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MG MGA - Commemorative '100,000' MGA

Recieved this email from one of our club members and thought some of you may be interested.
Kris



Commemorative “100,000” on Exhibit at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, Auburn Indiana
The MGA was the first sports car to sell over 100,000 units worldwide

Kris Sorensen

<Info via email from the Southwest Ohio MG Car Club>

From: granr@acdmuseum.org
To: granr@acdmuseum.org
Sent: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 4:57 PM
Subject: Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum News Release - Commemorative "100,000" on Exhibit at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum


Attention MG & British Car Enthusiast,
The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum has added a very significant and unique MGA to its exhibit. Please read this and pass this along to any fellow car club member or enthusiast. We loved to have you group here for a tour. We offer lunch options while you are here if you book ahead. Let me know if I can ever be of service to you or any of your friends. Thank you for keeping the hobby alive!

-Gran Roberts, Marketing Director
____________________________________________________________

Commemorative 100,000 on Exhibit at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum
The MGA was the first sports car to sell over 100,000 units worldwide

AUBURN One of the most unique and legendary MGA of all-time is currently on exhibit at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. The 1962 MGA Mk II, appropriately nicknamed 100,000, has an interesting history and is the 100,000th MGA built by British Motor Corporation since the models inception in 1955. The car is currently owned by Fred Skomp of Key West, Florida, whose brother, Russell, bought the car new in 1962.
Once 100,000 was completed with a customized body and emblems to commemorate the 100,000 unit sales mark, it was shipped to the United States aboard the Queen Mary and was featured at the 1962 New York Auto Show. This is where the story gets interesting. After the New York Auto Show, the car virtually disappeared. It is speculated that British Motor Corporation may have sold the car after its initial publicity was completed. Somehow, the car made its way to an import dealership in Nashville, Tennessee. Russell Skomp noticed the car in the showroom of John Tune Import Motors and knew immediately that he had to have it. The MGA is painted metallic gold, with white leather interior and white lambs wool carpeting, fitted with custom 100,000 emblems mounted on the body. Russell signed a purchase and sales contract on the spot and finalized the sale. Later that evening, John Tune called Russell and told him an awful mistake had been made. The car was for display purposes only and should not have been sold. Being a stubborn man, Russell consulted with a friend who was an attorney. The attorney encouraged him to enforce the sale. Agreeing with his friend, Russell called John Tune back and enforced the delivery of 100,000.
Russell drove the car for two to three years until something broke. He added a total of 8,000 miles on the odometer. Apparently 100,000 had a fuel pump problem, and Russell was not successful in getting the problem fixed properly. Frustrated about the cars running condition, Russell pushed 100,000 to a spot on his property where it sat, exposed to the elements for the next 35 years! Many MGA enthusiasts thought the car had been scrapped after the New York Auto Show, or re-painted and sold without the commemorative emblems. When the car surfaced again, it was a surprise to many MG enthusiasts who had written the car off and didnt think it existed anymore.
After Russell died unexpectedly in 2000 his daughter Karen gave what was left of 100,000 to his brother, Fred. Fred transported the car to Carmel, Indiana where it was restored. The car was almost unrecognizable before restoration. It was rusted in most places, the floorboards were piles of sawdust, and only pieces of the original leather interior survived. Restoration of 100,000 was completed in two years. The car is restored to its original condition, much as it appeared as the star of the 1962 New York Auto Show.
Today, 100,000 looks as though it never aged. Its like being 19 years old again, said Fred. I bought an Irish blue MGA after seeing my brothers when I was a teenager. I loved that car, but it wasnt as nice as Russells gold MGA. I tried to get Russell to restore 100,000 for years, but he never did. I am glad 100,000 is back to its original condition. Many people say that adults never forget the first car they owned, and nothing gets better than these MGAs, stated Fred. Matt Short, executive vice president of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, is pleased to exhibit this special car, This car is very significant because the MGA was the first sports car to sell 100,000 units. This car was restored from top to bottom and is worth the drive to see, said Short.
The not-for-profit Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum is located in the restored 1930 art deco administrative building of the former Auburn Automobile Company. The museum displays 120 classic, antique, vintage and special interest cars in eight galleries. The museum, accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1997, is a National Historic Landmark. The museum is open to visitors daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.


Gran Roberts
Marketing Director
--------------------------------
Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum
1600 South Wayne Street
PO Box 271
Auburn, IN 46706

260-925-1444 x30 Office
260-925-6266 Fax
260-894-1209 Mobile

granr@acdmuseum.org

www.acdmuseum.org

<Additionally....>


Very interesting story behind this car and how it was found and boughrt by Fred Scomp, and how it was a factory works car that was manufactured for the 1962 New Your Auto Show, followed by a show tour in the US. It was on display in a dealers show room, and was sold to Fred's brother by a salesman that did not know it was for show only. After sitting behind a barn (SU fuel pump problems) for 40 years, with only 8000 miles on the odometer, Fred finished having the car restored in Indiana just before hauling it from his home in Key West, FL to Mackinaw MI for GT-30. It was the first time it was on display and the first show that Fred had ever been to. He didn't even bring any cleaning equipment or polish or anything to get it ready for show. Of course there were dozens of MG'ers ready to help. Nice to see it on further display.

Dar Planeaux

Fritz

I have I believe a fresh note to add to the history of this car, for better or for worse. I have just returned from a two day MGA technical seminar At Eclectic Motorworks in Holland, Michigan, all about restoring MGAs. We were chatting at some length about repairing badly rusted MGA frames when the subject of 100,000 came up. Apparently some of the restoration work on 100,000 was done at Eclectic Motor Works. In particular it was resolved that the frame was too far good for reasonable economical repair, and a different frame in good condition was substituted. If anyone should ever have a peak under the carpet, it will likely have a different chassis number stamped in the frame now (if any). I personally don't see this as in any was detrimental to the car, just an interesting bit of the history and restoration.
Barney Gaylord

That makes me think about what subsequent sports cars exceeded the 100,000 mark.

MGB, certainly, and maybe Spridgets, Miatas, 240/260/280Z, probably, and of course there are those plastic Camaros the Americans make, though I'm not sure if they made more than 100K of any one model.

Any others?
Bill Spohn

MGA was the first sports car to produce over 100,000 units, done in about 7 years time by 1962.

MGB was the first sports car to produce over 500,000 units, done in about 18 years time by 1980.

That record stood until the Mazda Miata finally surpassed 500,000 units some years ago, but they did it in a lot less time, and it is still in production.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 12/04/2007 and 17/04/2007

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