After months of research and development, the team here at Bridge Classic Cars are extremely excited to reveal the first stage prototype of our submarine car. Loosely based on an Amphicar 770, our Sub-A-Roo is now moving into the testing
Princess Anne visited our neck of the woods recently, spending some time in Southwold where she went to the Adnams brewery. She visited the Suffolk coast as part of the 150th anniversary of Adnams. A day before her trip to
Olympian turned celebrity coach, Greg Whyte, was in Ipswich recently. As this is so local to us, we felt that we had to go and listen to him speak at the Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club, hosted at local restaurant Venue
Some of the team here at Bridge Classic Cars recently had the opportunity to hear the story of Rogue Trader, Nick Leeson from the man himself. For those who don’t know, Nick Leeson is a former trader who ended up
Five friends are soon to embark on a mammoth motorcycling challenge to raise funds for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). Ian Charlesworth, Chris Tebbit, Robert McDonald and Ethan and John Stenner hope to cover around 1,500 miles on their motorbikes
On 29th March 1927, on Daytona Beach in Florida, Major Henry Segrave drove a Sunbeam, known as ‘The Slug’, over 200mph. This was the first time that any car had ever reached this speed and set a new land speed
We recently welcomed the Porsche Club GB to The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars. Having more than 30 Porsches parked up outside while members of the club enjoyed a coffee and a chat before having a personal tour of the
On Saturday 25th March, we hosted an evening with Ed Stafford in The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars. The night saw more than 100 people join us to hear Ed talk about his adventures, his life, and his current and
Yesterday, we welcomed the Essex Austin Seven Club into The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars. It was great to see the members of the club spending time with us enjoying coffee and snacks before getting to have a look behind-the-scenes
Rolls Royce has been given funding from the UK Space Agency to continue its research into how nuclear power could be used to support a future human base on the moon. Going into space obviously requires a dependable power source
Hollywood actor Theo James has been seen driving a 1962 Austin Healey 3000 during the filming of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix adaptation of The Gentlemen. Theo plays the lead character of Eddie Halstead in the highly-anticipated series that takes place in
A 2009 Jaguar X-Type Estate that was previously owned and driven by the late Queen Elizabeth II has been donated to Comic Relief by Chris Evans and his motoring event, CarFest, to help raise money for the charity’s Red Nose
A 1980 Range Rover that is believed to have been owned by Bob Marley is going to auction! The original registration document has the name Robert Nesta Marley on it, which is why this classic vehicle is generating such interest.
A 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank has become the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at auction. The bike was discovered back in 1941 as a complete motorcycle in a barn in Wisconsin, USA. It stayed in Wisconsin for the next 66
A 1954 Aston Martin DB2 Vignale has gone up for sale for an eye-watering £3.6 million. While the price tag may seem steep, the story behind this vehicle is certainly one that gives the car an interesting history. The car
A 1974 Vauxhall Victor FE with just 86 miles on the clock and seemingly untouched for decades, is proving to be something of a mystery. Not too much is known about the classic vehicle at this point in time, other
Car production in the UK fell by 9.8% in 2022 resulting in the worst production year since 1956. Having to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a worldwide semiconductor shortage, the car manufacturing industry as
The East Anglian Daily Times recently published a list of the 5 major shows and events running in Suffolk in January 2023. The Bridge Classic Cars New Year’s Car Rally was included in this list which we are very excited
Obviously, everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars has a passion for classic cars. However, we love finding interesting vehicles of all varieties and, recently, we found another. On our travels, we got to experience Bassenthwaite Lake Station. This is a
The marketing team here at Bridge Classic Cars are getting a bigger office! As the business continues to grow and develop, more space is needed to help us operate as effectively and as successfully as possible. As you can see
Late Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 Land Rover Series I, originally delivered to Her Majesty at the Balmoral estate, is going to auction with a guide price of £100 000 – £150 000. It has recently been restored to an extremely high
It’s not every day that you get to see an amphibious car up close. However, we were lucky enough to do just that when a 1964 Amphicar 7-70 came to visit the Bridge Classic Cars workshop recently. This is a
We were lucky enough to welcome explorer and adventurer Ed Stafford to Bridge Classic Cars recently. While he was here, Ed had a tour of the workshop, he spoke to some of the team about the work they do and
At Bridge Classic Cars we like to be creative, innovative, forward-thinking, and we do our best to bring a modern take to the world of classic cars. Part of that involves developing new ideas and making the most out of
As much as electric cars have gained in popularity in recent years, a key issue that has put some people off from making the switch over is their long charge times. Hyundai has come up with the next generation of
On Sunday, the seafront at Felixstowe (just down the road from the Bridge Classic Cars Workshop in Suffolk), was treated to a display of supercars. Everyone who had chosen to visit the beach for the day got to enjoy the
We were recently featured in an article by the East Anglian Daily Times. The article covers the story of how Bridge Classic Cars came to be, what we do, and what we hope to achieve in the future. It also
The future has arrived. A prototype of a flying car just completed it 142nd successful test flight which was a 35minute journey between two Slovakian cities. AirCar is a hybrid vehicle designed to be both driven on the roads and
W Series and Stunt driver, Jessica Hawkins has been signed as an F1 Aston Martin Driver Ambassador, announced today. Hawkins has said about the announcement; “I am incredibly excited to be joining Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team as its new
The Suffolk Wire featured our latest competition winner, Matthew Sugden who received our 1949 Morris Minor Lowlight last week. Matthew tells us he’s already taken out his new classic a handful of times and is loving it! We’re delighted to
After months of research and development, the team here at Bridge Classic Cars are extremely excited to reveal the first stage prototype of our submarine car. Loosely based on an Amphicar 770, our Sub-A-Roo is now moving into the testing phase.
