Meet The Team: Paul
Its that time of the week again! In this instalment of ‘Meet The Team’ we’re chatting to Paul, one of our classic car technicians. After
Its that time of the week again! In this instalment of ‘Meet The Team’ we’re chatting to Paul, one of our classic car technicians. After
Chris is our classic car painter and fabricator. Whilst you can find him fabricating bodywork and smoothing down our cars ready to paint, you’re more
It’s time for another instalment of meet the team! Today we chatted to Mike, our hard-working accountant, for whom is responsible for making sure we
Here at Bridge Classic Cars, we’re a close-knit team and its not uncommon to have multiple family members, close friends and couples working together. Lydia
It’s Monday, meaning it’s time for another Meet The Team instalment! This week we chat to Mauro about what got him into cars.
Its another Monday and the 5th instalment of our Meet The Team series! This week we meet Adam, our electric specialist. Adam is our youngest
Tom is our level 3 apprentice, studying classic car mechanics with the aim to graduate as a fully-fledged classic car technician. Growing up, Tamas enjoyed
Our trim shop is not only incredibly unique but it is also relatively new! The trim shop, as a functioning entity has only really existed
It’s another Meet The Team Monday! This Monday we’re pleased to introduce our Paint Shop Manager, Darren! Darren started his career with cars in a
In our second installment of Meet The Team Mondays, we talk to our Workshop Manager, John. John has been working with cars his entire career,
Its that time of the week again! In this instalment of ‘Meet The Team’ we’re chatting to Paul, one of our classic car technicians. After joining in 2019, Paul is usually found doing what he fondly refers to as ‘spanner work’, “I enjoy the hands-on mechanical work, I’m more of a spanners man”.
His expertise with cars comes from a long history in engineering and the motor trade. After he left school, Paul tells us he did an apprenticeship in Engineering at what was then Garretts and from there, he progressed through various forms of mechanical engineering. With experience in everything from modern MOTs to restoring classic cars, Paul’s real love lays with motorbikes.
His fascination with bikes started as a child. He tells us that he’s worked on hundreds of bikes through his life, “My parents owned a few acres of land and we lived at the bottom of this valley. We made sand tracks for the bikes and created our own tracks!”
Paul tells us his first car was a Riley Elf that he bought shortly after passing his test. Although he’s always loved his bikes, Paul tells us “It had a walnut dash and leather seats! It was a bit like a Mini with a boot!”
Pauls first road bike was Yamaha RD250 but says his dream bike has always been a BSA Rockett or Triumph Hurricane. On the topic of cars, Paul said he’s always loved Triumph TR5’s as he already has a 1979 Triumph Dolomite Sprint.
Chris is our classic car painter and fabricator. Whilst you can find him fabricating bodywork and smoothing down our cars ready to paint, you’re more likely to find him suited up in the paint shop. He’s recently been working on turning the Peony Red Jensen, peony red, a long-awaited and much-anticipated metamorphosis.
Chris’ expertise in fabricating comes from experience when he worked at a friend’ father’s body shop. There he worked with a wide variety of cars all whilst learning on the job. It’s there he found his love for it, “I enjoy the hands-on aspect of it.”
Chris tells us he has a love both fabricating and painting but wants to learn a bit more about engines and electrics of cars, “I’d like to learn a bit more about the engines, I know a lot of the other bits but I’d be interested in learning more about the electrics and engines”.
In his spare time Chris enjoys spending quality time with his family and when the weather allows, playing cricket and golf. Chris’s dream car is either a 1967 Mustang or a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Hard Top Estate.
It’s time for another instalment of meet the team! Today we chatted to Mike, our hard-working accountant, for whom is responsible for making sure we have everything we need and keeps us on track. We don’t know where we’d be without him!
Mike is our director Craig’s, Uncle, showing yet again how family-run we really are here at Bridge Classic Cars. Mike has worked with Craig and Gordon for many years from Boots to Inteck and then officially joined us full-time last year after helping out on a part-time basis for a while.
