I bought the '55 MG TF 1500 RHD today and hauled it home and it is nice
and snug in my garage - luckily since it just started raining for the
first time in a month. Thanks everyone for all your help. The Car No.
is HDP26 / 8299 and the engine number (both on the car ID plate and the
engine ID pate) is XPEG / 2187. This makes it a TF, Ivory, General
Export RHD, cellulose body, synthetic wings (whatever that means) and
the XPEG engine ID is correct for the 1500 engine - all of this data
matches the car, even though it is green now, it was clearly originally
ivory. I've been told that they only made about 500 RHD 1500 TFs since
they never sold the 1500 TF in England -- though I haven't confirmed
that - that would make this a pretty rare car though.
They were asking $9,500 but they took the $8,000 that I offered :-),
which seemed pretty reasonable considering the comments I had from
everyone. The car is even in better shape that I thought that it was.
I looked underneath with a flashlight tonight while it was up on the
trailer and there is essentially no rust on anything and the wood floor
are all in great shape - even the battery compartment isn't rusted.
Even the engine was clean and has most of its original paint intact and
the oil is clean. The carb throttle linkage moves freely and the
dashpots have oil in them - I like the brass dashpot plunger caps and
the MG symbol handle on the oil dip stick! The radiator is dry,
hopefully it was drained and didn't leak! The interior is in good
shape, a new carpet set was included and the jack and engine crank are
all there. The bumpers aren't too great, but there was a set of either
NOS or recromed bumpers included with the car.
I can't wait to drive it - it was 80 degrees today! I do need to go
through the brakes first though, but at least all of the wheels turn
freely.
For those of you interested in the '64 Mini Cooper S. The car is
located at Bryant Motor Co. in Sedalia Missouri 660-826-2700 - they are
handling the sale for the family, even though they aren't getting any
money out of the deal. Ask for Mike or Jack Robinson. Mike is the one
that I dealt with and he is the one that is real knowledgeable about the
Mini. He is going to be gone for a few days, but they are taking offers
until the end of the year.
Thanks again for everyone's help - one other thing though, am I going to
need a set of Witwhorth wrenches for this car?
Kevin Brown
Odessa, MO
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