Once the roof is in place on this game-changing vehicle, the Sub-A-Roo will be able to stay underwater for several days without needing to resurface. Thanks to some incredible ingenuity from our team of technicians, provisions for 2 passengers for 2 days can be kept on board.
Reaching depths of up to 100 metres, underwater, the Sub-A-Roo can travel at speeds up to 20mph while a land speed of up to 35mph is also possible in the right conditions.
With a completion date planned for mid-October, mass production will hopefully begin in early 2024.
We look forward to sharing more exciting updates with you over the coming weeks and months.
Princess Anne visited our neck of the woods recently, spending some time in Southwold where she went to the Adnams brewery. She visited the Suffolk coast as part of the 150th anniversary of Adnams.
A day before her trip to Southwold, the Princess Royal was in Ipswich where she commissioned the Horace & Hannah, a 1906 Great Yarmouth Shrimper boat, at the Old Custom House on the Waterfront. Princess Anne also officially opened the new joint police and fire station in the town too.
On being part of the Adnams celebrations, the Princess said that she was “delighted” to be invited and she hopes to “make sure that the skillset continues to exist, not forgetting the value it has in the future, nevermind the past”
It’s always exciting to see a member of the Royal family in the local area so we were very happy that Princess Anne was putting Suffolk in the news for a few days.
Olympian turned celebrity coach, Greg Whyte, was in Ipswich recently. As this is so local to us, we felt that we had to go and listen to him speak at the Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club, hosted at local restaurant Venue 16.
Greg spoke to a large audience of local business leaders and professionals about raising funds for SportsAid.
According to their research, SportsAid has found that, before becoming a household name, talented athletes will spend 10,000 hours and thousands of pounds to make it to elite level. Without funding and support from SportsAid, this simply would not be a feasible option for many promising sports stars of the future.
SportsAid Suffolk has already raised and distributed more than £300,000 to support young people in the county.
The Ipswich Sporting Lunch Club was founded in January 2015 and is sponsored by six businesses based in Suffolk – Pound Gates Chartered Insurance Brokers, Ensors Chartered Accountants, Ellisons Solicitors, StrategiQ, Handelsbanken, and Beckett Financial Services.
Some of the team here at Bridge Classic Cars recently had the opportunity to hear the story of Rogue Trader, Nick Leeson from the man himself.
For those who don’t know, Nick Leeson is a former trader who ended up in prison after he single-handedly bankrupted Barings Bank in 1995. Although he was ultimately convicted of fraud, Nick actually started his trading career as something of a future star. After making massive profits for Barings, Nick was moved to Singapore where he made his first unauthorised trades.
Nick’s role should have been cash-neutral for his employer, meaning that any profits and losses belonged to the client’s portfolios that he was managing. Barings Bank would get a commission for any successes but they wouldn’t lose any money in the trades. However, what was actually happening is that Nick was using the bank’s money to try and recoup trading losses.
Nick used the extremely risky strategy of betting double the amount of money lost to try and get the losses back while making a profit too. This ended up with Barings Bank losing a total of £827 million in 1995. This huge amount of money was double the bank’s trading capital and proved to be the beginning of the end for the 230-year-old bank.
While in prison, Nick wrote a book called Rogue Trader which subsequently was adapted into a film starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel in 1999.
Obviously, the actions of Nick Leeson impacted a huge number of people and there is still a strong element of controversy and emotion that surrounds him. That being said, hearing his story and his explanation of what was going on at the time was certainly very interesting and something that the team will remember.
Five friends are soon to embark on a mammoth motorcycling challenge to raise funds for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). Ian Charlesworth, Chris Tebbit, Robert McDonald and Ethan and John Stenner hope to cover around 1,500 miles on their motorbikes while visiting the most Northerly, Southerly, Easterly and Western points of the UK.
If the distance wasn’t enough of a challenge, the five bikers are planning to complete their epic journey in just 36 hours. In the early hours of Saturday, 29th April 2023, they will set off from John O’Groats, in Scotland, before heading to St Davids, on the Welsh coast. From there, it’s on to Land’s End, in Cornwall, before finishing in Lowestoft.
Ian, who is just down the road from us in Stowmarket, said:
“It’s a 29-hour ride, according to Google Maps, however, that’s without any stops and our plan is to rest for a quarter of an hour every time we fill up. It’s important to top ourselves up – not just in terms of petrol but also in terms of coffee and chocolate!”
