Major rebuild for the MGBGTV8 bought at ACA auction One of two MGBGTV8s from a "Norfolk collection" came up for auction in January 2018. From our Pricewatch reports it was clear the two cars were in a very grim state as they had been stored outside and rust had taken hold in major way. At the auction each car is reported to have sold for £4,240 including the buyer's premium and VAT. Not long after the auction, a longstanding V8 Register member was in touch to say he had bought Blaze 0115 and intends restoring it as it is a very early car with some history. A key planning decision will be whether to reshell the car or take on a major bodywork repair workload. When is a car "original" is the question always raised when a reshell rebuild comes up with a classic car like this but many enthusiasts might feel that a reshell has acceptable advantages - both cost benefits and having a new shell with better rust proofing. Progress reports on this major rebuild will follow. Posted: 180203 See our reports on the rebuild of MGBGTV8 Blaze 0115. More See our Rebuilds series. More See our Pricewatch reports. More Following the auction at Anglia Car Auctions (ACA) on Saturday 27January 2018, we heard from a longstanding V8 Register member that he had bought one of the two MGBGTV8s listed for sale. He said "it is, to say the least, in an appalling state and it seems has suffered an unbelievable lack of care for many years. It was not helped either by being stored in a field for some considerable time as “part of a collection”. It will be a very costly and definitely a difficult restoration project. Just for the record and to give an indication of just how bad the condition of the car is, the final hammer price was £4,288 with commission and VAT added. He added "I went to Kings Lynn on the Friday for the viewing day to look at the car and so had first hand knowledge of just how bad it is and totally agree with all Andy Gove (one of our Pricewatch team who was also there on the viewing day) said about it and the comment on the amount of work and cost involved in returning it to a complete car. FortunatelyI like a challenge! I will not get the car to my place until some time next week so will not really know how far the shell has gone for some time but from what I have seen of at least the bodywork from front to back and underneath it is almost certain the safest, quickest and potentially cheapest option would be to reshell it. However I believe that would take too much away from what was the original car. I will see once I have the car here". "In a Pricewatch News item on the V8 Website from around October 2017, the details provided against HOH 904L and another Teal Blue V8 from the same Norfolk collection listed as coming up for sale at the same auction, stated that HOH 904L was originally a press car with BLMC Publicity at Longbridge in June 1973. I know from checking details with the DVLA prior to the auction that HOH 904L was first registered on 4th April 1973 but, as there is no V5 and no other documents supplied with the car. DVLA have confirmed it should be a case of filling in forms and sending £25 to get a new V5. The chassis number shown in the ACA advert was given as GD2D1115G and not 0115 (which HOH 904L shows on its chassis number plate in the engine bay) and there was no record of the engine serial number available on the sheet I received with the car from ACA but I believe it is 486 0018." "From an MGBGTV8 Factory production records report for HOH 904L from the V8 Register, the details there helped me accept the fact that this MGBGTV8 did actually have proof of the recorded history I was looking for. The report says the interior and seat colours as Navy Blue at build and the paint colour as Blaze, both of which are the same combination now. Should you be able to find any photographs they would certainly help to determine if there were any other areas of the car I should use as a reference."