the car, the guys from ITV had a quick chat with Ted from Team C and our very own director, Gordon who shared their thoughts on being involved in such an incredible project and just how far this little car has come from when it first rolled into our workshop in February 2020.
It will be broadcast on ITV Anglia News at 6pm on January 6th 2022. Be sure to tune in and watch!
Charlotte, our Bridge Classic Cars Competitions presenter, has been off on holiday but she’ll always manage to find something cool and classic for us back home. This time, she found a familiar friend in the Big Apple.
Whilst in New York, Charlotte went to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and one of the exhibitions was to do with AutoMania and what better way to sum that up than with a gorgeous early E Type Droptop. A car we here at Bridge Classic Cars have an undeniable soft spot for and definitely deserves its place in a museum dedicated to modern works of art.
Hope you had an amazing time Charlotte! but you’ll all be able to see her tomorrow night for the live draw of the Mustang and the Mercedes 250SE. There is still time to get your tickets!
Click the link below for your chance to win your very own dream classic.
Jaguar. A legendary name in both performance and luxury. Just the name is enough to conjure images of elegant, long-legged coupes and saloons powered by the now infamous XK straight-six engine. But, what is the story behind this incredible powerhouse which lived 1000 different lives?
Debuting in 1949, the XK straight-six came with a sizeable 3.4-litre displacement, it was the brainchild of four very important icons in the Jaguar world. Sir William Lyons, William Heynes, Walter Hassan and Claude Bailey. The introduction of this engine however stretches back nearly a decade before. During World War II when the company still went under the name SS Cars, the team were actively seeking and developing replacements for its engine lineup so, during its wartime efforts they worked on the new powerplants for its post-war cars. Jaguar had begun to produce and develop the engine just after the nightmares of war had begun to subside at the end of the 1940s. The cornerstone of these engines was to be higher output, higher quality and higher style, thus the XK Inline-Six was born.
The XK engines first saw service in 1947 with the 3.2-litre units (XJ 6 Cylinder) but during testing of the engines, it was found they severely lacked low-end torque, so the blocks were bored out to 3.4 litres (XK 6 Cylinder) and were destined to be the beating heart of one of the most beautiful cars ever made, the XK120 which broke cover at the 1948 London Motor Show. This would then see the engines fitted to the upcoming MkVII’s and countless other models over its production run.
The cast-iron engine blocks were not the lightest but were highly durable. The construction techniques developed for this engine would push other manufacturers to refine and develop new and improved engines to try and match the level that Jaguar was achieving. Jaguar fitted special vibration dampers to the crankshaft of the engine to absorb and limit the number of frequencies travelling through the crankshaft and ultimately the XK’s split case engine design.
In 1951, Jaguar began work on developing the idea of a smaller displacement but still useable version of XK straight-six. The results for the 2-litre engine were mixed and by 1954 the engine had grown to become a 2.4-litre unit. The engine itself was actually shorted than the bigger displacement engines but remained under the same name and architecture. These engines would be put forward to power the upcoming stylish and sleek saloon, the MkI. The road engines were entirely carburetted until 1978 (the first year of road engines being fuel injected for the US market) but would use a combination of two or three SU’s. Webers or Zenith carburettors except for the MkII 240 which had a set of downdraught Solex units.
From this, all the subsequent Jaguar XK straight-sixes were laid out. Short block engines would make up the smaller displacements such as the 2.4 and 2.8-litre engines and the longer, more torquey powerplants would go anywhere from 3.4 to 4.2 litres by the end of its production. Jaguar officially retired the XK 6-cylinder in 1992 replaced by the newly developed AJ6 platform it used alongside the faithful XK until the AJ6 was then also retired in 1996.
During this incredible engines lifetime, it would see all manner of changes and applications. From racing to agricultural work. Le Mans to Leicester and beyond. This incredible piece of not only industrial design but of engineering excellence and durability should be remembered and revered for the legend it surely is.
Long live the XK Straight-Six.
