MGA Twin Cam Cars are Thriving
in Southern California
California was a delightful place for a young
motor enthusiast who grew up with Soap Box Derby Racers, the
"American Graffiti" hot rod scene in the mid 1950's,
and then when the MGA Roadster appeared in the late 1950's,
life was good!
During College I bought a standard 1956 MGA
Roadster as a daily driver through the hills of the San Francisco
Bay area. Before marriage and graduate school in the East,
the red 1500cc was sold in 1958.
In 1978, after 20 years without an open roadster,
it seemed only appropriate to rekindle my MGA love affair,
and so began my continuing search for these cars. The MGA
Twin Cam became the object of my search. The remains of two
Twin Cam Roadsters, several engines, running gear, brakes
and wheels were located and obtained locally. Thus began a
hobby business which needed to pay its own way, separate from
family needs and my architectural practice. It is now 2008,
fifty years since I enjoyed my first MGA Roadster, and thirty
years since this hobby business was named 'Auto Vintagery'
(now Autovintagery.com). These cars are a passion in my life
and I have vowed to restore as many as possible to like new
condition so their beauty will not be lost by this generation.
At least 50 MG cars, the bulk of which were
four wheel disc brake models have made their home here. Of
these, my memory wants to say, there have been over 40 Twin Cams
and 4 Mark II Deluxes. Some have been fully restored to their
former glory while others have stayed for a short time and
traveled elsewhere, but ultimately saved from extinction.
Twin Cams belonging to other owners have also
been restored by us and are in addition to those mentioned
above. In all, none have been historical racing gems, but
all are standard appropriate examples of our favorite models.
At least one now has a racing history.
Five are now under restoration
here in Southern California (YD3/1118, YD3/1515, YD3/1586, YD3/1678 and YDH5/1940).
Please advise me if I need to make any corrections to the
following list of Auto Vintagery Twin Cam Alumni..
The search continues - amazingly cars do continue
to surface for the passionate enthusiast. My wife cautions
that the number of cars at the end cannot be greater than
those that came off of the original factory line... Safety
Fast in Southern California!!
Regards, TWIN CAM JIM
Twin Cam Cars Passing
Through Auto Vintagery
|
Twin Cam Cars:
|
1. |
YD3/543 |
Fully Restored for Tom Westphal |
2007 |
2. |
YD3/584 |
Fully Restored for Dave Young |
1999 |
3. |
YD3/639 |
Arranged Sale to Carl George |
1998 |
4. |
YD3/721 |
Sold Unrestored to Ralph Zbarsky |
Early 1990's |
5. |
YD3/754 |
Restored for Arizona Customer |
2014 |
6. |
YD3/765 |
Restored for Jack Queen |
2012 |
7. |
YD3/789 |
Sold Unrestored to Robbin Hawley |
Late 1970's |
8. |
YD3/831 |
Sold to and Restored for Paul Norris |
2014 |
9. |
YD3/870 |
Sold to and Restored for Pat Orinno |
Late 1990's |
10. |
YM3/1007 |
Sold to and Restored for Carl George |
Late 1990's |
11. |
YD3/1019 |
Bought from Jim Griffith |
Mid 1980's |
12. |
YM3/1037 |
Sold to Jerry Alban |
Late 1990's |
13. |
YD3/1118 |
Awaiting Restoration |
2015 - Available Now! |
14. |
YD3/1131 |
Sold to ?? |
Mid 1980's |
15. |
YD3/1169 |
Arranged Sale to Tom Krevetz |
Mid 1990's |
16. |
YD3/1194 |
Sold to Pepe Dias Garza |
Early 1990's |
17. |
YD3/1207 |
Arranged Sale to Pepe Dias Garza |
Early 1990's |
18. |
YD3/1269 |
Sold Unrestored to Harold Gill |
Early 1980's |
19. |
YD3/1284 |
Sold to and Restored for Dr. David Doll |
Early 1980's |
20. |
YD3/1312 |
Sold to Tim Bradley (England) |
Early 1980's |
21. |
YD3/1350 |
Sold to Charles Felder |
Mid 1980's |
22. |
YD3/1358 |
Sold to and Restored for John Bertolotti |
2008 |
23. |
YD3/1359 |
Complete Restoration. Sold with the help of Beaulieu Motors after 6 years of European Motoring adventures. |
2010 |
24. |
YM3/1370 |
Sold to and Restored for Pat
Orinno |
2007 |
25. |
YD3/1416 |
Sold Partially Restored to
Tom Krevetz |
Mid 1990's |
26. |
YM3/1465 |
Sold to and Restored for Carl George |
Mid 1990's |
27. |
YD3/1498 |
Restored for Auto Vintagery. Former Tony Sims racer. |
2007 |
28. |
YD3/1515 |
Owned by Autovintagery |
2015 - Available Now! |
29. |
YM3/1545 |
Sold to Glen Tarlton |
Mid 1980's |
30. |
YD3/1578 |
Sold to and Restored for Bill
King |
2005 |
31. |
YD3/1586 |
Awaiting Restoration |
2015 - Available Now! |
32. |
YD3/1589 |
Sold to Mark Smith |
Late 1980's |
33. |
YD3/1597 |
Sold to Charles Daubs |
Mid 1980's |
34. |
YD3/1678 |
Awaiting Restoration |
2015 - Available Now! |
35. |
YD3/1728 |
Sold to John Dormer (Much race
history) |
Early 1980's |
36. |
YDH5/1940 |
Owned by Autovintagery |
2015 - Available Now! |
37. |
YM3/2051 |
Restored for Pat Orrino |
2015 |
38. |
YM3/2069 |
Sold to John Bertolotti |
2008 |
39. |
YM3/2087 |
In Restoration for Rich Witzel |
2015 |
40. |
YD3/2212 |
Sold to and Restored by Martin Swan (Australia) |
2012 |
41. |
YD3/2356 |
Sold to and Restored for John
Kernan |
2003 |
42. |
YD3/2403 |
Sold to ?? (Washington State) |
Mid 1990's |
|
|
|
|
Mark II Deluxe
Cars:
|
1. |
GHNL2 102731 |
Restored for Mr. &
Mrs. Barkei |
2008 |
2. |
GHNL2 108285 |
Restored and sold to Germany |
Late 1980's |
3. |
GNHL2 108287 |
Sold to Ms. Palmer |
Mid 1990's |
4. |
GNHL2 108301 |
Sold to Brown/Gammons. Became
Monte Carlo winning car with much race history.
Complete restoration for Pat Orrino. |
2012 |
|