“We estimate that we’ll stop about a dozen times, so hope to complete the challenge in 30 to 32 hours. Having said that, if it takes longer then so be it – even if we don’t finish within 36 hours. We’re not going to do anything silly and plan to stay safe. If we need to stop and sleep then that’s what we’ll do.”
“The most important thing is that we complete the distance, by hook or by crook.”
Ian has already completed long-distance challenges like this. He even managed to cover 1,000 miles in 19 hours but this latest challenge certainly takes things up to a whole new level. Despite the endurance-testing distance the group hopes to cover, knowing that it is helping to support the incredibly important work of EACH is proving to be a great source of motivation.
Ian went on to say:
“It’s certainly daunting but going to be an experience and something special to share together. My only regret is that we don’t have longer in any place, but it’s still going to be great and we’ll have a giggle along the way.”
“It’s going to be long and tiring but we want to raise money for a great cause. All costs will be coming out of our own pockets, so we hope family, friends and the public get behind us and help make our trip worthwhile by donating as much as possible.”
“We wanted to do something for a local charity, rather than a national one. My fear with the latter is that your money goes into a big pot and you don’t necessarily get to see how it’s spent. With EACH, it feels more tangible and we’re safe in the knowledge that our donation will directly help and benefit children, young people and families within our community. I like that thought and know the others feel the same.”
EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across East Anglia. It has three hospices – The Treehouse, in Ipswich, The Nook, near Norwich, and at Milton, near Cambridge.
The charity offers families flexibility and control over where they receive their care and support, including where their child dies – at home, in hospital or at one of three hospices. EACH relies on voluntary donations for the majority of its income and this year needs to raise £5.8 million from fundraising and £6.5 million in income from its shops.
If you would like to support Ian, Chris, Robert, Ethan, and John, you can do so by making a donation via their JustGiving Page.
On 29th March 1927, on Daytona Beach in Florida, Major Henry Segrave drove a Sunbeam, known as ‘The Slug’, over 200mph. This was the first time that any car had ever reached this speed and set a new land speed record. Now, 96 years later, on 29th March 2023, The National Motor Museum is launching its Sunbeam 1000hp Restoration Campaign to bring this ground-breaking car back to life.
The campaign aims to raise £300,000 for a full restoration and to take ‘The Slug’ back to Daytona Beach in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the record in 2027. Restoring a car that has two 22.5-lire V12 engines is obviously a huge task so a major fundraising campaign is needed to make it possible.
After being designed and built for the sole purpose of going faster than 200mph, ‘The Slug’ was, at the time, the fastest car in the world. The excitement around the car was immense and around 30,000 people headed to Daytona Beach to watch Major Segrave drive at an average speed of 203.79mph. To achieve this speed, more than one engine was needed, so two Sunbeam Matabele V12 aero engines were chosen by Sunbeam’s chief engineer, Louis Coatalen. Segrave’s cockpit was between the two engines (one was at the rear of the vehicle while the other was at the front), and the finished car weighed over 3 tons.
The car travelled so fast that, during the first run, strong winds caused it to skid with Segrave having no other option but to drive into the sea to slow down! However, following corrosion attacking the internal workings of the engines, ‘The Slug’ has not been run for more than 50 years.
The National Motor Museum is working with Brookspeed Automotive to restore this incredible car, and the work will be carried out in the public eye through visits to the museum as well as through online content such as videos and blog posts.
To raise awareness of the campaign, ‘The Slug’ will be taken to motoring events and shows all over the UK and Europe before also going on a tour of motoring museums in America too.
The National Motor Museum has owned the Sunbeam since 1970 and it has been one of the main displays there ever since. Their Senior Engineer, Ian Stanfield, has already started stripping down the rear engine to investigate how bad the corrosion damage truly is.
Restoring a car that is as special and such a big part of motoring history as this is a worthwhile project. There aren’t many better ways to help future generations recognise how ground-breaking ‘The Slug’ was than by bringing it back to life for them to see first-hand.
The National Motor Museum’s Head of Development Michelle Kirwan said: “This is a wonderfully exciting opportunity to raise the funds necessary to breathe new life into the two aero engines and enable the Sunbeam to run again.
“To be able to take this iconic car back to Daytona, where world Land Speed Record history was made, would be incredible – especially in the centenary year. We are grateful for Brookspeed Automotive’s support with this campaign and look forward to working together to achieve the ultimate goal of such a historic run, which will capture the imagination of motoring enthusiasts around the world.”
We recently welcomed the Porsche Club GB to The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars. Having more than 30 Porsches parked up outside while members of the club enjoyed a coffee and a chat before having a personal tour of the workshop was something that everyone here enjoyed just as much as our guests.
Thank you to all of the members of the Porsche Owners Club that attended, it was a fantastic morning spent with you and we hope you come back and see us again very soon.
Several car clubs are coming to visit The Atelier like the Porsche Owners Club did, and we are equally as excited to welcome all of them to Bridge Classic Cars.
If you are interested in holding a club meeting in The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars, please contact lily on events@bridgeclassiccars.co.uk or check out our Events page for an up-to-date list of what’s happening.
