Search
Close this search box.

Craig Ranson

Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars

Lotus Partnership

July 12, 2021

We shared a behind the scenes insight into our shoot at Lotus’ HQ in Norfolk a few days ago. We’ve also got a large collection

Read More »

Jaguar E-Type Repairs

July 8, 2021

Customer reported that he was having difficulty in getting the overdrive to engage every time. We established the overdrive unit was functioning correctly which lead

Read More »

1996 Toyota Hilux

July 8, 2021

Our 1996 Toyota Hilus has been treated to a brand new, custom made, ceiling cloth. Although some may consider it ‘not yet a classic’ parts

Read More »

Goodwood Festival of Speed – July 2021

July 12, 2021

We are delighted to announce that we have teamed up with Lotus Cars and the Norwich Community Sports Foundation charity to run this special 2021 Lotus Elise Sport 240 Final Edition as a competition with all profits raised from the draw going to the NCSF charity enabling them to provide vital services for people with disabilities across East Anglia.

Lotus Partnership

July 12, 2021

We shared a behind the scenes insight into our shoot at Lotus’ HQ in Norfolk a few days ago.

We’ve also got a large collection of official campaign visuals shot by a photographer from Norwich City Sports Foundation.

For your chance of winning our 2021 Lotus Elise Sport 240 Final Edition, and help raise thousands for an amazing cause; click here and thank you!

Progress on our Gullwing

July 12, 2021

Gordon popped in to Chris Self Motorcycles today to discuss the progress of our 1977 Honda GL1000 Gold Wing. The carburettor bodies have been sent away for media blasting. All of the parts are now on order to fully recommission the bike. We look forward to getting it back to enjoy the end of the summer.

Lotus at Goodwood Festival of Speed

July 11, 2021

This weekend gone saw the the return of the incredible Goodwood Festival Of Speed.

Bridge Classic Cars and lots of our friends were there to enjoy the weekend and it was also where we launched our latest competitions in partnership with Lotus and Community Sports Foundation.

Introducing the 2021 Lotus Elise Sport 240 Final Edition; you could be getting your hands on the very first Elise of the final edition for just £9.00 and if that wasn’t enough to wet your appetite, you will be treated to a tour of the world famous Lotus factory in Hethel, Norfolk.

All of the proceeds from this incredible competition go to the CSF charity, enabling them to carry out their vital work helping people with disabilities.

Learn more about our Lotus competition here www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/lotus

Did you head to this year’s Festival of Speed and did you spot our Elise?

Our good friend Jack received images from his pal Dan beside our Elise. Dan is a fellow classic car enthusiast, owning a beautiful Triumph TR4, he took a trip to the Goodwood race circuit for the weekend of fun;

Local businessman, good friend to Bridge Classic Cars and the man with the beautiful Mk1 Golf and McLaren, Vincent Cheung enjoyed the weekend at Goodwood alongside his pal, automotive photographer, Roger Chan. Check out Roger’s work at rchanphotography.co.uk

Check out the images sent through to us from Vinnie:

And a walk around of the Lotus Evija and newly launched Lotus Emira.

Nigel Bromley, Head Of Brand Marketing for Group Lotus kindly shared some great images to his socials over the weekend.

And our colleagues over at Stratton Motor Company – Aston Martin and Lotus Specialists shared some incredible images of a busy Lotus stand too…

If you were there please feel free to send us your images and we’ll feature them on our Goodwood Festival of Speed coverage of the weekend.

Tyre Assist Ipswich – July 2021

July 10, 2021

Tyre Assist Ipswich, formerly know as We Fit Any Tyres Anyway has successfully re-fitted the tyre to our freshly painted Morris Minor wheel. It was caught up in a spot of bother when a vehicle collided with our Morris but failed to stop. The car is in with us now being repair. Thanks as always Graeme.

