With the paint shop now finished with the 1958 Jensen 541R, the Bridge Classic Cars trim team can begin working on the interior of the car insitu.
To begin with, the trim shop have made new wooden bases for the front seats of the classic 541R which have been made specifically to fit each individual seat perfectly. Along with that, the team could make the new rear window trim rib, which was cut and refined by hand to ensure the best possible fit of the arch by the rear window of the classic GT car.
The trim shop then used the old door cards to begin templating for the new handmade pieces for the aesthetic rework of the 541R. Brian has carefully refined each door card to fit tightly into the door while also leaving enough room for the material which will wrap around the fibreglass panel.
Then finally he could make the kick panels. These were template and then transferred to ply wood.
September 9, 2022 8:09 amPublished by Craig Ranson
The 1958 Jensen 541R has been having more pieces of its interior made by the Bridge Classic Cars trim team but this time with some unique and personal touches.
The rear seat bases of the classic Jensen have been completely stripped back for the team to inspect and take measurements for the rarely seen fluting of the material which will be carried over onto the new pieces.
Lydia has carefully measured and tested to get the spacing and symmetry of the fluting just right before committing it to the final material. The whole seat base has been entirely made for scratch including the foams and underpinnings specifically to fit the car.
This is a wonderful little touch and something a bit different and unique for this very special car.
September 6, 2022 2:39 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
The freshly blasted parts for the 1959 Jensen 541R ‘Hepburn’ have returned to our Suffolk HQ for the team to get into perfect condition for its restoration.
The freshly stripped parts were meticulously cleaned to get rid of any residual blasting material before they were refinished in hard-wearing gloss black.
The parts were then left to sure completely before carefully being packaged and put into storage to awaiting the cars reassembly.
September 5, 2022 7:54 amPublished by Craig Ranson
The Bridge Classic Cars trim shop have been working on making more of the handmade parts for the interior of the 1958 Jensen 541R.
This time, Lydia has been working on trimming the backs and sides of the front seats. Each of these parts, including the foam pieces, have all been made and cut specifically for each of the seats to get the best fit for them both.
Lydia has carefully stretched and pulled the material to make sure there were as few creases and folds as possible. The bases will be finished with the cushion and bases that will help to pull the material of the bases taught.
September 2, 2022 3:18 pmPublished by Craig Ranson
The 1955 Jensen 541 ‘Number 8’ has been further stripped down by the Bridge Classic Cars workshop team.
The workshop have removed the roof and rear bodywork from the early 541 to expose its chassis to be thoroughly inspected. The fibreglass parts have been put away into storage after being catalogued for when the classic GT car is ready for restoration.
September 1, 2022 7:58 amPublished by Craig Ranson
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.
September 1, 2022 7:51 amPublished by Craig Ranson
The original glovebox on the 1958 Jensen 541R has been completely stripped back in order to be retrimmed by the Bridge Classic Cars team.
The original piece was carefully taken apart by the team to assess its condition. After inspecting, the team had to remake the wooden pieces for the glovebox before then retrimming it black vinyl ready to go back on the car when the time comes.
As part of the inspection on the 1955 Jensen 541 ‘Number 8’ by the Bridge Classic Cars team, the workshop have begun to tear down all the trims, doors and windows for the car.
This is to check the function and condition of each individual piece which will be put together in their report.
The trim team at Bridge Classic Cars have been making progress on the interior of the 1958 Jensen 541R.
The team have retrimmed the centre console/armrest on the classic Jensen. Each individual piece has been hand-cut and finished to give it the best possible fit. The team retrimmed the top piece in leather whilst the rest of the part is done in colour-matched vinyl as well as some of most of the others pieces from the interior of the car.
The 1958 Jensen 541R has been back into the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint booth to have its body painted.
The team began by getting the doors and grille painted in a dark silver/bronze colour, contrasting against the beautiful dark blue of the roof. Then, each piece was clear coated and left to cure.
The body was then taken into the booth to be finished. Chris, one of our amazing painters, laid down layer after layer of the paint letting it cure before applying the clearcoat which is being left to harden before it can be sanded and fully polished to a mirror-like finish.
Here are some photos of what it looks like together:
The 1960 Jensen 541S ‘Peony Red’, which was restored by the Bridge Classic Cars team, has won Best Car 1956 to 1980 at the 2022 Stonham Barns Classic Vehicle Display.
