Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

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CF-105
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Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by CF-105 »

I'm curious to know if someone has seen the results of one of Cropredy Bridges building slots. The asking price is not, shall we say, an insubstantial amount of money. And I understand there are various options and add ons available if the basic job is too pedestrian for you.

Starting with a basic interceptor in solid condition, you could spend 1000 or even 2000 hours on restoration, and not get close to that financial outlay, and end up with a lovely car.

To clarify, this is not a complaint about their pricing, but sheer curiosity around what one would get if one were to make that outlay. Aside from a bloody glorious Interceptor! :)
Arcnewal
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by Arcnewal »

CF-105 wrote:To clarify, this is not a complaint about their pricing, but sheer curiosity around what one would get if one were to make that outlay. Aside from a bloody glorious Interceptor! :)
Maybe email Cropredy and ask what one would get for the outlay?
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Kevin Birch
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by Kevin Birch »

Interesting to know what you would get for you money.
As many will know I'm in the process of rebuilding my gearbox, engine and restoring the engine bay. I am into £3000 at the moment,and still someway to go, doing all the work myself, (except gearbox rebuild) and have lost count of the hours spent stripping, prepping and painting the engine bay, and all the bits to go back in (that's part of the fun for me, I know, I'm weird). Last year I was shocked when a MK1 owner had their engine, gearbox and engine bay rebuilt at a cost of £13000, I thought he was paying over the odds, but now have re-thought that and he probably got a good deal. The engine bay was just cosmetic, as mine is, so if you go to structural repairs then the costs spiral, not to mention a full retrim, and chrome :shock:
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CF-105
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by CF-105 »

Arcnewal wrote:
CF-105 wrote:To clarify, this is not a complaint about their pricing, but sheer curiosity around what one would get if one were to make that outlay. Aside from a bloody glorious Interceptor! :)
Maybe email Cropredy and ask what one would get for the outlay?
That isn't a bad idea, although I would likely get a bit of a sales pitch.

I'm sure one of the members here has seen one in the flesh.
CF-105
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by CF-105 »

Kevin Birch wrote:Interesting to know what you would get for you money.
As many will know I'm in the process of rebuilding my gearbox, engine and restoring the engine bay. I am into £3000 at the moment,and still someway to go, doing all the work myself, (except gearbox rebuild) and have lost count of the hours spent stripping, prepping and painting the engine bay, and all the bits to go back in (that's part of the fun for me, I know, I'm weird). Last year I was shocked when a MK1 owner had their engine, gearbox and engine bay rebuilt at a cost of £13000, I thought he was paying over the odds, but now have re-thought that and he probably got a good deal. The engine bay was just cosmetic, as mine is, so if you go to structural repairs then the costs spiral, not to mention a full retrim, and chrome :shock:
Nicely done. Have you posted pics of your work?

I know very well what the standard rebuild of a 440 and a 727 would run on this side of the pond. And I'd certainly try to start off with a car that was structurally sound. I'm sure there is much comfort in knowing that your Jensen has been well inspected and that the structure and those big tubes are sound.

Does anyone know what top quality materials, Leather and Wilton carpets, would cost for the interior?
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johnw
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by johnw »

About prices, last time I enquired, it was along the line of about £6K for a new interior, perhaps £4K of that was for leather. This was some time ago, and a semi DIY basis, remove/refit yourself. I can't imagine it is cheaper now.

Personally, I always prefer original trim, even if it is slightly torn. Cracks and scratches don't bother me. I was at the time considering preserving my original trim and getting a complete used core trim redone for my favorite car.

I visited ReJen recently, and they have a comprehensive trim shop, and list items like floor mats (made from wilton I assumed, but check to be sure), etc, on ebay UK. They had a selection of ex-factory trim forms hanging on the wall that they had rescued from a skip when the factory was sold, and an authentic looking trim shop with multiple trimmers working there. They could make new panels as per the original using new materials. They had different hides including Connoley.They also appeared to have a selection of old seats, which I assume the retrim and ship out. I'm sure they could give you a price, depending on how much or how little you wanted. Of interest to me were some Mk1 seat base foams, perfectly sculpted.

If I had missing trim panels I would be tempted to get used and re-dye to match my own if necessary. The easiest option might be to photograph the panel on the opposite side of the car if something is missing, and ask for a matching one, to be made up.

Cropredy recently refurbished one of my old cars for themselves, Vignale FF no 6. They took pains to keep all the original leather, preserving and restoring it instead of retrimming. When I sold the car one of the leather panels in the rear was torn, which I left to preserve the originality of the car as it was apparently the original Italian interior, and all the other panels were OK. Looks like I made the right call on that now.
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CF-105
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by CF-105 »

johnw wrote:About prices, last time I enquired, it was along the line of about £6K for a new interior, perhaps £4K of that was for leather. This was some time ago, and a semi DIY basis, remove/refit yourself. I can't imagine it is cheaper now.

