Description
This MGC is originally a Channel Islands car, the islands are beautiful, and with a much nicer climate than the mainland, salt-induced rust is much less of a problem.
The orginal owner bought an automatic as he wanted to use the car for continental jaunts and driving in London traffic, something it has performed faultlessly for him
Garaged as far as I am aware going back 25 years with a considerable amount of money spent on it by more recent owners included a full body restoration in 2015.
The Tartan Red coachwork is immaculate, as well it might be considering how much the owner paid for the professional respray…
As part of the bodywork restoration (when it left Jersey it was “tatty, but solid’ according to the owner), the MGC received new sills, rear quarters and some repairs to the doors. Interestingly, when the wings were removed the underpinnings were discovered to be factory original and never repaired or welded, which might be unusual for the marque but is completely in keeping with the condition of the majority of Channel Island cars.
The car comes with a full photographic record of the work that was carried out by Village Garage in East Grinstead, the well-known MG Car Club-recommended engineers.
The interior sports the original pattern leather seat covers fitted over new foams, so they are as comfortable as they look. This was carried out by Roger Jenner of Haywards Heath along with the refurbishment of the sunshine roof.
Both door cards have recently been replaced with original pattern items, following the relocation of the radio speakers from the doors to the rear of the cabin. All other trim panels are believed original.
The interior headlining is original but the fabric on the folding roof, believed to have been fitted by the supplying dealer in Guernsey, has been replaced and improved by the addition of a wind deflector with chrome hinges, which the owner reports is very effective at speed.
The heated rear window has been replaced and is operated by an original BMC pull switch and an MGB centre console and armrest has been added to enable the fitment of additional instruments and switches.
The car also has various security measures fitted
The 3-litre straight-six engine has been rebuilt with an unleaded head, larger carbs and a free-flowing exhaust manifold, all of which mean that this example is more than capable of keeping up with motorway traffic. It has even been painted in the correct shade of BMC metallic green.
The original Borg Warner three-speed automatic gearbox is, in the owners own words “a delight, changing smoothly.”
The headlights have been upgraded to more modern standards and are supplemented by the addition of a pair of original Lucas driving lights.
After being exported to Guernsey, the MGC then went to Jersey and was re-registered with a Jersey registration number. It was then re-imported to the mainland 2 years ago and re-registered with a UK age-related historic number. Ironically on its return to the UK the DVLA issued the wrong registration number which the current owner drove about on before the mistake was picked up at an MOT! Correct and legal plates (PUJ 89G) were then fitted to the car.
The car was then imported back to Jersey and given the J50010 registration & was evetually purchased by Jersey based Classic car dealer Le Riche Automobile Restorers.
The car was purchased from Le Riche in November 2025 by its present owner and re-imported back to the UK & again onto the PUJ 89G plates .
The car has been kept in professional humidity controlled vehicle storage ever since with the current mileage at 49760
Serviced with oil changed and MOT until February 2027
All work done at the Village Garage in East Grinstead
The car comes with invoices for all the work the past owners have done to the car, including that for a high-quality respray.
Sadly, the Guernsey authorities destroyed all their historic vehicle records some years ago, although the original registration is known from later Jersey registration documents (G 8434) and the Heritage Certificate (included with the car) does show its export to Guernsey and confirms its status as a ‘matching numbers’ vehicle.
Other than that there is a small amount of information with the car from its time in Jersey registration
The car comes with invoices for all the work which has been done to the car, including that for a high-quality respray.
The quality of the work is so high that it was chosen to feature in Classic Car magazine in 2017
