An
extraordinary tale of the sale of an MGBGTV8
Alan Turner relates how he sold his MGBGTV8 - a quite extraordinary
tale! |
 |
Damask
0663 is a chrome bumper Factory MGBGTV8 with 151,000 miles
but it is a car which has had a great deal of investment by
Alan over the last four years as he intended to keep it, but
sadly Alan Turner has to sell to get a motability vehicle. Alan
sent in the advert on Wednesday 12th August and it was promptly
posted to the V8 website. On 27th he reported he had received
five enquires from the V8 Website advert from Ireland, Belgium,
Germany and two from England but in the end an extraordinary
chance encounter found a German buyer!
Matters moved rapidly and Alan says "I
suppose I can say it is sold subject to completion". But
what was that extraordinary story? |
| What
a story! It was an extraordinary chance meeting, a fellow
member of the Torbay Old Wheels Club, had a Morris Minor with
a “For Sale” notice parked in his drive. The traffic
passing his drive was solid, when the German family crawled
passed, saw the car and called in. Whilst they were discussing
the Morris Minor, a comment from the German that he also wanted
a MG soon resulted in Alan's phone ringing and he then made
a quick trip across the Ring Road to Torquay. On arrival Alan
says "I saw his eyes light up and a broad smile on his
face and . . . Well to
cut a tale short, the German bought the Morris Minor 1000, my
MGBGTV8 and an Isetta bubble car which my friend also had.
It seems it
is a good time for the Euro based buyers! More |
But
a sequel!
Alan Turner writes "now that the dust has settled following
the sale of the V8, I shall continue with the saga". (4.10.09)
The German family saw the car on the 14th August and
returned home the following Saturday, saying they would confirm
the sale by email and send a bankers draft for a deposit. This
was done but the bankers draft was in . . . Yes you have guessed
it . . . Euros which we got changed but were charged for the
conversion. But passed it back to the buyer. The buyer's plan
was to collect the three cars on a transporter, but that was
changed to two cars on a transporter and to drive the MGBGTV8
to Germany. However I had plans to surrender the road tax disc
and claim back the remaining £100 or so. After many emails
the plan went back to the transporter and collection on the
Friday 25th September.
We had a MG Car Club trip arranged for that day which we couldn’t
attend. But I can arrange a latter trip. As we were expecting
them late afternoon on the Thursday 24th, I took the MGBGTV8
to my friend's house on the Thursday morning so it would be
ready for collection. However the Germans turned up at my friends
house early that afternoon with a trailer on the back of the
transporter. My friends were out but when they returned home
they found the Germans had removed the trailer but found it
wouldn’t couple to the transporter so had helped themselves
to tools in my friend's garage! This ended up with a trip to
a local garage to sort out the coupling problem.
The Isetta was the first to be loaded on on the transporter
but only two ramps were available. The bubble car is of course
a three wheeler but we got it on by hook and by crook. Next
the Morris Minor, no problem. At this point I thought it was
time for some money to change hands for the MGBGTV8.
It was 16:15. About half the outstanding amount was produced
in pound notes plus another wad of Euros, with a story that
he couldn’t get any more pound notes. So off to town and
the Post Office, but the Post Office wouldn’t change this
amount from a foreign national, I left the German in the Post
Office and shot off home for my passport and a fist full of
utility bills at full speed. Returning to the Post Office and
all was well. Phew . . .
When we got back to my friend's house the second German and
my friend had coupled the trailer and driven the V8 onto the
trailer. The money changed hands, and I drove the Germans to
their overnight accommodation. I then collected them the following
morning and took them back to my friend's house and sent them
on their merry way.
Next stop the bank and then back home again to send an email
out to all who had inquired about the car. The list had now
grown to nine, including a dealer in London, who I had visited
when looking for an MGBGTV8, plus a couple of phone calls. From
this exercise one of the folks interested in the V8 is an MG
Car Club member who was coming down to Wiscombe for the Club's
annual Hill Climb, and we exchanged various emails. He has since
bought a Teal Blue MGBGTV8 from the V8 website. He made a visit
to my local Club natter on its first anniversary - and was the
first “foreigner” to do so.
So the end of an extraordinary saga . . . . . I still class
myself a V8 Register member in spirit and perhaps one day .
. . . Thanks for the great website which I will continue to
follow with interest.
|
|