It’s amazing to see the reception this beautiful classic Jensen has received every time it goes to a show!
The Bridge Classic Cars interior trim team have been back working on the 1958 Jensen 541R.
The team have been repairing the top rail for the ceiling pad inside the classic GT car. The team have remade the wooden piece by hand using traditional methods to make a total replica of the original piece for the car.
Coming soon to the Bridge Classic Cars workshops at our Suffolk HQ is this absolutely stunning 1966 Jensen CV8.
The team will inspect and assess the classic V8 Jensen once it arrives and compile their report while cataloguing and creating an inventory of all the necessary parts.
Keep an eye out very soon on the Bridge Classic Cars news page for more on the 1966 Jensen CV8.
The 1956 Jensen 541 has been moved from the Bridge Classic Cars workshop to begin its bodywork journey. As part of its restoration, the team will go through every panel and gap to make sure everything is absolutely perfect before it is painted.
Before then, our restoration workshop have worked on every aspect of the body and frame of the classic 541. This 541, being a very early car noted by the very thin body contour that extends from the rear arch, sits on top of a brand new handmade frame made especially for this particular car and incorporates the early style front suspension. The final finishing touch the workshop had finished was the stunning aluminium sill caps which were capped and fitted to the car along with the new lower front wing and door skins.
All of these identifiable pieces will be worked on and perfected by the in-house body shop team.
The trim shop at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on more of the interior pieces of the 1958 Jensen 541R in at our Suffolk HQ.
To begin with, our trim Lydia has retrimmed some of the interior trim panels in new leather to go towards the elegant and stylish final finish on the car. All of these pieces have been specially tailored and glued tight onto the panels to get the right fit and finish for the car.
Next, Lydia began by stripping back the original glovebox on the car to be prepared and readied to be refinished to the rest of the interior.
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.
The 1959 Jensen 541R ‘Hepburn’ has been completely stripped back to a bare shell by the Bridge Classic Cars workshop as part of its restoration and to prepare it for blasting.
The bodyshell has been loaded onto a rotisserie for media blasting so that every part of the frame and body can be got to and exposed with the carefully selected blast media. The bodyshell was then loaded onto one of our trailers to be transported to a local trusted specialist to carry out the job.
Once complete, it will come back and be inspected and assessed by the restoration departments.
Close friend of Bridge Classic Cars, Joerg, has recently completed this absolutely beautiful restoration on a very special car.
He has recently completed the complete and total restoration of the Jensen White Lady. The White Lady is the very first prototype, car number 1. Not a prototype for a model, but for Jensen itself. The Jensen Brothers created the car in 1934/1935, an entirely handbuilt and beautiful touring body.
The car has had an amazing and storied past. Sold in 1936, it was recommissioned in around 1957 before being put up for sale around Bristol. It was then bought by a Canadian gentleman, who organised the White Lady to be transported over to Canada at the end of 1957 before arriving in early 1958 with the cold weather had damaged the engine block. The car was used in Canada throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s, in the mid-1970s the car was stripped back to its bare aluminium with all intentions of being fully restored. There is sat until 2016 when it was bought by a collector and restorer.
The car then made its way back over the Atlantic into the hands of our friend Joerg, who is a world authority on the Jensen marque. He has been building up the car and putting it back to its original specification complete with Ford V8 and exquisite white paintwork which gave the car its original name.
And now, thanks to Joerg’s hard work and dedication, the White Lady is once again back in full splendour.
The 1958 Jensen 541R has been having its final stages of sanding finished before it is taken into the Bridge Classic Cars paint booth for its last stage of primer.
The classic Jensen has been worked on by the body team to perfect each curve and shape across the entire car as a whole. Then, some of the panels were taken into the booth to have their final coat of primer before the bodyshell is taken in soon.
The 1960 Jensen 541S ‘Peony’, which was restored by Bridge Classic Cars, has been to several recent classic car shows with its proud owner sending us over some photos of the gorgeous classic Jensen GT car in pride of place.
The paint and body team at Bridge Classic Cars have been working on the 1958 Jensen 541R in preparation for the colour stage of its work with us.