One of the best parts about the process of someone winning a dream classic from Bridge Classic Cars Competitions is the look on their face when their new pride and joy is revealed to them for the first time. It’s a beautiful moment and with our latest competition winner, Chris and his 1975 Ford Escort Mk1 RS Mexico Recreation, we were lucky enough to capture the whole process along with a good friend of Bridge Classic Cars.
As the team arrived, with the RS Mexico safely stowed away inside our enclosed transporter, the air was electric. Chris, who won the Escort RS Mexico Recreation on Thursday last week, was there to meet the team and the transporter. As the team got the Transporter in position, a long time friend of Bridge Classic Cars and Classic Bus Enthusiast Luke Deal arrived. Luke is of course one of the voices of BBC Radio Suffolk. Luke has been a friend of Bridge Classic Cars since we did our 1948 Morris Lowlight competition which, just like Chris, was won by someone just round the corner from our headquarters in Pettistree.
After the introductions and the plan had been gone through. It was time for the next big surprise for Chris. He was about to be interviewed live on BBC Radio Suffolk about how he won the car and his thoughts and emotions about now being the proud owner of this incredible classic. As this was happening, the Bridge Team were busy shooting videos and photographs but also Live Streaming the handover on our Facebook Page. Along with Luke having a chat with Chris about his prize, he also spent a few minutes talking to Charlotte about Bridge Classic Cars Competitions, how it is done and the amazing response that we have had across the enthusiast community.
Then, it was time for the big reveal. Standing off to one side of the car, Chris watched on with Luke as Charlotte and Craig pulled back the fitted black cover to reveal Chris’s bright green pride and joy. It was quite a sight to see him overcome with emotion as the realisation sunk in that the car well and truly belonged to him. He had to pause during his live reaction chat with Luke to gather his thoughts a couple of times as you could see how much this car meant to him.
With Chris now the proud new owner of the 1975 Ford Escort Mk1 RS Mexico Recreation, he had a chat with Freddie and Charlotte about how he had entered and his feelings about winning which was so lovely to see a real, genuine person so filled with happiness and excitement about his dream classic. That is what sits at the core of Bridge Classic Cars Competitions.
To listen to both Chris and Charlotte live on the air with Luke Deal today on BBC Radio Suffolk, click the link below and skip to 10:45.
Click here to Listen to Luke Deal with Bridge Classic Cars and the latest winner Chris.
The hen’s tooth that is our 1965 Amphicar.
A lot of love and time has gone into making sure this half car/half boat is ship-shape and bristol fashion for its next lucky owner. On a glorious summers morning, our in-house marketing team headed to our favourite location at RAF Bentwaters to shoot this rare classic for Car & Classic Auctions.
After carefully laying the roof back into its hideaway, we set out across the historic airbase to shoot against the high sun. Carefully moving this unique and rare piece of automotive history into position, across the centreline of the runway, we could then begin.
Making sure every surface had been cleaned down to the best that we could, Freddie began to methodically move his way around the car frame by frame and angle by angle. This 1965 Amphicar has been at Bridge Classic Cars for a while now whilst we perfected its running and got it back into a condition for it to be sold by Car & Classic Auctions very soon hopefully to a very lucky and excited enthusiastic owner.
The sunlight radiated from this little white seafarer. The interior glowed against the harsh summer light as it beat down onto the tarmac. For the photos, it allowed Freddie just the right amount of diffused light to be able to accurately capture this rare treat for its auction.
If you would like the chance to own this amazing piece of history, then head over to Car & Classic Auctions to keep an eye out for this once in a lifetime chance to own the 1965 Amphicar.
The marketing team went up with Workshop manager, John last week to photograph the two Jensen’s that have just left us. Whilst Ellie shot the main visuals, Freddie worked on a behind the scenes video.
The final photos, shown below, have been sent on to the client and will feature online.
