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MG MGA - Shelley Jacks - Now I have Seen It All

This Shelley Jack is not for an MGA. However, I thought you might all like to see some of the aspirational asking prices around the bazaars.

http://www.tinyurls.co.uk/Y15668

With an asking price of $1,159.95 (£728.06) for a 12DL it seems the world has gone silly, especially as it was never supplied with the AC Cobra as claimed, just the lowly Austin 10.

For information, the AC Cobra was supplied with the LJ22 which was the the same as the 12DL except for the labelling. The changeover occurred around 1951/1952.

Steve
Steve Gyles

If the URL does not work try Ebay item No. 350402091946

Steve
Steve Gyles

"...12 coats of etching primer"

Why?

Yes Steve, that certainly takes the biscuit! Normally when I am paying over $1,000.00 for my incorrect jacks I prefer without the DIY "peening"
Neil McGurk

"British unobtainium-- rare as the proverbial rocking horse excrement."

Oh, there is some Horse Sh!t alright, but it's not the jack...
Sheesh....
GTF
G T Foster

Fourteen of these jacks have gone through Ebay in the last 2 years. One went for £266 ($400). Other than that the average price was £31 ($46). Makes you wonder where £728.06 ( $1,159.95) comes from.

That all said, I have been chatting with the vendor and he makes interesting points about jacks and other tool kit parts. In the 1950s, we in Britain were struggling to recover from our war debts and were exporting like mad. We were not going to hold up a car export for the sake of a whitworth spanner or a Shelley jack. If the specified tool was not in the parts bin anything would do. Therefore, even though the car manual may show a particular tool in a glossy photo it did not necessarily mean that what was in the boot. He suggested with some knowledge that this particular jack was found in the boot of some early AC Cobras.

Did ALL MGAs come with the specified jack? We may never know.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Yes Steve, he may be correct, but that hardly justifies the price! A clear case of 'come in spinner'.
Barry
Barry Gannon

Unbelievably someone has put in a bid! Current price is £549.58 ($879.99).

That is the highest price I have seen bid for any jack - and this version is not even rare!

Steve
Steve Gyles

The seller name, "British Auto Specialty" may imply knowledge to the purchaser. Alternatively, the seller could have a shill bidding on it.
Mike Parker

Mike

I had not heard of shill before. Just looked it up. You are probably right. Nothing escapes me on my Ebay searches of Shelley Jacks. If it is the case I will spot it when it comes up for sale again.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Do you think it's a silly Shelley seller sly shill?
Neil McGurk

Well Steve, if nothing else comes of this, you will have increased your vocabulary. Neil, it hurts my head just to think about it.
Mike Parker

Neil

Careful. You might encourage Glenn Hedrich to write one of his poems!

Steve
Steve Gyles

I'm sure he's on his way.
Mike Parker

This thread was discussed between 10/10/2010 and 17/10/2010

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