Fellow fiends:
In my never ending search for the perfect '67 B/GT (hey, Denise, are you
listening?), I've come across a curiosity, if not a perfect '67 B/GT. The
CO of a '67 GT sez his car is a "special."
Well, ofcourse its special, its a '67 B/GT.
However, I've done some research and think I've come up with the following:
As a promotions "gimick" the east coast MG distributor (Hambro?), applied
some cosmetic modifications to somewhere between 200 and 400 B/GTs in 1967,
in hopes of accelerating sales. The mods include: a wood steering wheel, a
wood shifter knob, and two plaques, mounted on the front fenders, indicating
the car was a "MGB/GT Special." That's it. No performance mods, just some
wood and stainless steel. With all due respect to the owners of these cars,
that doesn't seem that special to me. OTOH, the CO of the particular car in
question is quite sure this makes it "collectable" and all that stuff about
investments and value and such (yadayadayada). Can this be true? I'm
skeptical! I'm really not trying to knock the cars or their owners (I *DO*
want a 67 GT), but I'm also not above making a few jokes at their expense,
afterall....
Seriously, can anyone comment further on these cars? How can one know if a
supposed "special" really is one? Is this going to be the next Ferrari
Daytona fiasco? Is there an independent source that I can cross check VINs
with? The CO is asking $3500 for the car. It hasn't been driven for 18+
months, but has been stored dry. It wants a repaint and a new interior.
OTOH, it is reported to be a good solid car and has an OD tranny and wire
wheels. Doglegs show some rust. I haven't seen it yet myself, but have the
opinion of a second, disinterested, party to corroborate most of what the CO
sez. Don't worry, I'm not buying sight-unseen. In fact, I'm probably not
buying at all, as my spousal unit is balking at the entire idea, but then,
that's another story...
Many thanks,
Will "now, isn't that special?" Zehring
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