On Saturday 25th March, we hosted an evening with Ed Stafford in The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars.
The night saw more than 100 people join us to hear Ed talk about his adventures, his life, and his current and future projects. It was such a great experience to listen to the exciting and inspiring stories from the man himself and we are extremely grateful to Ed for being so open and honest with us and the audience.
From hearing about becoming the first person to ever walk the length of the Amazon River and being arrested and threatened with death along the way, to living on an uninhabited Pacific island in complete isolation, to family life with his wife and children, Ed shared so much that everyone in attendance couldn’t help but feel even more connected to him than they did to begin with.
Also on the night, we found the winner of Ed’s 2015 Land Rover Defender 110. The lucky winner was randomly selected during our live draw that Ed joined in with. The Defender was very popular and sold out while he was on stage.
Everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars had a fantastic evening and we loved welcoming so many faces, both new and old, into The Atelier. As the event was designed to be an intimate evening, the audience could speak to Ed and take photos with him. Many books were signed and even more selfies were taken!
A big thank you goes out to everyone who attended An Evening With Ed Stafford and thanks to Ed for being such an amazing guest.
We will be hosting more Evening With… events throughout the year including our Evening With Martin Donnelly, Formula 1 legend on Saturday, 20th May 2023 and we are very excited to welcome more of you to Bridge Classic Cars very soon.
Yesterday, we welcomed the Essex Austin Seven Club into The Atelier at Bridge Classic Cars.
It was great to see the members of the club spending time with us enjoying coffee and snacks before getting to have a look behind-the-scenes of the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, as they had a tour of our facilities.
We always enjoy hosting car clubs. With several others already booked in, we are looking forward to seeing more of you in the very near future.
Rolls Royce has been given funding from the UK Space Agency to continue its research into how nuclear power could be used to support a future human base on the moon.
Going into space obviously requires a dependable power source to keep the multitude of systems operating during missions. Things like life support and communications are of paramount importance, and scientific experiments also need to be conducted with a consistent power source.
As nuclear power has the potential to drastically increase the amount of time humans could stay on the moon in future missions, scientists and engineers at Rolls Royce are working on a Micro-Reactor programme which aims to develop technology to power a lunar base.
The UK Space Agency has given £2.9 million in funding to the project with the aim of delivering an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor. This round of funding comes after a £249,000 study in 2022 which was also funded by the UK Space Agency
Rolls-Royce plan to have a reactor ready to send to the moon by 2029. While the project is primarily focused on powering facilities off-planet, the aim is to create a world-leading power and propulsion capability for multiple industries and needs including a clean, green, and long-term power source. Micro-Reactor technology also has a lot of potential to be used for commercial and defence applications too.
A nuclear Micro-Reactor is relatively small and lightweight when compared to other power systems and generates continuous power regardless of location, available sunlight, or any other environmental conditions. Along with their engineers, Rolls-Royce will be working with several other parties including the University of Oxford, the University of Bangor, the University of Brighton, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and Nuclear AMRC.
Thanks to the £2.9 million in funding, Rolls-Royce can now further strengthen its knowledge of these highly complex systems. The project will focus on three key features – the fuel used to generate heat, the method of heat transfer and the technology to convert that heat into electricity.
The UK Space Agency recently announced that funding of £51 million was available to UK companies to help develop communication and navigational technology to support missions to the moon. It forms part of the European Space Agency’s Moonlight Programme which has the goal of having a constellation of satellites in orbit around the moon.
Partnering with Rolls-Royce is just one step towards future astronauts and rovers having the capabilities to navigate the lunar surface safely, as well as helping to support scientific experiments.
“Space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for so many of the transformational technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, cleantech and much more. As we prepare to see humans return to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, we are backing exciting research like this lunar modular reactor with Rolls-Royce to pioneer new power sources for a lunar base. Partnerships like this, between British industry, the UK Space Agency and government are helping to create jobs across our £16 billion Space Tech sector and help ensure the UK continues to be a major force in frontier science.”
“The new tranche of funding from the UK Space Agency means so much for the Rolls-Royce Micro-Reactor Programme. We’re proud to work collaboratively with the UK Space Agency and the many UK academic institutions to showcase the best of UK innovation and knowledge in space. This funding will bring us further down the road in making the Micro-Reactor a reality, with the technology bringing immense benefits for both space and Earth. The technology will deliver the capability to support commercial and defence use cases alongside providing a solution to decarbonise industry and provide clean, safe and reliable energy.”
“We are backing technology and capabilities to support ambitious space exploration missions and boost sector growth across the UK. Developing space nuclear power offers a unique chance to support innovative technologies and grow our nuclear, science and space engineering skills base. This innovative research by Rolls-Royce could lay the groundwork for powering continuous human presence on the Moon, while enhancing the wider UK space sector, creating jobs and generating further investment.”
With this partnership between the UK Space Agency and Rolls-Royce, it is a clear sign that big names in the automotive industry are much more than just car manufacturers. They have the potential to not only change people’s day-to-day lives by creating convenient vehicles, but they also have the potential to change the future of humanity on a planetary level.