The team have been sanding and finessing each individual panel in the pursuit of absolute perfection we aim to achieve on all of our restoration projects. Chris, one of our paint and body technicians, has been using varying sandpapers and abrasives to get into every shape and curve across the body of the classic GT car.
The trim team at Bridge Classic Cars have worked on stripping down and refurbishing the dashboard of the 1958 Jensen 541R.
Everything from the instrument cluster to the wooden structures has been completely stripped back to their core components to be inspected, refurbished and reassembled as part of the car’s aesthetic restoration. Any metal pieces were completely stripped and cleaned down before being sprayed in hardwearing black.
The 1956 Jensen 541 has been worked on in the Bridge Classic Workshop at our Suffolk HQ to have several parts on the car adjusted and refined.
Our technician Rob first fabricated the new handbrake bracket/mount. This was bent up and shaped before the original piece was cut off the frame and the new piece welded on after having its hole and mounts put in.
Then it was time to move to the outside of the car and finesse the one-piece fibreglass bonnet. Rob has worked on adjusting the panel in every axis possible to get the unit to sit properly on the car. Once roughly in shape, Rob made new strengthening brackets which mount inside the fibreglass clamshell.
The final piece was to adjust and finesse the flange on the gearbox tunnel to perfectly meet up with the large single-piece gearbox cover that mounts up to the firewall.
The 1959 Jensen 541R in the Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop has been stripped down even further in pursuit of the car’s total restoration.
This time, our technicians have been working on completely clearing out the engine bay. To begin with, all of the simple and easy pieces were removed from the car to be inspected and catalogued. Then, with everything out of the way, the straight-six engine and its gearbox could be gently removed from the car.
Every single piece that comes off the car has been safely put into storage.
The trim shop at Bridge Classic Cars has been working on stripping back more interior pieces from the 1958 Jensen 541R.
Lydia, one of our trimmers, has carefully been taking apart the original pieces all the way back to their core components in order to inspect and assess the structure underneath. Each of the pieces was taken off and visually checked over individually.
The workshop at Bridge Classic Cars have been making good progress on the 1956 Jensen 541 at our Suffolk HQ for restoration.
To begin with, our technician Rob, has made and welded in the new seat mounts into the specially made chassis of the classic GT car and ground them smooth to blend them into the cross member.
After that, Rob could begin to adjustment refine the fitment of the doors by carefully reshaping the front and rear wings to achieve a uniform door gap on both sides of the car.
The 1958 Jensen 541R has had its filler work completed by the Bridge Classic Cars paint and body team. Chris, one of our paint and body specialist, has been carefully perfecting the body lines and curves of the classic Jensen with minimal filler work.
Each panel and piece was worked on by the team in the absolute pursuit of perfection. From electrical sanders to the finest of sandpaper, the team have made the body of the 1950s GT car superb.
Then, it was time to get all the panels and the body into our in-house spray booth.
The classic Jensen was then taken into the paint booth to have the 2nd round of its primer laid down. First was the normal primer before then having its body and all the panels finished in Polyfan.
The team will then inspect and assess the body before moving on to the next stage of the cars aesthetic work.
The teardown of the 1959 Jensen 541R continues at the Bridge Classic Cars restoration workshop at our Suffolk HQ.
Our restoration technicians have been methodically stripping down the classic GT car to assess and inspect any of the parts which have been taken off the car. One technician, Paul, has been working on stripping down the rear end of the car such as the boot with all of the accompanying fittings and hardware being removed and catalogued.
At the same, Jon has been working in the engine bay of the car. He has been carefully removing the various pipework which runs along the firewall and bulkhead of the car. All of this will be catalogued and reported on its condition.
The Bridge Classic Cars workshop have made great progress on the 1956 Jensen 541.
Our technician, Rob, has been working on the front end of the classic Jensen. To begin with, he fully welded in the suspension towers onto the new chassis. This is a crucial stage as it also acts as a tie-in for the front wing braces and forms part of the core support.
Next, Rob could fit the new wheel arches and begin to make the new brackets now that the towers were firmly in place, and accurate measurements could be taken to ensure the inner arches/wings sat squarely in the car and to the frame.
With all of these pieces firmly in place, Rob could begin to test fit the lower part of the front wing. This could then be adjusted for the right fitment and alignment to the body to act as one of the datum points with the fibreglass front end is fitted.
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