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MG MGA - So You Want To Buy An MGA

Six page article in this month's Safety Fast (MGCC) titled 'So You Want To buy An MGA'. It is edited by George Dutton of the MGA Register.

To those of us who already own the car there is nothing new, other than the comments that prices are rising noticeably (written in October 2009).

I would guess the rising prices in the UK are due to the present weakness of our currency against the Euro. The article notes that a restored 1500/1600 car in good working order, that does not require immediate repair work is now worth about £18000; a Coupe £15000; a Twin Cam £28000; TC Coupe £24000; and a De Luxe Coupe £24000.

I wish that the MGCC would put this sort of article on their website but, as with any number of other interesting technical articles, they rarely seem to do so.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Very interesting! Difficult to quantify "restored" but at those prices I suppose it has to be body off nut and bolt. Certainly that reflects the market as I see it today (for a buyer anyway) It is interesting to note how much higher those values are than the ones in Practical Classics (and every other "list"), that I have always thought to be well below what I see in the real world.

A non running, incomplete, LHD 1500 needing a full restoration, just sold on eBay for £6,950 (that's over 11,000 USD):

http://is.gd/5NVjG
Neil McGurk

That gives me a nice warm feeling. I bought mine just under a year ago and agree with Neil that the magazine list prices seem to be way out - probably as far out as my timing!
This seems to be the only investment I have made that hasn't gone south!
Graham M V

I haven't had my copy yet Steve. £18k seems a bit on the high side unless it is a freshly restored car. A friend of mine bought a good MGA in October for £12,500 and he has put another £1500 into it since and it now looks excellent so I suppose he would be pleased if he could now sell it for £18k.
Cam Cunningham

I have just spotted a red 56 1600 roadster in Feb Classic and Sports Car mag ( on p60) for £27995! "to concours condition" (With wire wheels? and surely a 56 would be a 1500?)
Its a dealer car but it certainly makes my car look a really good investment.
Colyn
Colyn Firth

Gents...When I add up the purchase cost and all the funds I have expended on parts and restoration over the last 20 years since I bought mine( and ignoring any cost for my own fevered labour time ) I would have to say that in no way at all could you descibe an mga as a financial investment..I would say that it is worth about half of the costs...but what an investment in pleasure and satisfaction!!!
NB this is not what I tell my wife.
Neil Ferguson

When it comes time, I definitely need to consider shipping it across the pond to sell! The prices in the UK are astronomical. $11K for a restoration project is way too much.

Just for interest, what is a fair ( not the highest and not the lowest) price in the UK for a 9 year/10K mile body off restoration '56 LHD with steel wheels?
Chuck Schaefer

Guys, having played with MGAs continually for over 35 years I agree with Neil. More importantly what you ask and what you actually sell for is a very different thing. I have seen plenty of examples of guys who claim big sales but know the actual price was a LOT LESS. You can ask what you want but what you get.... But like Mastercard says, the investment in pleasure is "priceless!!"
regards
Mark
Mark Mathiesen

Steve

Of course the MGCC has put this article on its website - and it is FREE to access. The website in question is www.buyinganmg.com
where you will find the article in the MGA section.

George Wilder
MGCC
G R Wilder

Steve - I think that George Dutton in the article qualifies the prices with the addition that "£10k to £14k buys a roadworthy usable car". I think mine would probably fall into that category - I know what the faults are with mine and know where work will be needed in future - but I can live with it and I think a body off restoration can wait for the next owner to deal with 10 years down the road!! Meanwhile I will just enjoy using it - as soon as the snow goes.
Cam Cunningham

Thanks George. I must admit to not knowing that one. Why just that web site and not the MGCC website? There are some very good articles in Safety Fast that never get a pubic airing a month or so after publication date. I just had a look at the site. It must have been going now for about 18 months and there are only 7 articles in the technical section.

I even emailed the editor about this time last year suggesting that an article on tyres be put on the website. Nothing happened, nor did I even get a response.

A very useful tool for the MGCC is being wasted, so much so that I rarely go to have a look - and as you know, I am a member.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve,

www.buyinganmg.com is owned and run by the MGCC though why they have chosen to separate it from the main website is a complete mystery to me.

I do tear out and keep some of the articles from Safety Fast but mostly the magazines themselves go in the recycling box.

Malcolm
Malcolm Asquith

Steve and Malcolm

Thanks for your constructive comments.

I will pass them on to the MGCC webmmaster,the Editor of Safety Fast! as well as the club Chairman.

The "buying an MG" site was felt should be easily available to as wide an audiance as possible rather than just existing club members. As this domain was available it was decided to use it. It is of course available as link from the MGCC site. The site was been developed by a volunteer too the same way, as you know, many of the club's ctivities .

The article on tyres was developed by the MGCC V8 Register and is available via the register's website
www.V8register.net.

There is so much technical information available in all the Regsiter websites it is currently thought that is best on their sites rather be repeated on the club's website.

George

George Wilder
MGCC
G R Wilder

To answer your question Chuck, it depends on condition of course, but from the above figures I would say £11k-£15k (allowing for it being 1500, steel wheels and LHD) The £4k difference being difference relating to condition.

A friend of mine sold his privately at the end of last summer. I did quite a bit of work on the car and knew it pretty well. It had good paint and chrome, a good (1600) engine and a 5 speed box. It was on steel wheels and had NOT had a body off restoration, but (considering that) was incredibly rust free. The engine bay was a bit grotty and the electrics needed work (ideally a new loom). The interior was OK but it had one coupe seat and both seats had coupe covers. The hood frame was damaged and the hood could not be put up properly. He sold it for £12,500 and the guy drove it straight to Bob West for a wire wheel conversion.
Neil McGurk

George

Thanks for your comments. It seems a shame that a general and very useful article on tyres is hidden away in a register website just because someone on that register developed it. I believe that this is the type of article that should be copied onto the central website, readily visible to all and not a specific few.


Cheers

Steve
Steve Gyles

I'll go along with those values. Who has a Deluxe Coupe they will sell for 24000 pounds? I have an immediate requirement for just such a thing.

Ricky
R May

Steve
I reported your comments to the MGCC Webmaster as promised. Here is his reply;

" Of course, Steve’s point about replicating articles on the MGCC website is very valid indeed. Originally it was planned to create a huge online technical resource that would be of real value to MG enthusiasts, but a lack of time and resource has meant this just hasn’t been possible. Nevertheless, this still remains a long term objective, but without an extra pair of hands here at KH, or a willing volunteer, this won’t materialise in the near future."

KH is Kimber House of course - any volunteers?

George
G R Wilder

Thanks George

I am a bit too far removed from KH at the moment but am hoping to move south this year to at least be within an hour and a bit of Abingdon.

Are you also talking about 'working from home' uploading data, or is that activity centalised?

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve
I can I contact you off the BB to put you in touch with the webmaster?
My email is g.wilderATbtopenworld.com - the usual replace AR by@
George
G R Wilder

This thread was discussed between 06/01/2010 and 11/01/2010

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