We went up to shoot our Ford Anglia whilst the sun was out. The team met Charlotte up at the Bentwaters to shoot the photos and videos which you can see below:
Photographer Lydia Harper and her team came down to photograph our 1963 MG B Roadster last week as part of a new campaign with Deus Ex Machina.
Her team, part of her own creative agency, Parc Fermé, included Matt Wild (Videographer), Alice Harper (Assistant) and Hannah Coe (model) who all worked to create the stunning visuals below.
We can’t wait to see Matt’s videos from the day!
Photographer Lydia Harper and her team came down to photograph our 1953 Francis Barnett Trials Bike last week for a new campaign with Deus Ex Machina. Her team, part of her own creative agency, Parc Fermé, included Matt Wild (Videographer), Alice Harper (Assistant) and Hannah Coe (model) who all worked to create the stunning visuals below.
We’re waiting in great anticipation to see Matt’s video.
This stunning 1940 Alvis has come in today for a new hood headlining as this one has had a run-in with his cats.
The owner of this classic Alvis has it as his pride and joy and drives it as his daily car.
The hood is now in the safe hands of our trim shop who’ll work to replace the fabric and re-work the inside of the hood.
With all three minis individually shot, it only left the finale: Bridge Classic Cars does the Italian Job. Directed, shot and produced by our marketing and visual gurus, Ellie and Freddie. The team got together Craig, Hannah and Charlotte with their minis to film a quirky and enthusiastic video for our big reveal. Co-ordinating all three mini’s on the runway for each shot took a few attempts but after an hour or so, we managed to get together enough frames for our reveal video which aired last night on our live draw.
With each mini and driver taking turns in the spotlight, driving stunts were choreographed to allow for each mini and driver to be clearly seen whilst still keeping the quirky personality of the classics.
After the video was shot, we lined up the cars and their drivers for some photos before heading back to the hanger and settling down for an editing marathon.
We took our 1996 Mini Cooper 1.3 over to Bentwaters for its photoshoot. We were lucky with the good weather and bright sun for our photos and videos. As usual, the team split in two with Freddie handling the videos and Ellie shooting the photos. Craig and Charlotte later joined to be our faces and drivers for this mini.
Charlotte came to help out for this shoot and sat for some portraits to create some more lifestyle photos for this characterful classic.
We headed out to Bentwaters to shoot our classic 1969 Mini Deluxe, which is one of three of our most recent mini madness competition release. This mini in particular comes bursting with stories and personality including its own Mini World magazine feature, untouched fuel ration tokens are beautifully aged interior.
Charlotte came to help out with the driving and sat for some portraits and more editorial photos. We love having people involved with the cars as we find it brings the car to life, and with Charlotte being our talented presenter, she’s perfect to also sit in for photos and videos. Prior to each shoot Freddie and Ellie organise with Charlotte what she’s going to wear for each car to match the style, and how we’re going to pitch the visuals.
The log pile made for a great location to shoot this darling classic, as the tones of the mini match the timber perfectly.
Freddie shooting his videos for the mini:
We also get Charlotte to drive our cars around Bentwaters for Freddie to shoot his video. We’re lucky to have access to Bentwaters for our shoots and videos. We have a hanger here on base and find that Bentwaters provides a perfect selection of back drops.
Last week we ventured out with our friend and model, Hannah, to shoot our 1980 Mini 1275 GT, which you now know is one of three of our grand mini reveal. This characterful orange classic is not only fun to look at, but also fun to drive. For Hannah, it is her dream car, making her the ideal candidate to model and drive this competition car.
As usual, the team splits into two divisions with Freddie tackling the video aspects and Ellie taking on the photography. By splitting responsibilities and time like this, the team can swiftly get through multiple car shoots in a day, creating content for all our social media outlets.
As we usually do, we shot in RAF Bentwaters where we have a hanger. Driving up and down the 1.3 mile run way, we captured our videos and photos of this spritely orange classic.
We were lucky to have fair weather on this shoot after the unlucky spell of bad weather recently which makes shooting cars in difficult.
