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MG Midget and Sprite General - Sprite - 13k miles from new!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170713225408


Discuss....
Dave O'Neill 2

Hard to know where to start... careful inspection required!

Mine's done only 34K miles BTW... I bought it with 45K back in 1977 but it renewed itself passing the 100K mark.

A
Anthony Cutler

Has a Midget bonnet but the underneathlooks very clean. That seat looks like it has seen more than 13,000 miles worth of bottom iting on it!
Gary & Gaps

How long do they make barge poles nowadays?

Bernie.
b higginson

I'd guess the seat damaged may be more about time passed and storeage than use

the car ticks a lot of boxes for some:

it's bright red (and could get a respray!)

it's got wire wheels

it's got chrome bumpers

it's only done 13,000 miles since 1977

but a big let down is the fact that it's missing a spare wheel :)
N Atkins

Bizarre
Neil K

Well...

Im not understanding... He said it was reshelled so does that mean the body is a 77

Personally... I think it would be a great restro canadate... Even if i belive the 13k to be a bit suspect based on the engine compartment and gen aperance of the car.... But rust fee it certianly look like


It looks like a good deal to me... Even with a faulty title... Im curious what his reserve is...it wouldnt be that hard to make it a daily driver...we have all seen far worse

Prop
Prop

I'd rather have a rusty original car with 100k on it.

Its a 1500 shell for a start, never mind it's dodgy history and incorrect number.

John Payne

Mine has done a genuine 30,000 miles.
Got every bill and MOT cert from new.

Looks very different to that one inside.
Hugh Alison

It is a 1500 with a 1275 with a busted interior and top that looks like it has at least done 130000 miles!

Onno Könemann

..and has the 'wrong' wings for the bumpers.
David Smith

Holy moses, you won't believe this but ------.

In the late '70's my brother totalled his red 1275 Sprite. (The one he bought to replace his mkII).

He drove it, whilst asleep, into the rear end of a parked car one night. (Don't ask the obvious :).

He survived OK, but his passenger got a facial injury.

The car was retained by the ins company. They even kept my very good heavy duty jump leads. Anyway my bro' wanted the car back, but all he got was money, and the car was sold for scrap to a dealer, who wouldn't part with it.

Maybe this is it.

The seller says he has the original number plate.

So I'll try and get in touch with the seller and ask if he has any history prior to re shell, or at least try and get the original plate number. My brother may be able to recall the number. Or if not, maybe DVLA has a record.

If it is my bro's, it had a bloody good engine that had been tuned. It peed all over my 1275, up and down hills.
Lawrence Slater

Where are the air filters on the carbs?. I was wondering also if a 9 year old Sprite would have been worth re-shelling after an accident in those days as 1500s were quite new in those days and either an new or 2nd hand shell would have been expensive I expect. Looks rather more than 13k miles to me, especially the drivers seat.
David Billington

Hugh,
each to their own, your car, your money

but to me yours sounds like it could be more of static display piece better off in a museum
N Atkins

I was extremely lucky - first car I looked at, top end of my budget - but a lot less than it would have fetched anywhere nearer a big city. Sometimes there are advantages to living in the middle of nowhere.

Already has the Frontline Ford T9 conversion and front telescopic shocks fitted (about 10 years ago) - just needs the K-series and bigger brakes fitted next spring.

For the sort of distances I'm hoping to use it for it's much easier to start with a low mileage example.
Hugh Alison

David Smith
sorry to dissappoint you but the wings went down slightly before the bumpers got thin.
So it could have left the factory with the wings like that (the rest is one big bodge)
Onno Könemann

>>For the sort of distances I'm hoping to use it for it's much easier to start with a low mileage example<<

good man, that's what I like to hear :)

low mileage means plenty of preparation though, servicing, maintenance and regular driving to shake down and remove wrinkles

you're in a great area for lots of road tests :)

we were there again last month for the roads and great pubs
N Atkins

It peed all over my 1275

Leaky radiator?
JK Dunn

ha ha, yeah JK, something like that.

Anyway, irrespective of this cars history, and it really could be my brothers wreck (stranger things happen at sea, and people really do win the lottery), I think this could be a bit of a snip, if it stays at this price. Which I doubt.

13000 miles or 130000 miles, it was re-shelled and === sill has the original vin plate so may be possible to re-register to 1968.

---car has no rot or rust any were. If so then it's just a nuts and bolts job.

--- the roof is in need of repair and the gearbox is noisy in 1st gear but that is about it -- So what all 4 speed boxes are noisy in first.

Seats knackered? Again so what.

So what if the Bits don't all match, it's a working spridget with NO RUST complete and driveable, for less than a Grand.

And you could break it for as much as the price is now. The Chrome bumpers and other trim look good enough to be worth a couple on their own, the engine and box probably 300, the shell with no rust how much?, and then all the other bits and bobs, make it a great buy.

If I had the room I'd buy it. Just for spares.

I'm trying to reach my brother to find out the date he wrecked his, but I'm fairly certain it was before 1978. I bet he'd love to buy it back if this was his car reborn.
Lawrence Slater

Don't know. Looks a bit "ratty" to me for only 13000 original chassis miles even if it has been reshelled. I have 58000 miles on mine and it looked in better shape than this before I did the restoration.

Caveat emptor applies here!
Clive Reddin

This thread was discussed between 17/10/2011 and 18/10/2011

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