Hollywood actor Theo James has been seen driving a 1962 Austin Healey 3000 during the filming of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix adaptation of The Gentlemen. Theo plays the lead character of Eddie Halstead in the highly-anticipated series that takes place in the same world as the widely successful film of the same name from 2019.
Theo was dressed smartly as he drove the classic Austin Healey through the grounds of the Badminton Estate in South Gloucestershire. This is the same location that has been used for scenes in Bridgerton, Pearl Harbour, and 28 Days Later.
A camera could be clearly seen attached to the front of the car catching action shots of the actor driving the blue and white vehicle.
Theo has previously starred in multiple high-profile films such as The Divergent Trilogy (Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant), Downton Abbey, How It Ends, and The Time Traveler’s Wife.
In the series, Theo’s character, Eddie, inherits his father’s large estate before discovering that it is actually a marijuana empire.
Guy Ritchie is the man behind the creation of The Gentlemen TV series and he will also direct the first two episodes. When talking about the new series, Guy said “The world of ‘The Gentlemen’ is a little bit of me, I’m thrilled that with Netflix, Miramax and Moonage we have this opportunity to inhabit it once again.
‘We’re looking forward to bringing fans back into that world, introducing new characters and their stories and I am excited to be doing it with this extremely talented cast.’
‘The Gentlemen’ is expected to be released towards the end of 2023 and we are sure that it will be an extremely popular series but, for now, we are more than happy to simply admire the 1962 Austin Healey 3000 being driven around the beautiful Badminton Estate.
The full story and images can be seen here.
A 2009 Jaguar X-Type Estate that was previously owned and driven by the late Queen Elizabeth II has been donated to Comic Relief by Chris Evans and his motoring event, CarFest, to help raise money for the charity’s Red Nose Day appeal.
The Queen was photographed driving the car and the original vehicle handbook confirms the registration as PYN 1F which belonged to the late Monarch.
The 2009 Jaguar X-Type Estate comes in Emerald Fire with a Barley Leather interior. It was designed by Ian Callum and has a sunroof, automatic transmission, electric windows, climate control, and a Jaguar Heritage Trust Certificate. It has covered 73,000 miles and it was previously sold at auction in November 2022 for £43,000.
If you want to own this extremely special vehicle, you won’t need to pay out that much though. Instead, you can win it by sending a simple text message. Full details here.
When speaking about donating this very special Jaguar, Chris Evans said “I’m so grateful CarFest is able to support Comic Relief and I’m thrilled that we are able to donate this very special historic car, and so pleased to be able to share it with another enthusiast, especially for such an important cause.”
Samir Patel, who is the CEO of Comic Relief said “We are enormously grateful to Chris Evans and CarFest for this generous donation for Red Nose Day – this truly is a prize like no other we have ever been able to offer our supporters. This is an extraordinary opportunity to own a real piece of history and will be such a special prize for the lucky winner.
“From homelessness to mental health problems to food poverty, the money raised will help people facing incredibly tough times in the UK and around the world. Huge thank you to everyone who enters.”
Red Nose Day 2023 will be taking place on Friday 17th March 2023. All the money raised will go towards supporting people who are struggling due to the cost of living crisis as well as trying to tackle issues such as homelessness, mental health problems, and food poverty both nationally and internationally.
Part of the money raised will also go towards helping the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
A 1980 Range Rover that is believed to have been owned by Bob Marley is going to auction!
The original registration document has the name Robert Nesta Marley on it, which is why this classic vehicle is generating such interest. Classic Car Auctions are offering the legendary musician’s Range Rover for sale on Saturday, March 25th without reserve.
It is obvious that the Range Rover is not in drivable condition (the engine is currently in the back of the vehicle) so it will be purchased as a restoration project. Originally Masi Red, the Range Rover is now a mix of black, green, and blue with Bob Marley’s children said to be the people responsible for the paintwork.
With a little over 62,000 miles on the clock, you can see that, in the right hands, this could be an incredible classic in the future.
Bob Marley owned 2 Range Rovers and this one was shipped from Birmingham to Germany, then to Jamaica. It was also regularly shipped back and forth between Jamaica and the UK. His other Range Rover was a series 3 which was found in 2015 and has been fully restored.
This very special classic vehicle will be auctioned at the Practical Classics Classic Car And Restoration Show Sale 2023 being held at the NEC in Birmingham, which brings the story full circle as the Range Rover returns to the city in which it was built.
Even in its current state, a sale price of around £150,000 is expected. While fully restored models have previously sold for up to £130,000, the story and iconic former owner of this particular example makes it something of a unique opportunity to own something extremely special.
Full details can be seen here.
A 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank has become the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at auction.
The bike was discovered back in 1941 as a complete motorcycle in a barn in Wisconsin, USA. It stayed in Wisconsin for the next 66 years before being fully restored by Paul Freehill in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.
Included in the sale of this extremely rare motorcycle were the original tank, wheels, engine belt pulley, seat cover, and muffler sleeve.
In 1908, only 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were produced and it is thought that only around 12 of these still survive today. However, very few are as close to their original condition as this one.
