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MG MGA - How Many Coupes Left

I am sitting here in my office,with the snow falling (15cm last night & another 15cm today) and was just wondering. Does anybody have an actual number,or would they like to hazard a guess on...how many Mga Coupes...are still running and on the road. My quick thought is that approximately 600-1000 would be a large number,but I am often wrong.

Correct me if I am wrong but out of the app. 110,000 Mga's built there were only 6,972 Coupes produced (I think this figure is right). With the normal rate of attrition, I think app 10% left is a fair number. Any comments?
Gordon Harrison

Interesting question Gordon, I'll jump in on this with a few of my own ideas. I thought that coupe production was around 10,000 cars, although I can't remember where I came up with that figure. And, I would guess that there are 600 - 800 coupes world-wide, although not all of those would be running at this time (like mine!) I think I came up with that number from some NAMGAR registration data I saw a few years ago. Anybody else?
BTW, we also had about 15 cm of snow yesterday in the Chicago area, the first real snowfall of the season for us, which is very late in this area.
G Goeppner

101081 total MGA built.

6772 1500 Coupe
2771 1600 Coupe
521 1600-MK-II Coupe
323 Twin Cam Coupe
10387 total Coupe (including "Deluxe" models)

I have a sneaking suspicion that about 30% of all MGA still exist. 10% actually "on the road" might be about right, but there may be more that actually run but are not driven much. I am certain that the NAMGAR database will fall far short of any estimate of the number of cars that sill exist. MGA Register Holland has over 11,000 MGA on record, and that's probably less than half of what still exists.

Almost every day someone pulls another one out of a barn that was previously unknown. I'd bet that in this world of modern communication and continuing demand for restoration, given another 10 years we will likely record another 5000 cars that are currently unknown, and still not have them all.
Barney Gaylord

A lot of coupes in UK were scrapped, often to provide parts, especially for LHD cars. The roadster was always much more sought after here, with some coupes even being "converted". It seems that coupe values are creeping up now though, possibly helped by rarity.
N McGurk

I know of one Coupe that has not survived. A fellow trainee pilot had just ejected from his Jet Provost back in 1966 (hit the station aerobatic team coming out the bottom of a loop). Whilst in hospital, suffering from spinal compression fractures, his white Coupe was stolen and eventually found at the bottom of a cliff in the Scarborough area.

Steve
Steve Gyles

I have a Mk2 Coupe - original UK car - according to Clausager only 219 mk2s were built for the home market
I just love the Coupe shape
Paul
P D Camp

The MGCC of Victoria have 18 coupes including 3 twin cams on our register last count.
Mike


Mike Ellsmore

Hi this rather nice one is for sale near me


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1962-MGA-FIXED-HEAD-COUPE-WHITE-/280802004587?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item41611a8e6b



Gordon
g c pugh

Wonder if someone can help me with this one?
I have a 1958 coupe which i am rebuilding.Im a little confused about the Car No on the plate.
The No is HMR4349590.Why is the second letter M should the letter be D to denote a 2 Seater?
I cant find anything in my book in the Type colume that relates to an M.
P D HEWITT

The H stands for MGA.
D is for open 2-seater; M is for Coupe.
R is for Old English White
4 is LHD, North American Market.
3 is Cellulose paint
Car number is 49590

Steve
Steve Gyles

Thanks for that Steve.Solves that one:-)
P D HEWITT

another one from Holland that didn't survive (note the sunroof)

Rutger


Rutger Booy

And this one was stolen in the early 1970s and never heard from again (probably scrapped for parts)

Rutger


Rutger Booy

I have a 1600 coupe that I restored about 30 years ago. It was Old English White but I painted it Carnation(?) Red. I think that it came from the eastern states (probably NSW), no 1600 coupes were sold new here in South Australia (although four or five 1500 coupes were, along with many 1500 and 1600 roadsters). I dare say it was our climate that rendered closed coupes "unnecessary", along with the price which was, at least here in Oz, almost the same as a 2.4 Jaguar! Getting in and out of it has always been a bit of a struggle but I have driven it extensively and it is excellent on the road (as are all MGA's).
Barry Bahnisch

Well here's number four that didn't make it HMK 4359778. 1984 near Madison Wisconsin

gary starr

At one point there was a person, I think in Pennsylvania (US), who had a register just for coupes. Wonder if it is still active and how many were registered? I never registered mine with him (owned since 71), and have lost track of the name. Didn't someone do an article about this in MGA! a while back? Now I'll have to check....:)
Cheers,
GTF
G T Foster

Johnathan Stein - I'm not sure if he is still actively doing this, but he's still list on the NAMGAR website.

