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Reader Thomas G came across this Field Find Coupe here on Kijiji and wasn’t sure what it was, so he thought perhaps our community could help him identify it. The seller doesn’t offer any information pertaining to what it is or its story, but the photos should provide all the clues needed to id it. Now we have our guesses as to what it is, as the side profile gave it away for us, but we won’t give it away just yet. If you want a real challenge, try to figure out what it is without looking at the rest of the seller’s photos. Good luck guys!
MGA with a custome nose
I agree it’s a MGA with a custom nose made to appear like a Cunningham C3 clone.
I agree MGA with custom nose. I think the nose looks more Shelby Cobra-like.
If this is a dummy MGA, whoever sure went through a lot of trouble to fake it out. Look at its hood framing compared to a real one here:
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/cunningham/c_3/1483407.html
They must have also added to the engin compartment. This one has either a frame crossing in nearly the middle of the engin area or there’s just a piece of metal framining in there. Compare here: http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/cunningham/c_3/1483407.html
’52 Cunningham C-3. I think I’m going to cry
DG, I’ll save you the tears, I’m cryin enough for the both of us. Pretty sad state of metal for sure.
cry not, it’s a very sad MGA. & a very poor one indeed.
Curtis has it… Customized MGA.
Very poor job if it is a fake. Window’s, MGA has three sections for the door glass, rear vent window, this one only has two. Hood frame, should look more like a wedge rather then the way this one has been cut in. And the engin compartment, front-end molding are all wrong even for a fake. I have to agree with Jax, it looks like a Corbra then the MGA. In this link here, (http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Shelby+Cobra&FORM=RESTAB#view=detail&id=93C5C861022F603D0EF5F6190E29411A70B42B30&selectedIndex=14) you can see the side door windows/glass. They look just like what we have here. My bet its a hack job. BUYER BEWARE! VIN looks like it should be revited to a partial frame section up against the fire wall.
Ooops. Meant to say ’52 Cunningham C-3 rather then refer to the 51 MGA
And if you wanted to see one complete look at http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/cunningham/c_3/1483407.html
A mere $750k!
I like the insurance ad that pops up with this Hemmings link, with estimated premium of $13,373 per month. Why, is that all???
Absolutely! I would know that hood opening and fender line anywhere. It’s a shame the MG folks didn’t use that shape.
Looks like the thing has hips as well, must have put rear quarter bulges.
Yep, an MGA coupe wishing it was a Cobra AC.
Definitely a MGA coupe, with a modified nose. Would like to see how they did it and If there is any history to this car. Interesting.
wonder what other mod’s have been done, other than the advent of the tin worms.
Door hardware also clearly shows it to be an MGA coupe
i think it looks more like a a shelby cobra
I would name it George.
That Guy said “I would name it George.”
I dont think it matters what it is anymore this to me has been the funniest one liner said on this blog yet…just cracked me up
Though i’d like to call him “bob”
but with a very rounded way of saying it…hey Baldrick.
Actually if it is (probably) an MG coupe it would be an MGC, not an A.
No they made an A coupe & a C was a 6 cyl B.
found this photo:
http://www.mossmotors.com/forum/photos/kelvindmoss/picture11759.aspx
looks to be very similar body, though I see vents behind the front wheels right away.
Maybe this owner has some more info…..
P Trout
P Trout, if this one is a Flying Custom MGA Coupe what a waste.
And I found this one – I know its not this particular car, but it does show an MGA done up like a Cobra…
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/variants/pics/coupe1.jpg
It’s an MGA that’s been customized!
And there are a couple on this page too… http://www.hardtuned.com/feature/htshorts/bccc/bccc2.html
Try AC Aceca, but really hard w/o the profile pic.
I’m with you.
i too think it is a MGA with a nose job, but the rear of the car looks very wide. i wish there were more photos. and how much idoes the seller want for this?
Definitely an MGA with a built up Cobra type nose. There were a bunch of efforts to make mini-Cobras from MGAs with bad engines back in the ’60s & ’70s when Cobras showed up and MGAs were real cheap.
Look at the engine bay—too short for a big Chrysler hemi. I owned both an MGA & a Chrysler hemi engine at the same time and there was no way the hemi would fit in the MGA engine bay. The MGA footwells come forward into the engine bay area with a platform across them that the heater mounts on, and you can see those in the engine bay pic. The C3 has a tube frame, the MGA is body-on-frame.
Look at the front fenders: removable on the MGA, faired in with the rest of the body on the C-3.
Coupe shape very different in the two cars.
An interesting piece of hot-rod wannabe history, but Calgary is over 1,500 miles from Chicago and I don’t think it’s worth it, even if the owner knew what he wanted for it.
Someone’s probably thinking, so…….
Yes I remember seeing a few MGAs with a SBC transplanted back in the day, and those worked well because the Chevy V8 was small, narrow and relatively light. I think people also used 289 Ford V8s. Also, the MG had a real frame, so could support the V8.
Lots of pictures by Googling ‘MGA with V8’.
The first to come to my mind when i see this is that it is a Ginetta.
Looking at the photo on Barnfinds I could see MGA front guards, so looked at the ad and second photo confirmed it. MGA with a lousy nose job.
What is throwing everyone off is the chopped top with a homemade plastic windshield. I like the effect, and the original builder would love fooling us.
It is an MGA coupe.
I own a 3000 mk1 2 seater Big Healey. I chopped the windshield and the hardtop to give it more of a squatty Viper look, It works!
http://www.modifiedhealeys.org/
car 6
Buckle coupe?
Michael said “Buckle coupe?”
Buckle Coupe
oh no I hope not..dont want to see anymore leave Australia.s shores
fortunately this one isnt a Buckle…My covetted vehicle for my Aussie “as found” sportscar collection but i dont think I will get one most are spoken for,though I do have my restored Buckle Dart instead.
interesting…not many on here would know a Buckle coupe
1955 ac ace
This would appear to be an MGA but with a Cobra nose. (An American Market Thing?)
Some thought that the Cockpit was too short for the car and that this made them ugly and to some uuugleeee but others thought that it had a quirky beauty to it, either way for those that thought the former they could always have the drop top which was very beautiful, without a doubt.
MGA with a bad nose job
Actually I’m interested, does this have an Engine and gearbox?
I thought it was an MGA also, but it isn’t. Not unless, in addition to the nose job, they also chopped a few inches from the roof, and channeled in another foot of width the entire length of the car.
I agree it’s a MGA Coupe, notice the bodywork where the 2 chrome vents on either side of the hood are located on the MG, it’s clear the holes were welded & smoothed out with a coat of bondo. But the big telling item is the upright door handle. MGA roadsters didn’t have exterior handles, you simply reached inside & opened the door. The coups had these strange “pull out & down” levers to open the doors. ONLY MGA coupes had them. And they didn’t work well at all. in the late 70s I had a terrible MGA “Twin Cam” coupe, hated it!
Could it be an early AC Cobra!
No it isn’t, there are two reasons I know this,
1 you wouldn’t just leave a genuine Cobra to rot in a feild
and
2 if you look at the side on photo the cockpit is exactly proportioned (or disproportioned) to that of the MG A Saloon