jensen 541 specialist

Collection Day – Collecting the 1959 Jensen 541R

The Bridge Classic Cars team took a trip over the weekend to head north and collect the 1959 Jensen 541R from its resting place and bring it back to our Suffolk HQ.

It was an early start with our new van hitched up to our enclosed trailer to make the journey to the north of England to collect the most recent of our 541’s. This car was offered to us for sale because of our long-running history of restoring the Jensen 541 family to the very highest of standards.

Once the team had reached the home of the 541R, and some seriously skilful trailer driving by our director Gordon, the car was carefully pulled out of its garage and out into the open for the first time in several years. The car is remarkably complete with most of the pieces removed from the classic sports car stored back inside the body.

Gordon and Eva inch by inch loaded the 541R into the enclosed trailer, safely secured it and then began the long journey back home with the latest addition to the Bridge Classic Cars family.

A Unique Opportunity – 1959 Jensen 541R

Bridge Classic Cars are excited to announce the latest Jensen 541 to be joining our stable. This 1959 Jensen 541R was previously owned by Neil Hepburn, an engineer with a passion for his 1959 541R.

Neil had owned the car since 1974 but unfortunately passed away several years ago leaving his beloved Jensen to his family. The details that are known of the car is that during its life it had several upgrades done such as a disc brake conversion as well as a chassis rebuild.

All of this work had been done to a very high standard under the guardianship of Mr Hepburn and the small number of custodians of this 541R.

Across its 63 years, the car is reading as covering just 40,000 miles which is believed correct. The engine has not run for several years but previously, although put away into storage and up on stands, the car was run regularly with the carburettors fed by tube using premium fresh petrol.

The car also comes with its original V5 logbook which shows previous owners including several members of the Palmer-Tomkinson family.

Barbra Hepburn, the wife of Neil, would like her late husband’s car brought back to its former glory as she has many happy memories and photographs of the car being used by herself and her late husband in years gone by.

This 1959 Jensen 541R is coming to join its sisters here at Bridge Classic Cars to await the commissioning of its full concours restoration. This 541R is offered for sale with the condition of a restoration carried out in full by our restoration workshop who have extensive experience restoring Jensen 541’s to the very highest of standards which these special cars deserve.

Seats and Ceilings – Foam and Panel Work on the 1955 Jensen 541

The trim team at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop in our Suffolk HQ are working through the interior pieces and trims for the 1955 Jensen 541.

Brian, one of our trimmers, has been working on shaping and putting together the fitted rear seats for the 1950s GT car. Each part of these rear seats is made by hand by our trim shop in-house. Every car is unique so each interior we do for a Jensen is also unique and fit specifically for that car.

This 541 is no exception. The rear seats have had their foams cut and shaped by hand to get the best fit and finish possible for the interior of the classic Jensen. Along with that, Brian has also remade and trimmed the ceiling pad to match.

Support – Finishing the New Seat Bases for the 1955 Jensen 541

The front seats for the 1955 Jensen 541 are on the workbench in the in-house trim shop at Bridge Classic Cars.

Brian has been testing fitting each part of the seat bases to make sure everything lines up and fits just right. He then made new wooden cappings to go along with the new metal frames. Once the fit was just right, the new bases could then me covered in Calico before being placed and fitted into the fibreglass bucket seats.