[Zmagnette] CL Magnette

[Allen Bachelder]

I'm not very excited about faux Varitones, but if the description and pictures are really accurate, you can bet the seller has a good deal more than $19,500 invested in the car. I would not sell mine for that price, and John, you shouldn't either.  Most of us bought our cars ten or more years ago and we're accustomed to cheap cars not particularly prized by other collectors.  Haven't times changed?  I have no delusions about getting a return on our investments but with MGAs going through the roof, it appears that there are Z Magnette buyers out there in the $20K price range.

Yeah, I could pick on this car a little - but not much! I don't care for the refinishing job on the dash; question the glovebox door handle and steering-wheel medallion colors (is this original to a few cars?); and it looks like the door pulls came off the "Help" rack at a local Advance Auto store.  But these are small concerns.  And besides that, who am I to pick on originality!!! To get this final result, this car has been completely disassembled.  You have a Magnette that looks this good except the engine bay?  Try to get your engine bay to look this good, and you'll quickly discover the value in this car! 

For members looking for cars, keep in mind that John Park's beautiful freshly-restored example is still for sale in Southampton, Ontario, and while not advertised, Jeff Powell's elegant older restoration was still for sale in Chicago last I heard.  I first saw Jeff's car at Twist's in 1989.  As I see it, that car is the grand progenitor, the inspiration - directly or indirectly, known or unknown - for all our restoration efforts.  It is a "milestone" among our cars, and had I the money to own two restored Magnettes, this is the one I'd buy.  I last saw it at GT35 and it still looked just about perfect. As with any older restoration, it might require a bit of tweaking to achieve its legendary reliability, but it's a buy.  

All FWIW,
Allen
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Allen & Florrie Bachelder       =iii=<
Spring Creek Home for Wayward MGs
'57 ZB, '65 B, '69 C/GT, '73 B/GT
North Street, MI 48049, USA
http://www.mgexperience.net/member/bachldrs
****************************************************************

On Oct 25, 2013, at 9:32 AM, charles durning wrote:

> I hope he gets it also.  We need to keep the value of our cars on the rise.
>  
> Charlie Durning
>  
> If you are using Google or Gmail, Big Brother is watching.
>  
> 
> 
> On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 7:12 AM, James Schulte <schultejim at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Looks like a 19,000 dollar car to me. Beautiful. Hope they get it.
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> > On Oct 24, 2013, at 9:28 PM, John Shoemaker <johnshoe at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >         Magnette for sale on Raleigh Craigs List.  A bit pricey I believe.
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