Mike’s first car was a Datsun (Nissan) Cherry, now a much loved classic!
When Mike isn’t pouring over our finances and data, you can find him in his garden, tending to his much-loved flowers and veggies. Mike tells us, “Agapanthus and Peonies are my favourite flowers. For my 60th, I dug myself a new border and planted some more Peonies, Agapanthus and Hydrandreas!”
Here at Bridge Classic Cars, we’re a close-knit team and its not uncommon to have multiple family members, close friends and couples working together. Lydia and Scott are two of our talented technicians who also happen to be a couple. Like a snapshot from the 1940’s era, Scott and Lydia are fascinated by a vintage way of living. As very hands-on individuals, both have led careers in the trade.
Lydia, who only recently joined us, works in our Trim shop and has joined our team of specialist interior trim technicians. Lydia tells us she’s always been into sewing since she was a child, and has always enjoyed being creative, which she says is what she enjoys about working at Bridge. “I love the free reign and the creativity here, I’d never done any of the fitting before so being able to see the whole process is really interesting.”
“I started getting into classic cars when I began going to classic car shows as a teenager and I just ended up wanting one for myself. I’ve never bought a modern car because of it. My first car was a 1961 Morris Minor 1000, my second car was a 1952 Ford Prefect and now I own a 1953 Austin A40 Somerset.”
Not only is Lydia a talented seamstress and interior technician, but she also loves the classic lifestyle, that comes hand in hand with many of the cars that we work on. Lydia tells us that she really loves the challenge that comes with a restoration workshop as she learns the bespoke process of making and fitting each car’s interior, “I really love learning new and different skills” she tells us.
Lydia’s skills don’t just stop at car interiors as she tells us she used to make her own clothes and is currently in the middle of making home furnishings for their new house which is also a classic.
Scott is also a lover of classic and vintage lifestyles. He tells us that he grew up watching his father fix cars and picked it up from there, “I’ve always loved cars, I’ve never really cared about much else.”
Much like Lydia, Scott lives and breathes classic cars, with it not only his passion and career but also his personal hobby. Scott owns an artillery of classic cars including a 1940 Tudor Sudan and a Series 2 Land Rover, among various others. His Land Rover is his and Lydia’s current day to day, which he tells us he bought when in search of a run-around car whist we worked on his other projects, “You have to think of it as a tractor. Many people think its uncomfortable but I don’t, I’ve enjoyed driving it”
Scott used to work as a panel beater for cars caught in accidents but tells us that being at Bridge has allowed him to grow and learn much more about the overall process of renovating classics. Whilst Scott joined as a fabricator and general technician, he soon found his love for working in the main workshop where he had the ability to do a bit of everything. You can find Scott working on projects that range from fitting interior trims, fixing alignment issues in the fabrication bay or working over an engine in the main workshop, “I learn something new every day”.
“I’ve always loved cars, I’ve never really cared about much else.”
Scott’s own long term project is building a workshop at his house which will allow him to work on his collection of cars. The car that will take centre stage in his new workshop will be building a Ford Model A with a flathead V8 installed. This will be a full rebuild, starting with the Model A chassis and working up. He’s currently got a ‘hopped-up’ flathead V8 in his 1940 ford, meaning the Ford A project will come with some previous transferable skills.
Mauro’s beginnings with mechanics began from a young age. His father owned a garage where a young Mauro would watch and learn about mechanics. Learning to walk around cars meant that the fascination for cars was imprinted from a young age.
Mauro tells us that he not only grew up watching his father fix cars but also got involved, “I was 5 when I drove my first car and crashed my first car at 9”, he laughs.
“I would go to school with car supplies in my backpack” Mauro explains.
Mauro went on to work for his father’s garage for around 12 years after he left school however they then parted ways and Maurot then got into driving lorries. Mauro’s career in lorry driving took him around Portugal and Spain, driving for transport and logistics companies.
