classic car photography

2020 In Reflection

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

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Friday Snapshot

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

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Recent Photoshoots

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

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A Classic Gift – Behind The Scenes Of A Classic Car Photoshoot

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 Fatherโ€™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!

This Just In – 1968 MGC

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.

This Just In – 1995 Dodge Viper RT/10

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.

Behind the Scenes – 1967 Austin Mini 850 on ITV News

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!

Out & About – Charlotte’s New York Car Spotting at MoMA

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.

www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk

Falling Inline – The Story of the Jaguar XK Straight-Six

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.

Behind The Scenes – Handover of the 1975 Ford Escort Mk1 RS Mexico Recreation with BBC Radio Suffolk

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.

Ebb & Flow – Behind the Scenes with our 1965 Amphicar Shoot for Car & Classic Auctions

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.

Behind The Scenes: Double Jensens

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.

Behind The Scenes: Ford Anglia

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: