Ever Wonder What they Looked Like New?

[glemon]

Here are some pics I snapped at KC All British of a 148 mile 1969 Sprite Mk IV bought and kept by a Kanasas City Dealer.

Guy took his shoes off before going in the car, it is pristine plus.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Sooo should the light switches and brake test lamp have black bezels in a '69?

 

[walshja]

nice catch on the black bezels !!

every time I think my car looks great, someone has to go and post pictures like this !!!

I have yet been able to get to a British car show, can't wait to see a bunch of cars like mine !!!

joe

 

[Trevor Jessie]

I honestly do not know if they are supposed to be black. I do know that a '70 Midget had chrome ones.

 

[glemon]

I don't know about the bezels, but I talked to the guy and looked at the car, I don't think anything has been touched or changed.

Greg

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Like so many of the other parts, they probably used what was on the shelf.

That car REALLY takes me back to when I used to go to the dealer and drool all over Spridgets, Spitfires, and GT6's.

Thanks for the memory trip!

 

[bill_young]

The car was absolutely unmolested, just as it would have been delivered to a customer from the dealer. I understand that the owner sold the car at the show, he's getting up in years and thought it was time to entrust it to another caretaker. I believe that he has several more cars in such condition, a Triumph TR6 and others. He was going to get the last Healey 3000 delivered but the three cars they had were sold over the weekend before he got back on Monday to buy one so he took a TR in place of the Healey.
It's wonderful that someone would keep such a piece of history in pristine condition so we would have a reference to go by, but I think of all the wonderful miles of fun driving that were missed as well. Of course I figure that since he has so many cars preserved he must have had one or two drivers as well.

 

[walshja]

Bill, do you know how much the car sold for?

my 1974 has chrome bezels . . . I'm sure his car is correct, why wouldn't it be.

joe

 

[Silverghost]

I dunno, I think that car was restored. I see non matching hose clamps!!
I JEST, I JEST!! I AM KIDDING! :laugh:
That is spectacular! If it were mine, I'd wear one of those clean room suits before getting in it!! Very, very nice indeed!

 

[jlaird]

Golly, there is a non matching hose clamp. How about that.

 

[bill_young]

No, I didn't hear the price. I was surprised because there were no signs that he wanted to sell the car, must have just come up in conversation and they made a deal. We had another Midget sell at the show, that one was't so pristine, but a pretty nice 72 with a bit of a built engine, DCOE40 Weber, big front bar, etc. That one went for $650! There wasn't any rust to speak of either. The car had once been hit in the rear and there was still evidence in the trunk area of wrinkled metal, but the body work was pretty good and the bumpers had been shaved front and rear.

 

[glemon]

Hey Bill, didn't know the car got sold, I invited the guy to our show in Lincoln on the 21st of September (Flatwater Austin Healey Club All British, honoring 50 years of the Sprite www.flatwater.org ), would like to invite the new owner as well as any other KC or Midwest MG Austin Healey Triumph, Jag etc. guys that would like to come.

As far as how the car was treated and cared for, a freind of mine helped the owner unload it from the trailer--he took his shoes off before getting in it.

I don't know if I could stop myself from driving it.

 

[aeronca65t]

I bought a '67 just like that for $850 in '68 from a friend of mine (she needed the money for grad school at Princeton).

It was virtually perfect.

I still have it, but it's a rusted hulk now.

 

[bill_young]

Greg, I'll be getting the KC All British Newsletter out this week and will include the information on the Lincoln show there. Goes out to all the KC area clubs. Hope you get a good turnout. I'll be in California by that time on vacation so can't make it myself. Have fun!

 

[athenssprite]

Very nice indeed. I think I have driven mine 148 miles in the last 3 days! It's almost as nice as Ray McC's '73 MG

 

[vagt6]

That's a stunning example, thanks for posting.

Webb Imported Motors in Roanoke, VA, a former British Leyland dealer, has an allegedly unmolested '68 Sprite in his showroom. I think the price is $14,000 or near it. Primrose(?) yellow, black interior, perfect condition with no wear showing whatsoever.

Same dealer has a nice Rover 3500 TDI, a lovely TR8, couple of nice MGBs, a 1970 Spit and a MK IV Midget for sale in the showroom. All in very nice condition and top retail prices, of course.

I bought a lightly used '70 GT6 from Webb in '71. Absolutely wonderful that the same dealership is still in operation. They also do restoration work as well.

I go to Roanoke twice monthly, often drive by the showroom to drool over the cars. Trip down memory lane, it is.

 

[John Moore]

Great photos! NICE!

 

[mccalebr]

Sooo should the light switches and brake test lamp have black bezels in a '69?

Well, we have all seen that parts were 'shared' between various types.

I went out to my web site (www.raysmg.com) and found a dealer brochure dated 10/69 that has a very small photo of the dash that includes the rocker for the lights. I then scanned the original brochure back in at high resolution then saved a cropped portion at a lower res so the size would fit here.

The bezel is obviously chrome. Bear in mind that this is an MG brochure (though most components are similar to the Sprite) and that I have found some differences in some of the 'pre-production/early-production' brochure photos and the details found most commonly on production cars.

Ray

 

[Billm]

My '69 has those "black" bezels. If you look really closely you will see that they are flat black on the inside but chrome around the outside, the black stops before the bezel rolls-over (did that make sense?)
Bill

 

[RickB]

Ray:
That looks like the gearshift knob in my 70 MGB.
And I love that clock on the console... drool...