We always aim to shoot multiple galleries of each car, including the main product photos you see, the portraits and motion ones, but where we can, we also like to pick a second destination to shoot in to create a wider diversity of photos.
On Monday, Mauro and Ellie took the lorry and our 1958 Jensen 541R over to Glevering Mill to shoot it for our website. This stunning British classic is up for sale with us on our website, eBay, Car and Classic and Classic Car and Camper. In great condition, our Jensen is a stunning example of British engineering.
Monday turned from an overcast morning into rain and the shoot was halted early, however we were lucky enough to be able to come back the next day to continue to shoot. Denise and Allan, who live at Glevering Mill were enthusiastic and accommodating, working with us to help get the shoot done. Tuesday brought about blue skies and sunshine, making the paintwork really shine.
You can see this Jensen’s restoration story here.
Here’s some behind the scenes of Ellie shooting the Jensen on the sunnier second shoot.
The Jensen also happened to be one of the first cars transported in the lorry with its new designs that were applied over the weekend!
A few weeks ago our marketing team and our friend Jack, headed over to Bentwaters early one morning to film and shoot the latest competition car. With sunshine streaming through the trees, you could easily overlook how brisk the weather was. Crisp blue skies and dreamy dappled sunshine provided the perfect Suffolk set up to show off our classic Rolls Royce.
Now available, this car could be yours to win for just a few pounds! We’ve got plenty more photoshoots coming up soon so keep your eyes peeled!
As well as stationary shots, we also focus on moving shots and videos that capture the beast in motion.
A while back we shot some stunning photos of our lovely 1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo with model Carnell (@carnage_kicks).
Using a smoke granade to create an artistic approach, we spent the afternoon shooting a series of interesting portraits with the car as well as capturing our standard shots.
This car is currently up for sale, you can see more here.
We take a look behind the scenes on our photoshoot of one of our most recent for sale cars, this stunning 1972 Alfa Romeo Spider Series 2.
We took the Alfa Romeo out onto some Suffolk roads to take some photos of the nippy red convertible in action however with the road becoming busier and busier, we decided to head back to Bentwaters and snap some shots as the sun went down. This is a stunning example of an Italian classic made for an easy shoot.
You can check out this Alfa 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.
On a brisk winters morning last week, our marketing team and Craig set out to photograph and video our stunning 1979 Chevrolet Corvette which is currently one of our competition cars.
As the sun rose on another frosty morning, we made use of the dreamy lighting that evoked visuals of a breezy Hollywood strip. If you were to squint and tilt your head to the side, you might mistake the pine trees for palm trees.
Driving it around Bentwaters in Rendlesham, the Corvette’s bark could be heard ricocheting through the pines. A large herd of Red Deer galloped just metres ahead of us. As the ice dripped from the trees, the sun glinted off the droplets, creating a mystic backdrop.
If you’d like to see more photos and videos from the shoot, you can find them on our Facebook page, or alternatively, head over the competition site.
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.
Join us on the third instalment in our new series: Behind The Scenes. Although we give frequent behind the scenes updates on our workshop, we wanted to show you some of the processes that go into our visuals.
With every competition car and for sale car, we arrange a full photo shoot to capture our beloved classics in the best possible light. Some of these shoots include models and locations and some include members of the Bridge Classic Car team hopping in and helping out at Bentwaters. No matter the setup, the aim is always the same. To tell a story and capture the car in the best way.
It was a particularly cold and seemingly dreary morning when we set out to photograph our Chevron B20. Not wanting to risk attempting to start it, and without a racing driver, we pushed the Chevron over to the runway that would act as our backdrop. We soon realised that the thunderous skies cast the perfect mood for such a powerful and foreboding car. Having survived an extreme crash, giving the driver a near-death experience, this beastly motor is not something to misjudge. Not only does this car hold a historic past, but it also holds an early Ford Cosworth engine, now thought to be extremely valuable. As the sun peeked behind the clouds, oranges and pinks tinted the charcoal skies.
