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MG TD TF 1500 - MG TF HDB46/5014 'Everest'

Just saw this posted on the Philadelphia PA MG mailing list. I checked, and TF 5014 is not known to the register. Could someone in Europe track this one down? Not sure where it is, but it would seem to be a very interisting story!

Link: http://www.carclassic.com/stock.asp?Ref=EA27

"A unique MG TF bodied by Sapcar. This unique vehicle was baptised Everest and received a body which evocates Italian contemporary designs and is quite avant-garde for the time, different from the original and produces a much more sportive appearance. The body appears to have been built by hand and to the highest standard."

>From: "Classic Car Collection - Eric" <eric@carclassic.com>
>To: undisclosed-recipients:;
>Subject: One off MG TF for sale
>Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 09:24:58 +0100
>
>Dear sir,
>
>Wa have a one off 1954 MG TF for sale. This car, called MG Everest, seems
>to have been delivered to someone in France as a gift. It has a very
>special body, which design reminds of italian or swiss cars of that time.
>We are currently working on the history of this car, but it could have been
>one of the Arnolt chassis with a special body designed by a famous italian
>designer. It has spent most of its life in a museum in France and has
>covered only 6307 original miles. It is in an original condition, it has
>never been restored and is in good working order.
>Should someone of the MG community be interested in the car, fell free to
>get in touch with me by phone or mail.
>
>You will find large pictures and description of the car here :
><http://www.carclassic.com/stock.asp?Ref=EA27>
>http://www.carclassic.com/stock.asp?Ref=EA27
>
>Best regards
>
>_____________________________________________
>
>ERIC BROUTIN
>Classic Car Collection
>6, rue du Conseil General - 1205 Geneva - Switzerland
>Tel: +41 22 329 17 22
>Fax: +41 22 592 73 74
>Mobile :+33(0)67 4040 345
>Email: eric@carclassic.com <mailto:eric@carclassic.com> - Web:
>www.carclassic.com <http://www.carclassic.com>
D Leonard

In reading the "history" of the car, stating that it has 6307 "original miles" and "spent most of its life in a museum in France" would be highly suspect... Good grief, look at the condition of the engine, exhaust pipes, wire wheels, carpet, chrome rust, damage to finish at door handle area, bla, bla, bla... There has been some significant usage going on there, by owner(s) who treated the car as basic transportation (for many many more miles than claimed)... Perhaps it is a "one of" but for a few dollars short of $60,000 I can't imagine the world beating a path to his door...

Rod Macleod - TF 1500 HDB46/6798 ("Molly")
Rod Macleod

It's probably worth more unrestored than restored. Maybe just some chrome refreshening, new suspension bushings, brakes and detailing the engine. Not a bad looking car, a really nice job of incorporating the TF radiator, and the boot is a bonus! If you sunk $60k to buy it and $30k to restore it, you would have a $45k car. It may be worth $60k just as it sits. With all that body, I wouldn't be surprised if the performance is way down.

dave
Dave Braun

Commen sence say's that some of the claims made in this add are more than a little hard to believe! (Just looking at the pictures!)
1: That was indeed a "rough" 6000 miles!
(That looks more like 106,000 miles of oil "blowback" on the chassis to me!)
2: Hard to believe that somebody would put that kind of "handcraftmanship" into the body ...then paint "over' the hood and window frames.
3: The inside of engine compartment is white!
4: With a obvious mix of, White, Green, Blue, & Red coloures showing ...it would take some serious documentation for me to believe the claims made in the add before I would consider a price tag near $60K!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

From the info on the vin tag:
Built April 22 1954
2 seater
Light gray
LHD US market car
delivered in primer
engine comes up as correct to the vin# number!
David
David Sheward

US market car delivered in primer? Curious.

I found the mileage and "original condition" hard to believe given the pictures. Perhaps the "museum" was in a very damp environment near the sea? Curious to never have seen or heard of this one before however, given the clear investment it must have been to do the body and the rather nice design and details that resulted.

I think the instruments are quite interesting also - clearly TF gauges incorporated into round housings. Dash looks like a curious mix of Porsche 356 and Mercedes 190SL.

Surprising to have roll-up windows. Also, look how they incorporated the hood (sorry - bonnet) side panels into the inner fender wells - very nice...

Anyone ever hear of Sapcar?

Dave
D Leonard

Hmmmmm.
I took another look at those "lovered" side pamels ...at first glance I thought they were "TF" with the new outer wings being fitted forming a wheel well.
Look closer ...those are not TF! The lovered side panels on a TF are removable, (from outside of the car)...these do not look remavable to me...nor do they apear to be in the right place! Is it just me ...or do pieces of this look much like those of a Volvo P1800?
Strange vehicle to say the least ...wonder what BMHT would show, if any, as any delivery details?
LHD drive car made for US market ends up in a "museum in France"?
Very Bizarre. If I were in the UK I would want to go take a close look at this one!
David
David Sheward

The Arnolt special body looks much better IMHO. This is certainly an interesting variant but it isnt very sporting or stylish.

Interesting "midget TF" script that is affixed to the trunk. That is a special made badge as well.

Someone certainly put a great deal of effort into it - it is a shame it just doenst add up to a very attractive package - to me at least.

J Delk

David, I think those ARE probably the louvered panels from a TF. The TF side panels have two sets of louvers, one set up high (above wings, or fenders in American lingo) which are permanent, and another set down low with removable louvered panels. It's the removable panels you have to take off to do things like set the timing.

In any case, it's an interesting rebodying of the car, but not an improvement in my opinion.
Mark B.