When Mauro came to the UK, he continued to drive lorries for a number of different companies until he saw a job advert for Bridge Classic Cars. At first, he didn’t apply despite being interested but fate meant he saw another advert a year later and decided to go for it. With plenty of experience fixing cars and continuous personal projects, it made sense for Mauro to join our team of technicians in 2019.
“I love to drive. That’s it, I love driving.”
Mauro tells us he’s always had his own projects on the go, buying cars, fixing them up and then selling them on. Mauro’s current project is a Ford F100, an iconic American pick-up truck. “I love American cars, you grow up seeing them on TV so you want them”.
The intricacy of taking cars apart and reassembling them again is what Mauro enjoys the most, “I like to learn everything I can.”
“Over lock down I kept busy by fixing cars in my spare time”.
Mauro has also been the inspiration for our classic car competitions after he won a Mitsubishi Evolution 8 from Dream Car Giveaways.
Mauro’s dream car is a new Nissan GTR, a high-performance sports car and grand tourer.
“I love to drive” Mauro ends with. “That’s it, I just love to drive.”. Mauro explains that he’d love to do a road trip around Europe.
Much like our other Meet The Team instalments, we end with the technicians ‘birth year’ car, a car that hit the scenes in their year. Following Mauro’s love for American cars, we’ve chosen the 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.
Adam is our youngest member of the team however he comes with a vast amount of experience in the car engineering industry. Although he’s currently our electrical specialist, Adam has worked in both electrics and car interiors.
Adam first started with a local automotive company where he worked on re-upholstering vehicle interiors, spending a lot of time on Toyotas. During this time he worked towards an apprenticeship in Manual Handling.
He then moved on to working with high-performance cars at BF1 Systems where he was involved in building wiring looms for F1 cars, touring cars and high-end motorsports vehicles. Adam also worked as part of a team that produced a wiring loom for the Ferrari F1 team. Whilst working here, Adam also went through in house training alongside one of the pioneering engineers in the British racing scene. Not only that, but Adam was also studying an apprenticeship at Poultec in Norwich building parts fo Speedway bikes.
In February 2019, Adam joined Mercedes AMG HPP where he was building wiring looms for F1 cars and assisting with the formula e-cars.
With such an impressive experience so far, it’s a great pleasure to welcome Adam to the team as one of our most recent additions in the workshop.
Adam told us about his eagerness to continue to learn and grow, wanting to pick up more knowledge about various aspects of the industry. We hope to be able to further his experience in electrics as well as expand his knowledge in mechanical engineering.
“I’d like to continue with this career, I want to learn each aspect within the car industry, so having done car interiors and car electrical work, I would like to go on to be capable with engines and more of a mechanics role because ultimately I want to be building cars in my spare time”
For each member we look up their car of the year, the car that we’ve picked for Adams birth year is the Mercedes CLK GTR which also happens to be his dream track car!
Growing up, Tamas enjoyed restoring modern classics with his brother. From there, his fascination with engineering and classic restorations began.
“I’ve always been around cars and interested in how they work.”
When Tom came to the UK, he started a course in Classic Car Restoration in Leeds which set the foundations for a growing career in the classic car world.
In 2018, Tom then took up a job at a classic car restoration company that specialised in Porches and took up a level 2 apprenticeship in mechanics at the Colchester Institute. When Tom came to work at Bridge Classic Cars in September 2019, he started on his level 3 apprenticeship with the Colchester Institute.
Tom has the interest to further his career in electric cars which is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the world of engineering.
One of the biggest cars the year Tom was the McLaren F1. Celebrities such as Elon Musk, Rowan Atkinson and the Sultan of Brunei have owned the famous car. In 2017 Top Gear Magazine, listed it as one of the fastest naturally aspirated cars currently available in the world.
Our trim shop is not only incredibly unique but it is also relatively new! The trim shop, as a functioning entity has only really existed since this year. Although we’ve had a trim specialist before, we never had a specific team and workshop dedicated to it until 2020! Both Kath and Brian have joined the Bridge Classic Car family this year and have been invaluable.
