Probably Unique Factory MGF/TF Development Car (2001)

Details

Type:		Private Advert
Price:		£4,995
Updated:		21 days ago

Description

This must be a one-off opportunity to acquire what is probably the only MG Rover built MGF to MGTF development car ever to have escaped onto the open market. I am selling only because I have lost the undercover storage I had for the car and don't want to see it suffer outside.

Based upon the papertrail I have the car was built as a 2001 MGF 1.6i and immediately passed to MG Rover Engineering who fitted the MGTF bumper and headlights you can see in the photographs. What you can't see is that the suspension is the MGTF spring and shock absorber type and not the usual hydrolastic jobbie.

It would be considered way too expensive to convert from hydrolastic to springs post production but this car appears to have been used to develop/test the installation prior to production of the TF. As such it has been carried out to factory standards and makes this a huge step further than those MGF's you see with an MGTF front grafted on.

There is also evidence of development work on the rear suspension as hand-written identification can clearly be seen on some of the rear suspension components.

I suspect that if MG Rover had not disappeared in 2005 this car would never have seen the light of day and probably would have been crushed. Perhaps the administrators saw it as an opportunity to raise further funds and it was sold via auction in 2006. I have an original copy of the auction catalogue for the new owner.

Back to the car itself. The 1.6 engine is regarded by many as the sweetest revving of all the 'K' series units and in real world driving lacks nothing in flexibility or performance. It also has the benefit of a lower insurance group too.

The current mileage of 7,264 is supported by MOT certificates and maintenance paperwork and the body condition is as you would expect of a 7,000 mile car. The body colour is MG Rover Old English White which was a rare colour for an MGF and suits the 1.6 particularly well with the standard black door handles and engine intakes. The wheels were originally silver but were professionally painted black by a previous owner. I personally would have left them silver but the overall effect seems to work OK.

This is an extremely rare, possibly unique, piece of MG Rover history and represents an opportunity to buy a low mileage MGF/TF with an unrepeatable history. Why pay £15,000 for a Chinese imitation when you can have this for much less than half the price.

I have a few more photographs and can take them to order if practicable or you can view the car in West Lancashire, 10 minutes from J27 of the M6 motorway.