VIN 123 for sale. £7000 o.n.o.

[Brian T]

Very reluctant sale of beautiful pre-facelift ZT-T SE VIN 123. (One of only 21 ever made)

Looking for very best price close to £7000. New tyres, new rear brake discs, pads & drums, new battery, 78mm BBK throttle body/plenum. Will also include a full MG parts 1-piece stainless steel rear/intermediate exhaust (over £900!) and original throttle body.

Very clean, very well looked after, with servicing by Apple MG in Meopham during my ownership. A few stone chips at the front (of course!!), and very minor body scuffs. Pictures of VIN 123 attached.

Under 45,500 miles, MOT & tax until April 2013.

Anyone out there interested? Also posted on AutoTrader.
briantowell@live.co.uk

[Tim]

Always liked the front extention. Good luck Brian. Nice looking car.

[ksilver]

There always seems to be someone trying to find a trophy blue ZT-T I would therefore assume a reasonable demand.

Good luck with the sale.

[Brian T]

Thanks chaps! Let's hope there's someone out there. I just can't justify owning and running a car when all it really does is one trip to Le Mans every year, apart from the odd drive into the countryside. It's a brilliant looker, and an exhilarating drive - especially with the BBK upgrade. Hope there's someone out there!!!

[MrDoodles]

Just wondered, have you tried to trace the service history/book for the car?

[Brian T]

Previous owner & 260s member Joe went to great lengths to trace the history, but was unsuccessful. I didn't see the point repeating the process. The V5 quotes 6 prior keepers, so it's certainly been about a bit, but with very low mileage, and as you can see, a very clean & shiny outcome.

I did get hold of another (new) owners handbook, for my own purposes and to pass on with the car.

The guys at Apple MG in Meopham have been largely impressed with the condition of the engine & mechanicals, apart from the infuriating handbrake issue. On my race tuned Beemer 5 series it was a puny rear disc brake, and on the ZT V8 its an even punier drum brake mounted to the inside of the wheel.brake disc, operating directly onto the inner wall of the disc. What were they thinking!!!??? Still all that is new now, and works perfectly.

The car is in absolutely tip-top condition, and ready for its next companion.

[NOCTURNAL]

Looks nice, front end in particular, good luck!!

[Tatra Man]

She's found her new owner.

[colintf]

She's found her new owner.

well done

[Tatra Man]

Many thanks!

There always seems to be someone trying to find a trophy blue ZT-T I would therefore assume a reasonable demand.

When I bought my ZT-T 190+ (on eBay!) it was advertised as the only colour right for the car and I agreed. I've always hankered after a 260 but it had to be pre-facelift (can't stand the later grille) and I still agree that Trophy Blue is the only colour right for the car. Saloons don't interest me - if you're going to have a car, what's the point in not having either a convertible or an estate? (although I do have a Gordon Keeble) and the way the rear wings curve in and down on the saloons never looked right to me anyway.

Anyway, after 8½ years the dreaded K-series V6 has finally blown a gasket despite only covering 50,000 miles so a review of my motoring priorities has taken place. My alternatives were to have the gaskets done at a cost around the value of the car, put one of "The Mothball Fleet" back on the road (Series V Sunbeam Alpine, Series II Sunbeam Alpine I built for the 1991 Pirelli Classic Marathon, Mk.I Sunbeam Tiger, Gordon Keeble GK1, Tatra 603-T2) to use as an everyday driver, put "snake oil" in the 190+ or have a more serious look for a Trophy Blue pre-facelift ZT-T 260. My back-up was that I could always slum it in the Peugeot 306 HDi my son used before he went off to university - which actually isn't a bad car but is somewhat lacking in the kudos department.

Well throwing a couple of grand at the car to have the gaskets done when 190s are only worth around that anyway was looking foolish. The mothball fleet all need a Hell of a lot of work and my spare time is limited as my father is approaching 92 and has dementia. (I'm the only child and this year he's had a broken leg operated on, had to be moved to a care home and I'm in the middle of a Court of Protection application.) Any spare time left is currently being devoted to restoring two of the known 13 surviving Albatross Alpines (of 28 known to have been built) so putting one of the mothball fleet back on the road in a sensible time scale was out.

So in went the snake oil and the old 190+ seemed to be getting better but I sort of knew that I was only buying time so I also had a more serious look for a 260 but without any real hope of finding a Trophy Blue pre-facelift model . . . . . and what came up? . . . . . Brian's Trophy Blue pre-facelift SE! Funds were checked . . . . . Hmmm. . . . Oh sod it . . . pick up the 'phone!! Damn! Someone got there before me. . . . . Back into the Slough of Despond with only the hope that Finland's import duty would deter the prospective buyer. . . . . . . An agonising few days later an e-mail from Brian . . . . . . it had! Thank-you Mr. Finnish customs authority! . . . . . Check funds again . . . . . God I can't afford this . . . . . but when will I ever get another chance? Brian had determined that there were only 21 pre-facelift ZT-T 260 SE models built and Lord knows how few of those were Trophy Blue. I suppose there might be a few non-SE examples but would I ever be satisfied if I let an SE slip through my fingers? . . . . . Another thought:- Winter is approaching and, with it, the ski season. I was facing the prospect of risking a ski trip in a dodgy 190+, my partner's Astra or the old 306. . . . . . Hmmm. . . . Check funds again. . . . . . Well a 260 is a modern classic so ought to hold value, there's no horrendously expensive timing belt replacement schedule, the long 5th gear should mean long trips wouldn't be that much more expensive (OK, I wasn't listening to the small voice telling me the service interval was only 5,000 miles, not 15,000 like the 190+ and I was ignoring my ever-present itchy lead boot) Insurance? Well I'm a geriatric with a no-claim-discount measured in decades. Tax? Aaaaargh - CO2 emissions over 255g/km - £475? . . . . Hang on . . . . Registered before 23 March 2006 . . . . only £270 - same as the 190+. . . . . . Check funds yet again. . . . . Sod it - 'phone Brian - arrange test drive - convince partner I'm not having yet another mid life crisis (at my age! - Pah!!) and that a bloody great V8 is a rational and eminently sensible choice . . . . errrrr . . . . it is, isn't it? Well I've already got three - the Tiger, the Gordon Keeble and the Tatra - what's one more?

Well the old 190+ made it to Brian's and if my partner thought I was being a silly overgrown kid (and only us blokes know how important being a silly overgrown kid is) she kept it very well hidden. The deal was agreed and we set off home into the London rush-hour. . . . . . Poor old Blue Streak (my partner's name for the 190+) didn't like stop-go traffic and the snake-oil-gasket-wonder-cure gradually let go. Did she know what I'd just done? We limped home and I promised her I'd do the dreaded gasket job myself.

I daren't tell her she's going to lose her roof rails, her tow bar and her lovely registration number. No way am I going to part with MG02 ZTT!