Cleaning the Jaguar Mk VII gearbox

July 10, 2021

Before marrying up the gearbox to the engine, Ady has done an incredible job of thorough cleaning the internals. It’s not just about the things you see, it’s important to worry about the things you don’t see too!

Rarer than a galloping rocking horse s***…

July 10, 2021

Being around classic cars all day, everyday they all have a story to tell and we love to hear about them.

The history, the life that the car has had and the owners that have sat in the seats all make up a great story.

We see and work on a lot of rare cars. When we heard of the rarity of latest addition we couldn’t wait to get our hands on it. This may look like any regular 1967 Ford Mustang but look closely…something seems to be in the wrong place! Some would argue that it’s a much better place but the purests might not agree.

Today we collected our 1967 Ford Mustang 350 Shelby…right hand drive!

Believed to have been converted to right hand drive in the Philippines some years, once we delve deeper into the car’s history we will be able to build a bigger picture of the car’s exciting life up to now!

For now…we have collected the car and is safe with us in the workshops awaiting further updates.

More parts to prepare on Integra

July 10, 2021

Lydia is continuing to work through parts of our Honda Integra to get the panels stripped, cleaned, prepared and ready for paint.

Red Jensen interior fit continues!

July 9, 2021

Thomas has been fitting the mushroom shade leather front seats into the peony red Jensen. He first had to fit runners into the front of the car, these are bolted in, either side, as a pair. The seats then slide onto these with attachments on the bottom of each front seat. These runners are what make the seats move backwards and forwards, to give more or less leg room in the front!

Thomas has also fitted the centre mirror, centre console and sun visors.

Kath has been making a boot carpet for the Jensen 541s too. She made a carpet cover for the fuel pipe, to match the boot. These were both made by her creating a paper pattern first. All the edges of the carpet were binded in the mushroom leather.

Rebuilding the MGB V8 oil pump

July 9, 2021

The oil pump gear would not turn so with the use of a marker pen, Ady was able to show where the pump was rubbing and then he could relieve the high spot to allow it to turn.

One that was done, Ady had to sort out the end float as there are two thickness’ of gaskets.

Here we have the oil pump drive coming through the housing to the distributor to make sure it all works before thbe rebuild.

Shaping the future of the E-Type

July 9, 2021

Chris and Matt are starting to shape up the E-Type body shell. The car is now in Epoxy primer and once prepared will be ready for the paint application process.

Exciting times ahead for our 1973 Jaguar E-Type.

Preparing the seat frames prior to refit

July 9, 2021

From trim-shop to paint-shop, our 1955 Aston Martin 2/4 seat frames and accessories are currently being blasted, treated, prepared and painted prior to the new covers being refitted.

There would be nothing worse than seeing our beautifully manufactured interior coverings fitted to the old, existing and tired looking frames.

Repairs to Jaguar Mk2 wheel arches

July 9, 2021

Dave has successfully cut out the corroded areas within the wheels arches of our Jaguar 240 Mk2. He is now working on repairing the areas with treatment and welding in new metalwork.

Behind The Scenes At Hethel: Lotus HQ

July 9, 2021

We’ve been keeping something very exciting under wraps and we’re now delighted to be able to tell the world that we’ve partnered with Lotus and Norwich City Community Sports Foundation to run a charity competition with the to win a very special Lotus Elise.

Our 2021 Lotus Elise Sport 240 Final Edition is set to be one of the most iconic cars in Lotus history and you could win it! In the final year of the Lotus Elise production, this very car is the very first final edition car. To put it simply, it’s the very first of the very last ltd edition Lotus Elise.

All of the proceeds will be given to Norwich City Community Sports Foundation to help thousands of people every year achieve their goals through sport, supporting some of the most disadvantaged, disabled and talented people across the region. Their vision is to support, inspire, and improve the community.

The Bridge Classic Cars team got exclusive access to the world famous Lotus’s HQ at Hethel to shoot with Jake Humphrey and a team from Norwich City Football Club and Norwich City Community Sports Foundation.