The Strap Tank is also thought to be the earliest Harley-Davidson model you can own as the earlier prototypes have not survived like this rare bike has.
The 1908 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank was sold by Mecum Auctions in Las Vegas for a record-breaking $935,000. Although it was expected to do well at auction, even the team at Mecum Auctions were somewhat surprised by just how well it did. Greg Arnold is Mecum’s Motorcycle Division Manager and he said “We marketed the bike well, and Harley is by far the most famous American motorcycle brand so we had a feeling it would do well in auction, but obviously you are surprised anytime you sell the most expensive bike ever”
Up until this Harley-Davidson sold, the previous most expensive motorcycle sold at auction was a 1907 Strap Tank which sold for $715,000.
With the two most expensive motorcycles ever sold at auction being Harley-Davidson Strap Tanks, you can see just how valuable and desired these classic motorcycles are.
More information can be seen here.
A 1954 Aston Martin DB2 Vignale has gone up for sale for an eye-watering £3.6 million.
While the price tag may seem steep, the story behind this vehicle is certainly one that gives the car an interesting history. The car was commissioned by King Baudouin of Belgium in 1954. It was designed by Alfredo Vignale and was kept in the former Kings collection for a while.
Eventually, it was sold to a palace aide and, at some point after that, it was sold to an American soldier who purchased the car before selling it on one more time to a scrap yard in Virginia, USA as a non-runner.
When Aston Workshop owner, Bob Fountain, heard about the car, he purchased it from the scrap yard and had it shipped over to his workshop in Newcastle.
Bob and his team worked on restoring the rare Aston for 16 years, transforming it from a shell into the stunning car now worth more than three and a half million pounds.
During the restoration process, Bob used historic documents to handcraft the fawn leather interior to the exact specifications the King of Belgium had ordered back in 1954.
When asked about the project, Bob said “It’s always great for us to discover vintage Aston Martins in need of restoration, but when we found that this one had been specially commissioned by a king it added a real sense of excitement to the project”
It’s not every day you get to rebuild a royal Aston Martin but, after 16 years of hard work and commitment, this DB2 Vignale is looking better than ever and has earned its £3.6 million price tag.
More details and images can be seen here.
A 1974 Vauxhall Victor FE with just 86 miles on the clock and seemingly untouched for decades, is proving to be something of a mystery.
Not too much is known about the classic vehicle at this point in time, other than it was purchased brand new by a man known only as Mr Milner.
Despite being found around 10 years ago, following Mr Milner’s death, its history is still mostly unknown by the car’s current owner, The Great British Car Journey Museum in Ambergate, Derbyshire. When it was discovered in a locked garage, it was found that its bodywork had been oiled and a lot of the interior had been covered in polythene to protect it. Empty fuel canisters, spare parts, and a 1974 Haynes manual had also been placed in the boot.
Staff at The Great British Car Journey Museum have been trying to find out more about the mysterious Vauxhall Victor. Documents found with the car show that Mr Milner purchased the car on April 12th 1974 from Mercury Garage, in Ilkeston, Derbyshire when the car was brand new. The documents also show that Mr Milner had rust-proofing applied to the car six years after he purchased it.
It was only when Mr Milner’s estate was being cleared after he passed away that the car was found. A collector purchased the mysterious Victor from the estate before the museum went on to buy it last November.
When it was found, the chrome and the lights had been removed and stored in the car. There doesn’t seem to be any friends or family of Mr Milner to ask about the car’s history so the museum has started their search for information about the car and why the owner only covered 86 miles in it before storing it.
Current speculation from people on social media include the theories that Mr Milner bought the car, didn’t like it so confined it to storage; the odometer is broken; that it was Bully’s Star Prize on the 80s gameshow Bull’s Eye, and even alien abduction of the owner!
More information can be seen here.
Car production in the UK fell by 9.8% in 2022 resulting in the worst production year since 1956.
Having to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a worldwide semiconductor shortage, the car manufacturing industry as a whole has taken something of a beating. However, in the UK, factory closures have only added to the problems facing the industry.
In 2022, 775,014 cars were produced in the UK. This was around 1.3 million less than pre-pandemic levels. Leaving the EU has seen a consistent fall in UK car production with numbers falling every year since the decision to leave in 2016.
Car manufacturers are hopeful that the industry will pick up again but they are concerned that this can only happen with high levels of investment and more car makers moving into the country. As the UK continues to fall behind in car production, it seems that without government assistance, British car manufacturing may soon be a thing of the past!
A further drop is expected by some following the American government’s announcement that they plan to offer subsidies worth billions of dollars to car manufacturers who can create electric vehicle supply chains throughout the US. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is concerned that this will absorb a lot of international investment resulting in another hit to the UK industry.
In addition to the pandemic and supply chain issues, the closure of Honda’s factory in Swindon in July 2021 followed by Vauxhall ceasing Astra production at Ellesmere Port in April 2022 has also caused a decrease in the level of British car production.
2022 was a challenging year for UK car manufacturing. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the UK did make more electric vehicles than ever before.
