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MG TD TF 1500 - Barn Find TF 1500 Auction - Rembrandt Price

There was an auction in Sydney Australia last Wednesday 03/06/2020, where a "barn find" mgtf 1500 with matching numbers, was auctioned off. This is a car that had been left unused in dry storage for over forty years(allegedly)

There was no reserve however the auction house - Shannons,describing the TF as a "project" placed a price range of AUS $15K to $20K AUD. This car needed about $12 to $18K AUD just to get it roadworthy (maybe a decent daily driver)

A very excitable MGTF desiree, sent the bidding into atmospheric territory and paid out $42,525 Australian dollars for his pains. That is approx 21K Sterling or about $31K US!

To get it to Australian National Concourse quality would require another $25K AUD spend. What some desperates will pay up for a "barn find"

Maurie Prior -
R M Prior

It would have to be about perfect in every way but perhaps finish to even consider that. I agree on the cost to get it to show quality.

There are not a lot of people out there that could judge the original completeness of the car and even 25 years of previous use would probably mean it was way short of original.
Christopher Couper

It is fruitless to judge a T Series simply on asking or selling price. (I suspect there is considerable difference between the two !) I believe many new owners purchase their cars in order to have project to work on, either a complete rebuild or comprehensive maintenance. I sold my rebuilt TF a year ago for substantially less than the restoration cost but the enjoyment it gave me, working on the rebuild, was priceless.

Jan T
J Targosz

I agree with you Jan T. It's about enjoymentand satisfaction. You can apply the depreciation factor to much of what one spends time on. Like your garden in these strange times. Whether it's true that the veggies you've produced is better than that bought from the supermarket may be pscological and weighed against the time taken to nurture those seeds etc. to consumption certainly not cost effective.
JK Mazgaj

Totally about enjoyment! If one just breaks even on the sale of their car, they should consider themselves very lucky! No way could I break even on this, let alone making a profit! LOL! PJ
PJ Jennings

Pic won't upload? PJ
PJ Jennings

The only time a "barn find" is worth more than a running, driving car, in my opinion, is when it's very, very original, straight and solid. I will always pay more for a car that hasn't been messed around with by previous owners. I'll also pay more for a car with an interesting or unique history. But just because it sat in a barn for 40 years doesn't make it worth more to me.

My TC sat for 20 years in a dusty gaarge and I paid a lot less for it than other TCs. My Morris sat for 25 years under an awning and I paid a fair price for a dirty old car that needed a ton of work.
Steve Simmons

Hard to tell much about any car from photos.

However, although this TF1500 is a "barn find", I suspect it had a repaint at some stage as the Gurantee Plate looks like it may be stamped as HDA reflecting that it was originally a black bodied car. The bulkhead I notice
is black also.

IF the wood is in good condition or has been replaced correctly AND the engine is indeed an XPEG TF1500, then a restorer/rebuilder may have reason to pay the price attained at auction. Genuine, original RHD TF1500's
are rare. A total of only 3,400 TF1500s were manufactured with unfortunately most going to the USA as left hand drive.

Many so called TF1500s I have examined both in Australia and the UK often don't have the original XPEG engine. Sometimes the cylinder head has been changed out to a 1250 or Wolseley 4/44 and/or the block changed to same.
Morris 10 motors were also used to replace the XPEG engine.

Of course, individuals purchase cars for many, varied reasons. Some just want a daily driver whilst others want to take the car back to exacting original Factory details.

The 'trick' is to know what you are really buying !

Cheers
Rob Grantham
TF3719("Arsmis").TF9177("Athos").
Rob Grantham

I will try to get my TF into a barn ASAP, and pull it out for a drive as much as possible.
C.T. Irwin

This thread was discussed between 05/06/2020 and 08/06/2020

MG TD TF 1500 index

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