With Ellie on the Behind the scenes and supplementary visuals and Freddie directing the crew, we managed to shoot some amazing visuals for the campaign. You can take a peak behind the scenes here:

Electrical works on our Ford Escort Twin Cam

July 9, 2021

The two John’s have been working on our Ford Escort Twin Cam rewiring project. The front loom has been stripped and refitted to take an electrical fan. The middle loom was very good so having cleaned it up we felt it was best to leave it alone.

On running up we diagnosed an issue with the alternator so it went away to be repaired by the specialists at Nacton Auto Electrics Ltd.

The dash and switches have also been fitted up too.

Let’s get our Austin Morris Mini running right

July 8, 2021

Take a look at this little firecracker! Owner Ross has brought his wonderful Austin morris in to see Ady, our engine specialist.

Ross noticed the car wasn’t running quite right as the air/fuel mixture looked to be running a touch rich. Ady has diagnosed the issue as a faulty choke. The choke cable wasn’t correctly fitted, causing the choke to always be around 1/4 on. This was what was causing the car to run rich.

Brought into us this morning, the car is already back on the road and running like a dream! Amazing work, Ady. Ross is now off to Goodwood Festival Of Speed, have a great time!!

Prep for the Honda Integra!

July 8, 2021

Lydia, can normally be found in the trim shop, has been helping out with getting the Honda Integra ready for a re-paint.

She’s been sanding down various panels, including the front grill, spoiler, wing mirror surrounds and fuel tank cover. Most of the panels only needed a light sanding with a DA and soft sanding by hand afterwards. Any imperfections that were found in any of the paint, such as trapped air bubbles and chips, Lydia sanded down to the original bare plastic and feathered out. The underneath of all the different panels were cleaned to remove any residues that could get into the new paint.

Jaguar 3.4 MkII Balancing Act

July 8, 2021

Ady has been balancing the carbs on our 1963 Jaguar MkII to improve the running and overall performance of the car.

Jaguar E-Type Repairs

July 8, 2021

Customer reported that he was having difficulty in getting the overdrive to engage every time. We established the overdrive unit was functioning correctly which lead us to believe was, possibly, all we needed to do was change the oil. When we started to drain the oil we found it was of a water consistency. We changed the oil for new with the correct viscosity and the overdrive now functions correctly.

Sometimes it is nice to have an easy fix solution.

Aston Martin goes rouge!

July 8, 2021

Kath has been busy manufacturing the new seats for the Aston Martin DB2/4.

She’s started with the front base seats. The first step was to unpick the seams of the original covers. Then laying out a new hide of deep red leather and placing all these original base seat pieces on top of it, marking out around them and cutting out (they were used as pattern pieces to obtain accurate shapes and sizes for the new seat). Strips of leather were cut out for the piping to be made with, from a contrasting dark grey leather.

Kath sewed “flutes” for the “faces” of the front base seats by laying the leather onto scrim foam and sewing down lines. She then marked out the required shape with a fabric pencil and sewed piping onto the straight edge of the face. A plain piece of leather was sewn to this, with calico underneath, which will help pull the seat face into the correct shape. A piped “skirt” was then sewn around the “face”, along with sidebands.

Once the new front base seat covers were all sewn up, they were fitted onto their original foams.

Next up will be the front squab seats!

Local Man wins £100,000 Mercedes Cl600

July 8, 2021

Graham Cousins entered one of our classic car competitions. His ticket, number 382 was drawn and today he has come to our classic car workshop to collect his prize.

New, these CL600’s were £100,000! A dream car for many, Graham won this car from a £5 ticket!

Graham is fairly local to us, so accompanied by wife Sandra, opted to visit us for a tour of our classic car workshop when collecting his car. A lovely couple, Graham and Sandra were blown away seeing their new Mercedes CL600 in person.

Could you be our next winner?