Another blow came when the battery start-up firm, Britishvolt, collapsed recently after running out of money when planning to build an electric car battery plant in Northumberland. As it currently stands, the UK only has one Chinese-owned battery manufacturing facility which is based in Sunderland.
The future may seem uncertain for UK car production right now. The UK government seems to be confident that better times are coming though, suggesting they are determined to make sure that the UK remains one of the best places in the world for automotive manufacturing.
Time will only tell if this is possible but, looking at the current situation, this could be an extremely challenging goal to achieve if things don’t change very soon.
The East Anglian Daily Times recently published a list of the 5 major shows and events running in Suffolk in January 2023.
The Bridge Classic Cars New Year’s Car Rally was included in this list which we are very excited about.
Our rally was a great success and we had a lot of fun spending time with everyone who took part.
The full article can be read here.
Obviously, everyone here at Bridge Classic Cars has a passion for classic cars. However, we love finding interesting vehicles of all varieties and, recently, we found another.
On our travels, we got to experience Bassenthwaite Lake Station. This is a cafe in a restored railway station on the former Cockermouth to Keswick line. What we were most interested in was the full-size replica steam train that looks incredible.
Bassenthwaite Lake Station is situated opposite the scenic Dubwath Silver Meadows nature reserve and is in a beautiful part of the country.
As you can see from the photos below, it is certainly well worth a visit if you share our love of classic and interesting vehicles.
The marketing team here at Bridge Classic Cars are getting a bigger office!
As the business continues to grow and develop, more space is needed to help us operate as effectively and as successfully as possible.
As you can see from the photos below, the office extension is making good progress. With the floor going down in the next couple of days and the windows being installed shortly after, it won’t be too long until the larger marketing office space is ready for business!
Late Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 Land Rover Series I, originally delivered to Her Majesty at the Balmoral estate, is going to auction with a guide price of £100 000 – £150 000.
It has recently been restored to an extremely high standard, with King Charles III rumoured to have helped fund the restoration after recognising the vehicle a few years ago.
Queen Elizabeth II received the Land Rover at Balmoral in 1953. It was later purchased by its former owner in 1966 who ended up storing it for a number of years. During its time in storage, its condition deteriorated until a complete restoration was needed.
Now fully restored, the Land Rover is in exceptional condition. It still features its production chassis number despite being considered a ‘pre-production build’ that was made specifically for the Royal Family. The original features of this very special vehicle include some unique options that you won’t find on any other similar model, including twin rear doors.
Sales Director of Silverstone Auctions, (who will be auctioning the Land Rover), Rob Hubbard said that
“It’s not often that a vehicle with such impressive Royal provenance like this is offered publicly for sale. Its special features and Royal connections make it exceptionally interesting. This Land Rover would doubtless have been used extensively on the Balmoral estate where we know the Royals loved to picnic. It would have been a familiar and much-loved part of Her Majesty and Prince Philip’s private lives.”
If its Royal connections weren’t enough, the 1953 Land Rover Series I has also featured on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and led the Land Rover parade during the jubilee celebrations earlier this year. As the jubilee celebrations were watched by billions, Silverstone Auctions believes that this is “probably one of the most photographed Land Rovers in the world”
The auction for the late Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 Land Rover Series I will be held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on the 24th – 26th of February.
Although the guide price is £100 000 to £150 000, this special vehicle will likely sell for much more than this. The last vehicle with royal connections sold by Silverstone Auctions was Princess Diana’s Ford Escort RS Turbo which sold for the world record price of £650 000 in August.
It’s not every day that you get to see an amphibious car up close. However, we were lucky enough to do just that when a 1964 Amphicar 7-70 came to visit the Bridge Classic Cars workshop recently.
This is a very interesting car and it will likely be returning to us very soon so we can complete some work on it for its owner.
Seeing interesting vehicles like this in the workshop is always exciting so we look forward to welcoming this 1964 Amphicar 7-70 back very soon.
We were lucky enough to welcome explorer and adventurer Ed Stafford to Bridge Classic Cars recently.
While he was here, Ed had a tour of the workshop, he spoke to some of the team about the work they do and some of the classic cars they have been working on, and he was also involved in one of our new projects which is coming very soon.
Everyone here really enjoyed Ed’s visit. He had lots of interesting stories to share, not only about his adventures, tv shows, and upcoming projects, but also about his 2015 Land Rover Defender 110 that was recently stolen and stripped.
Ed is currently working on rebuilding his Defender and, as there is still some cosmetic work to go, we hope to be able to help him out with this in the very near future.
We hope that Ed will be a regular face in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop and we look forward to welcoming him back in the new year.
At Bridge Classic Cars we like to be creative, innovative, forward-thinking, and we do our best to bring a modern take to the world of classic cars.
Part of that involves developing new ideas and making the most out of our facilities.
With that in mind, there is something new and very exciting coming to Bridge Classic Cars. Work has begun and will continue over the coming weeks ready for our new idea to come to life. Once work is complete, it will open up the classic car community to even more people.
From classic car clubs to independent enthusiasts and everyone in between. We have big plans and everyone will be welcome!
