This restored home market MGC was despatched from the factory on 9 April 1968 to the MG dealership, 'The Town and Country Motor Garage Limited', in Aberdeen and interestingly, has remained in Scotland throughout its life in the hands of just 4 owners.

It's just one of circa 400 automatic transmission cars built, so a rare find, especially so when in this superb restored condition. We know from the accompanying Heritage certificate that the factory options were wire wheels, a heater, preferred folder away hood and a tonneau.....pleasingly, nothing has changed, as it remains today as originally built.

In short, the restoration of a MGC was on the owners bucket list for many years, but being a busy Headmaster of one of the UK's leading Public Schools, plus a father of 3, spare time was always very limited, hence, when the project opportunity presented itself in December 2006, he knew that he was in for the long haul !

Knowing him well, I'm not surprised it actually took him until Summer last year to finish, as his determination & dedication to any project is un-surpassed.  As you imagine its been a labour of love with no stone unturned, yet being no professional, the end result is very worthy of note.

He has kindly written a synopsis of the entire history & build which I'm very happy to forward but offer here a limited narrative giving just the salient points only, avoiding realms of paragraphs.

His first job was to rebuild the 3000ccstraight-six engine, which had arrived in a completely stripped state albeit it, had already been rebored and the crankshaft and bearings (main and big-end) reground by a previous owner. Happily all the original parts were present, as were six new oversize pistons, and complete sets of new main bearing and big end bearing shells, to accommodate the rebored cylinders and the reground crankshaft.

The engine re-build went well, and the engine ran very smoothly and quietly when it was tested & had excellent oil pressure, measuring between 50 and 60 psi. The engine is standard in most respects, although electronic ignition system recommended by the MG Owners Club, was adopted. The SU carburettors have been reconditioned, and the automatic transmission has been inspected and serviced by MGOC Spares.

Next, with the engine and transmission completely renewed, he turned his attention to the rest of the car, as and when time allowed.

A rotisserie was acquired which allowed proper access to the car & underside.

Having stripped away all the rusted panels, he was pleased to find that the main structure of the monocoque chassis was in good order but the sills were replaced and general welding repairs made as necessary to the inner panels.

The front and rear suspension was completely overhauled and renovated where necessary. This involved replacing the rear lever-arm shock absorbers with adjustable telescopic dampers, and relacing the standard front dampers with adjustable units. Also fitted was a stronger anti-roll bar all modifications  improving the handling of the car markedly. Finally a new fuel tank was fitted and the whole underside was treated with anti-rust paint and under-seal.

With the car upright again, all the outer panels were re-fitted and sent the body to be resprayed in its original colour, pale primrose. Once back from the respray, the remainder of the project involved refitting the car.

One can deduce from the invoice trail he was roughly half way through the build, things did start to slow with the advent of a busier professional life.

Next to be tackled was the hydraulics, which were completely replaced along with the car being totally re-wired with new looms and many new electrical fittings. Following this, focus turned towards the interior, sadly many of the original parts, seats & trim were unusable or damaged beyond repair so new or reconditioned items were sourced.

The project was completed in Summer of 2023. The car was inspected by a qualified mechanic and received a clean bill of health plus it was mot'd.

The car has been re-built from the bottom up with every nut and bolt scrutinised; the huge accompanying history file contains vast amounts of invoices, clearly demonstrating a great deal of money has been spent restoring this MGC to its former glory.

It is to all intents and purposes a new car with some 600 miles on the clock. The restoration has been something of a labour of love, but very rewarding.

It's worth mentioning that it was recently driven down from Scotland to us at Redhill over a 2 day period, never missing a beat!

It would be a pleasure to answer any questions you might have. However, to really appreciate this MGC, it needs to be seen “in the flesh”, so do please call me directly on 07788 865700 to arrange a viewing.