It’s rare to have an in-house trim shop at a classic car restoration workshop as many companies prefer to outsource, which comes with its own problems and communications. We, however, are very lucky to have ours in-house which not only saves time and miscommunications but also means everything is made to fit and can be fitted and tested immediately. This makes for swifter restorations and ultimately a better workflow. Anything that’s needed can be made and modified as needed.
Vibrant and talented, Kath is one of our Trim Shop Trio.
Kath describes herself as arty and crafty, with always having a creative background. Kath holds a selection of qualifications from Interior Design to Spatial Design and history in painting and decorating as well as previous car trim work. Kath then joined the team in January 2020.
“I’ve always enjoyed making things and being creative. I like being hands-on.”
Kath loves VW’s and has always had a soft spot for them. She’s done up her own VW campervan before but currently owns a beautiful red VW Beetle which is her pride and joy.
Kath says she enjoys working in an in-house trim shop rather than outsourcing it as she did before, as you get more of a personal connection with the projects, “You’re never doing the same thing twice!” Kath tells us, “I love everything here, it’s so satisfying learning where everything fits and seeing it being installed.”
Brian was the second Trim Shop specialist to join Bridge Classic Cars who started in March 2020.
Brian originally started working on Micralite planes but later moved to trim work and interior car design. Brian also worked with Kath at their previous workplace outsourcing interior trim, so made the perfect team when they both moved to Bridge Classic Cars!
Brian has always worked with interior trim and really enjoys being a part of the team.
“It’s great to see cars go from parts to being roadworthy. You have such a big part in keeping these old cars going.”
Brian says he’s always loved hot hatches but currently has a new mini but has his sights set on buying an original mini to do up too. “Working with cars like these, at some point you want to get your own!” Brian tells us.
The third and final member of the Trim Shop is Cockerpoo puppy, Rosie!
As an invaluable member of the team, Rosie offers morale and team spirit for not only the trim shop but for the whole of the Bridge Classic Cars team!
Rosie is now 9 months old as she was born on Valentine’s day. She certainly has a talent for spreading the love!
Rosie’s favourite part about being in the trim shop is getting visits from other members of the Bridge team who frequently give her cuddles and attention, she’s a real team player!
Darren started his career with cars in a similar way to many of our technicians did, by studying an apprenticeship, “I’ve always been into vehicles since I was a teenager” Daren tells us.
Darren studied his apprenticeship at the formerly known Potters Ford dealership in Framlingham, Suffolk, and has kept it local ever since. Darren joined our team in January 2019.
During his time studying general mechanics, Darren was given the choice to specialise and took the option to focus on Strip Fitting. From there he progressed to working with the paintwork.
“I still prefer doing body and paintwork because you get to see the rewards at the end.”
As our Paint Shop Manager, it’s down to Darren to ensure that the paintwork on each of our cars is matched, made, and added, as well as overseeing all the work that goes on in our Paint Shop.
Fun fact: one of the most popular cars in Darren’s birth year was the Ferrari 1973 Berlinetta Boxer. When launched, it competed with the Lamborghini Countach to be the fastest supercar you could buy.
John has been working with cars his entire career, starting as soon as he left school. This interest blossomed from working alongside his father who also took a fascination with cars and frequently visited race car meets with each other.
Following his childhood with cars, John’s career led him to work with Vauxhall for 29 years. After a sufficient amount of time working as a technician there, John moved on to making sports car replicas with Suffolk Sports. John then came to Bridge Classic Cars where he’s been ever since, making him one of our longest working members.
John is our Workshop Manager, meaning his role is to oversee and troubleshoot any projects going on at Bridge Classic Cars. We know that projects are always in safe hands with John as his time with us is coming up to 10 years.
Back at home, John has a number of motorbikes as well as his dream car, a Ford Escort RS 2000 MKI. John tells us that he’s always been into having his own cars and restoring them, “I’ve always had two or three motorbikes and cars at home to tinker with”.
Fun fact: The car that was most popular in the year of Johns birth was the Nissan Datsun 240Z
Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.
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