Personally, I always prefer original trim, even if it is slightly torn. Cracks and scratches don't bother me. I was at the time considering preserving my original trim and getting a complete used core trim redone for my favorite car.

I visited ReJen recently, and they have a comprehensive trim shop, and list items like floor mats (made from wilton I assumed, but check to be sure), etc, on ebay UK. They had a selection of ex-factory trim forms hanging on the wall that they had rescued from a skip when the factory was sold, and an authentic looking trim shop with multiple trimmers working there. They could make new panels as per the original using new materials. They had different hides including Connoley.They also appeared to have a selection of old seats, which I assume the retrim and ship out. I'm sure they could give you a price, depending on how much or how little you wanted. Of interest to me were some Mk1 seat base foams, perfectly sculpted.

If I had missing trim panels I would be tempted to get used and re-dye to match my own if necessary. The easiest option might be to photograph the panel on the opposite side of the car if something is missing, and ask for a matching one, to be made up.

Cropredy recently refurbished one of my old cars for themselves, Vignale FF no 6. They took pains to keep all the original leather, preserving and restoring it instead of retrimming. When I sold the car one of the leather panels in the rear was torn, which I left to preserve the originality of the car as it was apparently the original Italian interior, and all the other panels were OK. Looks like I made the right call on that now.
Thanks, John, you raise a number of very interesting thoughts.

While "survivors" are all the rage in car collecting circles, with some horrendously tired, practically paint free old clunkers of Porsches receiving money that would make Cropredy blush, to me, I value originality in Jensen the most where it comes to things like the original leather. While original paint in good condition is harder to come by, and I wouldn't even be bothered much changing exterior colour on a Jensen, that interior is something I would strive to keep as original as possible. Even in their original advertising, so much of what made Jensen special was their hand crafted interior. I think you certainly made the right call, especially on as unique of a vehicle as you had.

So does Cropredy end up removing much of what the factory did originally when they do their £248k rebuild? Does it become a better car but less of a Jensen? I wish I knew.
kenny38
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by kenny38 »

The question of how much does it cost to restore a Cropedy Bridge rebuild is really irrelevant. The price asked by Cropedy is what they believe a stunning new classic is worth on the market. If it doesn't sell,well they will do what they have to do. Just like we sell our own cars I suppose. Perhaps that Cropedy car is already sold. Kenny38 8)
AH1951
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by AH1951 »

kenny38 wrote: If it doesn't sell,. Kenny38 8)
I thought all these cars were 'built-to-order' so I think they are already sold.
But that might not mean that the buyer has already paid out the full price, I expect there will be stage payments, as you do with a house under construction.
If I were paying out 250,000 pounds for a 'new' Interceptor, I wouldn't want anything to be the original part, as it would no longer have any meaning.
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fasteddie
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by fasteddie »

Arcnewal wrote:
CF-105 wrote:To clarify, this is not a complaint about their pricing, but sheer curiosity around what one would get if one were to make that outlay. Aside from a bloody glorious Interceptor! :)
Maybe email Cropredy and ask what one would get for the outlay?
I can tell you they wanted to charge the owner of the car I now own; £120,000 "without any mechanical works and the car Is solid, the engine spot on. The interior will be sound as my mate is doing it for £1000.

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Keith
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by Keith »

fasteddie wrote:
Arcnewal wrote: £120,000 "without any mechanical works and the car Is solid, the engine spot on. The interior will be sound as my mate is doing it for £1000.
That quote is actually from Cropredy?
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fasteddie
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by fasteddie »

It is, Shameful .
CF-105
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by CF-105 »

fasteddie wrote:It is, Shameful .
Yikes. I was hoping that wasn't the case.
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Keith
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by Keith »

CF-105 wrote:
fasteddie wrote:It is, Shameful .
Yikes. I was hoping that wasn't the case.

Are you not going to book your "slot" now?
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CF-105
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Re: Cropredy Bridge Building Slot

Post by CF-105 »

Keith wrote:
CF-105 wrote:
fasteddie wrote:It is, Shameful .
Yikes. I was hoping that wasn't the case.

Are you not going to book your "slot" now?
Ummm. Not likely. :)

Nor was it likely that I would have booked it beforehand. Having spent most of my working life in the automotive sector, in one way or another, I usually have a pretty good idea what things should or do cost. I just couldn't make much sense of this.
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