In the meantime, the photos below show some of the progress being made in our very exciting new project.
As much as electric cars have gained in popularity in recent years, a key issue that has put some people off from making the switch over is their long charge times. Hyundai has come up with the next generation of more environmentally-friendly hydrogen-powered cars in the form of the new Hyundai Nexo.
Technically, the Nexo is an electric car. However, what makes it different to other electric vehicles is that it has an onboard fuel cell generating its power, rather than a big battery pack.
Using Hydrogen to feed the fuel cell means that you can completely fill the tank of the Nexo in around 5 minutes. This is substantially quicker than you can fully charge standard electric cars. What is potentially even more impressive is that, after a Hydrogen refill, you can expect a range of over 400 miles before you’ll need to top-up again.
When it comes to the Nexo’s environmental impact, you can drive knowing that you are keeping your emissions as low as possible. Hydrogen-powered cars, like the Nexo, produce emissions in the form of purified air and water. This is obviously much more environmentally friendly than petrol or diesel-powered vehicles.
There have been hydrogen-powered systems before but Hyundai has engineered the one used in the Nexo to make sure interior space isn’t sacrificed for the sake of powering the car. It does seem that the brand has been pretty successful in this too. The boot of the Nexo isn’t too far away from that of a petrol or diesel-powered SUV and there is a decent amount of space for passengers in the back of the car as well.
As the fuel cell and everything that goes with it have been so efficiently built into the Nexo, it has enough space to be used as a practical family car which is important considering its price.
Hyundai is expecting to sell the Nexo in large quantities. While this seems like an obvious thing to say, the price tag of a little under £70 000 might be too much for the vast majority of motorists to afford.
The Nexo certainly seems to have the potential for laying the foundations for the future of the motor industry. A practical car that drives well, has plenty of space and produces zero emissions does tick a lot of boxes of what a future-proof car looks like.
However, the cost, the low number of hydrogen filling stations, and the current popularity of electric cars could make it a challenge for hydrogen-powered cars like this to completely take over.
On Sunday, the seafront at Felixstowe (just down the road from the Bridge Classic Cars Workshop in Suffolk), was treated to a display of supercars.
Everyone who had chosen to visit the beach for the day got to enjoy the sight of 15 supercars travelling together. The cars had actually driven in convoy through several parts of Suffolk including Sproughton and Woodbridge before heading to Felixstowe.
The event was organised by members of The Drivers Union which is a supercar owners club. As they lived locally, it made complete sense that they should treat their home town to all the joy and excitement that comes from being up close and personal with a supercar.
The full story can be read in the East Anglian Daily Times article.
There were several supercars that took part including some older Ferraris and Porsches. It’s a shame the Bridge Classic Cars team were not in Felixstowe at the time as we would have loved to see the cars in all their glory. Instead, we will make do with looking at the below photos of some of the classic Porsches we have worked on in the past.
We were recently featured in an article by the East Anglian Daily Times.
The article covers the story of how Bridge Classic Cars came to be, what we do, and what we hope to achieve in the future. It also includes some great photos of the workshop as well as a detailed explanation of some of the processes involved in restoring a classic car.
The full article can be read here.
The future has arrived. A prototype of a flying car just completed it 142nd successful test flight which was a 35minute journey between two Slovakian cities.
AirCar is a hybrid vehicle designed to be both driven on the roads and flown however it does need a runway to take off. Its able to fly about 600 miles and can transform into an aircraft in just under 3 minutes.
Klein Vision, who have developed have said that the BMW powered vehicle can get to a maximum cruising speed of 118mph thanks to its 160hp engine.
Two people can ride in the AirCar as long as the total weight is under 200kg.
Klein said that the recent test flight has turned ‘science fiction into a reality’ with experts predicting flying cars will be on the market as soon as 2030.
W Series and Stunt driver, Jessica Hawkins has been signed as an F1 Aston Martin Driver Ambassador, announced today.
Hawkins has said about the announcement; “I am incredibly excited to be joining Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team as its new driver ambassador, and I am really looking forward to working with Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hülkenberg and the rest of the team. In fact, although it will surely be a hell of a lot of hard work, it is a dream come true for me. Besides, I am definitely not afraid of hard work.
I also want to pay tribute and say thank you to W Series, which is a brilliant championship without which I would simply never have got this unbelievable chance to work within such a great Formula One team.
I would particularly like to say a big thanks to W Series’ three most senior people, Sean Wadsworth, Catherine Bond Muir and Dave Ryan. Without their amazing efforts to put W Series on the motorsport map in such a brilliant way and in such a short time, female drivers like me would never have found our way onto the radar screens of the likes of Otmar Szafnauer, to whom I should also say a massive thank you.”
Jessica Hawkins stands as a fantastic representative and athlete for women in the sport as she strives to increase the diversity of the sport.
Read more here.
The Suffolk Wire featured our latest competition winner, Matthew Sugden who received our 1949 Morris Minor Lowlight last week.
Matthew tells us he’s already taken out his new classic a handful of times and is loving it! We’re delighted to hear he’s enjoying his Morris.
You can read the article here.