MGA Coupe
Jonathan Stein
7450 Valley View Lane
Reading, PA 19606
Email: mgacoupeguy@aol.com
Dennis Suski

Gordon,
Jonathan Stein should know approximately how many Coupes there are in North America.
I have one of them.
Peter.
P. Tilbury

But he will only know of those that have been registered with him.
Check out the attached photo- 1995 John Twists University Motors Summer Party, 35 Coupes

gary starr

Yes great photo I remember that John Twist Summer party. Lindsay Monk and I (john Lambie )both coupe owners from Down Under attended. Still remember arriving about midnight after a 18 hour flight from western Australia. Many MGAs and their owners sitting in the car park drinking Buds. Made us very welcome and shared their beer. One of lifes memorable moments.
cheers John
Still got the red T shirt which read MGA Coupe- their HOT!
John Lambie

Garry,
Great photo. It is for sure that a large number of Coupes are still out and running, but have not been accounted for, in any registry. I know that in the 18 years I have attended The British Invasion in Stowe Vermont, I have only seen app. five Coupes. I know of app 5 more here in Quebec, so they are out and about.

My insurance evalulator, has mine priced at $25,000.00 and it is not pristine (6 out of 10) but I think this is to raise my premium.
Gordon Harrison

Okay guys, some numbers from the registers. The most updated world wide listing (incl. NAMGAR 2010, MGCC UK 2010, MGCC AUS 2010 and MGA Register Holland 2012)

6772 1500 Coupe (registered : 768)
2771 1600 Coupe (registered : 298 lhd , 251 rhd)
521 1600-MK-II Coupe (registered : 66 lhd, 103 rhd)
323 Twin Cam Coupe (registered : 227)

Note: not all cars registered still exist. But it gives an indication of the cars remaining.

Cheers, Koen

MGA Register Holland
www.mgaregister.com
Koen Struijk

Some other stats you might like:

Total number of MGAs registered : 13913 (approx 1000 non-active)

Total number of MGAs auctioned on eBay.com and eBay.co.uk (since Feb 2010) : 391

We currently got 6864 pictures on 2401 cars (2.38% of all MGAs produced ;)

The database statistics can be cut in many ways. Let me know what you would like to see. Happy to do so and post it here.

Have a good evening! Cheers, Koen
Koen Struijk

John I remember talking to you guy's. All these years later and your still talking about it,I'm glad all of us made a great impression. Here's a pic of my car waaay down the line!

gary starr

Yes Gary
i remember talking. I was admiring your car and asking if it was Iris Blue. I was restoring mine and planning to go from red back to the original BU12 (Iris Blue)Did a chassis up restoration and completed in 2003
I will post a picture of me and my Coupe when i work out how to do it. Lindsay sold his twin Cam coupe but still has a deluxe roadster racer.

regards John

John Lambie

Just spotted this rare deluxe coupe on ebay - with only a few hours to go - ebay number 160723679589.
Cam Cunningham

That went for a good chunk of change didn't it? I sure do like the look of those wheels on a coupe. When I first saw where it was located,I thought Simon J Robinson. And sure enough there it is on the heritage certificate !
gary starr

Managed to upload a picture of my Iris Blue MK 2 Coupe
One of 211 uk MK 2 Coupes built- Mine was sold by Simon Robinson some 8 years ago
Paul

P D Camp

The Deluxe went for nearly £12k - not a bad price for a project car. Lovely looking car Paul.
Cam Cunningham

This thread was discussed between 13/01/2012 and 06/02/2012

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