Mark,
You are right.....what was I thinking?
Jezz ..the cold weather has frozen my brain cells! (can you say "dain-bamage"!)
........
Nevermind.

There is something "unsettling" about that car. Maybe it is just so hard to believe that nobody seems to have heard of it before given how many publacations there have been concerning every detail of other M.G.'s.
David
David Sheward

Anybody else write these guys with questions?
I did!
"Dear Sirs:
Do you have any more information on the History of this car?
According to the "Vin Plate numbers" and in the BMHT files it shows as:
mgtf 1250
Built April 22 1954
2 seater
Light gray
LHD US market car
delivered in primer
engine comes up as correct XPAG 1250 to the vin# number.
Your advert states it was "part of a museum collection".
Can you tell me what museum it was housed in?
An interesting piece that has a number of we "MG" types wondering how this one has never been spotted before!
(production records for the TF models have been gone over for a number of years and many books out there concerning
"variants" & "one-offs" known to exist....most of those being RHD cars and not the LHD USA models.)
Thank you for your Time & Consideration,"

Will share any reply with the group!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

So whats with the rear bumber.. chrome and gray plastic? Thats what it looks like to me at the damage site... this car is a mistake in so many ways... Glad its over there and not here... I would travle anywhere in the states to get a look at this thing.. just for fun..
mkg grogan

The bumper looks to be painted steel to me. I think the color of the exposed metal is due to it being treated with some kind of etching material in preparation for painting.

I'm not sure why they didn't chrome the bumpers. Given the expense of the rest of the work, it wouldn't have been a whole lot further to go. The painted bumpers don't look that good to me.
Mark B.

This was quick:

Dear Sir,

We are currently working on the history of this car. We believe that it has been designed in Italy, and maybe by Scaglione for Bertone. It could be a chassis sold for Arnolt that has been used for this car (if you have any possibility to check all the chassis number sold to Arnolt, that could help).
This car was a private special order and it went directly to France, some say as a gift. It has been driven in the town of Lyon, France, and then has been sold to a museum where it spent most of its life (small museum in center of France). That is why it has only 6307 original miles. The present owner bought it directly from the museum.
We believe that the man (we cannot say who before having checked it is true!) who ordered this car visited the 1952 Turin Motor show, and saw the MG prototype by Bertone. As Wacky Arnolt did for his future MG Arnolt, the man ordered a special car to Bertone. And Bertone could have used a chassis that was meant to Arnolt maybe because this car could have been a prototype to a future MG Arnolt (remember this is a US market car).
Everything we have concerning the history of the car is pure supposition, and we are trying to find evidences that could cnfirm this history.

Best regards.

_____________________________________________

ERIC BROUTIN
Classic Car Collection
6, rue du Conseil General - 1205 Geneva - Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 329 17 22
Fax: +41 22 592 73 74
Mobile :+33(0)67 4040 345
Email: eric@carclassic.com - Web: www.carclassic.com
David Sheward

Eureka!!! Figured that, if it were real, such a car couldn't have escaped the NEMGTR founders. Fired up my search routine for the TSOCD and entered 'Everest'. First hit was for 'severest'. Next was the real thing.
It's in the March, 1968 TSO. I'm going to get in trouble for snitching, but it says in part:
"... Monvisa of Italy built a handsome convertible on the TF called the 'Everest'.."

That's all that's there.
Bud Krueger

If that is a handsome car, I hope that term is never applied to me... interesting car - yes
handsome.....not really,

Jeff
J Delk

The plot thickens!
So ..we know the guy was coloure blind, ("gray car" was painted white, green, red carpet, blue seats) must be a decendent of the "Ronald McDonald clan"..friends with "Sir Earl of Macco" (judging by the overspray!)... and beat the living crap out of his cars...if one believes: "That is why it has only 6307 original miles."
Too darned cold right now to walk to the garage to look in the TSO ...I think I have those back issues!
Meanwhile ...think I'll just throw another log on the internet till it warms up a bit out there!
Cheers,
David

David Sheward

I thought it was good looking, but I am colorblind.

dave
Dave Braun

One might take note of the fact that the car is mentioned in a TSO from 1968, though the Car # is of a 1954 TF. Any guesses as to where it spent those 14 years? As David S. says, "the plot thickens".
Bud Krueger

It has an interesting mix of tyres, too considering the mileage?
None the less a nice find! Thanks for linking us to it.
Willem van der Veer

Wonder what year it was actually built... '54/'55 is a tad early for those little 'fins' on the rear fenders. A lot of small fabricated parts (chrome ends on the dash/doors, etc)!
gblawson - TD#27667

Having restored an Arnolt MG and being the unofficial Registrar for the Arnolt MG's, I can tell you that the chassis numbers ran from TD22460 to TD28025....and not in sequence. Given tht this special has a TF grill, I suspect it has nothing to do with Arnolt/Bertones...
Terry in Oakland, cA
Terry Sanders

I can't figure it out ...but there is something so "familiar" ...yet "unfamiliar" about parts of this car that I keep going back to look at it.
I keep looking at those "fins" and thinking about my old P1800 Volvo.

Not too long ago there was a "rare one off" Bug-eye on ebay with a "trunk" ...obviously a mid-sixties Sprite with a Bug-eye Bonnet cobbled to it!

This one ...well I just don't know what to make of it. So hard to believe it has escaped the "M.G.Police" for so long ...that's a pretty tuff crowd and they are rarely fooled!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

This thread was discussed between 06/12/2006 and 10/12/2006

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