We’ve got some incredible cars live on our website.

www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk

Aston Martin DB2/4 Seat Strip Down

July 8, 2021

Although the seats on our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 were re-trimmed not that long ago, the colour and finish were not correct to factory specification.

Original records show red with grey piping and grey carpets. We now begin the process of stripping the seats, side panels and all interior panels so we can manufacture the new interior.

All of the metalwork around the interior will be blasted, cleaned, prepared and painted back to original specification.

Kath has started to mark out the new leather.

Overhauling the E-Type Carbs

July 8, 2021

Somewhat of a mobile task for Ady this week. Fuel was leaking from our 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 V12. Ady visited the car to see what, if anything, could be done with the car in it’s current location. The carbs needed our attention so we brought them back to the workshops to be overhauled. New gaskets, float valve and diaphragms were fitted and now we are ready to refit back to the car.

Shaping fresh air into Riley!

July 8, 2021

James has been getting on with making a pair of new air vent panels for the 1951 Riley! The original ones were heavily corroded, so it was easier and more efficient for him to make brand new ones…

They provide fresh air into the car, before air conditioning was around!

The new air vent panels were hand formed by James, using traditional methods. He started by making a wooden former and then cut a piece of sheet metal. He used the wooden former and a dolly to stretch and hammer the metal curve into shape. The original vent mechanisms were used. They were welded into the metal panels and coated with sink spray between the surfaces. The new air vent panels will be left plain until the running boards are sorted and both them and the new air vents are back on the car.

Lydia has also been continuing to paint strip panels to get rid of the existing layers of paint.

Jaguar E-Type Service and Remedial Works

July 8, 2021

Ady continues work on the service of our 1972 Jaguar E-Type V12. We have changed the air filter and fuel filter, we have also changed the thermostat. The gas ram on the bonnet require replacing as well as the door rubbers on the window.

The car is a relatively new purchase for the current owner and his decision to have the car checked over and any remedial works to be carried out is a great idea. Not only does he know that the car is fit for purpose once it leaves our workshops but managing budgets in any situation is good. Doing smaller bits and pieces when work is required is much better than leaving it to build up into a much larger, costly project.

1996 Toyota Hilux

July 8, 2021

Our 1996 Toyota Hilus has been treated to a brand new, custom made, ceiling cloth.

Although some may consider it ‘not yet a classic’ parts for the Toyota Hilux are becoming increasingly difficult to source. A ceiling cloth is one of those parts that need to be manufactured from scratch.

We matched the interior as best we could with the resources we had. The existing ceiling cloth, although too far gone to repair, was useful to have as it helped us compare like for like materials and finishes.

A sound deadening mat was applied to the underside of the roof prior to the ceiling cloth being fitted. The interior accessories have all been cleaned up and prepared for refit so now that it is all in position the windows can be refitted and work can commence with the restoration.

Although Bridge Classic Cars have had involvement along the way, the project is actually being completed by father and son which is an amazing story. Being a father and son team here at Bridge Classic Cars it’s moments like this in life that make wonderful memories. We can’t wait to see the final results!

Welding new life into the arches of the Jaguar Mk 2!

July 8, 2021

Dave has been repairing one of the rear wheel arches of our 1968 Jaguar Mk2 . He has welded new metal into places where corrosion was beginning to take over. He then fitted the jacking point back in to position!

Unfortunately the other side will require a lot more attention but although it’s often unexpected work on classics that come back to bite you it is work that is essential in order to keep the cars on the road for many many years to come.

Getting the Ford Escort Ready to Run!

July 8, 2021

Today, the interior wiring was completed on our 1969 Ford Escort Twin Cam. Along with completion of the interior fit out. All other wiring was then checked over for any issues; things like poor earths, bad connections etc.

Jaguar E-Type welding work

July 8, 2021

Scott’s attention is now on the nearside floor pan of our 1972 Jaguar E-Type V12. He is welding and repairing areas in need of attention.

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.

As seen on
As seen on the Daily Mail