We shot for a while, even giving it a go to sit behind the wheel which we soon discovered was just as hard as driving it. The sleek body leaves little room inside the car. Specially designed for the driver in mind and to be as aerodynamic as possible, the interior is simple. Soon the skies began to change and we switched sets to the Hush House, a building originally designed as a jet engine testing facility with an impressive exhaust tunnel.
Here we shot our video and a few creative light trail photos as seen below.
You can keep up to date with our behind the scenes videos on our Instagram page under ‘BTS’ highlights! Keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook stories as well as we often put up sneak peaks on there too!
We also offer photoshoots as a service, so if you’d like your beloved motor photographed by the team at Bridge Classic Cars, click the link here.
Join us on the second instalment in our new series: Behind The Scenes. Although we give frequent behind the scenes updates on our workshop, we wanted to show you some of the processes that go into our visuals.
With every competition car and for sale car, we arrange a full photo shoot to capture our beloved classics in the best possible light. Some of these shoots include models and locations and some include members of the Bridge Classic Car team hopping in and helping out at Bentwaters. No matter the setup, the aim is always the same. To tell a story and capture the car in the best way.
We recently had a photoshoot for our Imola Red 1998 BMW Z3M outside Aurora in Ipswich, Suffolk. It was a particularly cold day and our hands clutched at our cameras, frozen on the buttons. Our plan was for Freddie to film the BMW driving past the Willis building, capturing the red reflection in the sleek black glass architecture. We then took the car down to the waterfront where we met our friend Zey who was the model for the shoot.
After working each angle of the car, in both stills and film clips, we packed up our kit and departed ways. All of our on-set photoshoots are treated in the same way, with the aim to cast a creative and editorial light on the car, often taking the majority of the day. However, for the BMW, we managed to work extra fast, wanting to beat the cold weather that day.
You can keep up to date with our behind the scenes videos on our Instagram page under ‘BTS’ highlights! Keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook stories as well as we often put up sneak peaks on there too!
We also offer photoshoots as a service, so if you’d like your beloved motor photographed by the team at Bridge Classic Cars, click the link here.
Join us on our new series: Behind The Scenes. Although we give frequent behind the scenes updates on our workshop, we wanted to show you some of the process that goes into our visuals.
With every competition car and for sale car, we arrange a full photo shoot to capture our beloved classics in the best possible light. Some of these shoots include models and locations and some include members of the Bridge Classic Car team hopping in and helping out at Bentwaters. No matter the setup, the aim is always the same. To tell a story and capture the car in the best way.
We recently held a photoshoot for the 1974 Cliff Green VW Beetle up at our hanger at Bentwaters. We’re lucky to have an access all areas agreement with the base, which allows us to shoot in locations otherwise not accessible to the public.
For this shoot, we had one of our technicians, Tom. as the support vehicle driver, with Freddie shooting from the support vehicle and Ellie driving the Beetle. This set up allows Freddie to shoot the moving photos and videos you see on our website and socials.
After the moving shots are completed on the runway, we then managed to discover the scenic winter backdrop of the logs you’ll see in the background of the Beetle stationary shots. This is where Ellie took the 360 shots and focused on the details as the winter sunset set the scene for a foggy and dramatic evening shoot.
Freddie also took the Beetle to our iconic photo spot on Bentwaters to take a second round of shots. We also aim to have a ‘location’ shoot and a standard shoot for each car. This means we have plenty of content to share, whether its keeping it sleek and simple or adding a bit more of a story and aesthetic to the visuals.
You can keep up to date with our behind the scenes videos on our Instagram page under ‘BTS’ highlights! Keep an eye on our Instagram and Facebook stories as well as we often put up sneak peaks on there too!
We also offer photoshoots as a service, so if you’d like your beloved motor photographed by the team at Bridge Classic Cars, click the link here.
We’ve done two mini photoshoots recently up at the hanger at Bentwaters. Check out the photos below!
