1953 MG-Arnolt Coupé – Auction Car of the Week

Remove the badge from the front of this sweeping two-door coupé and you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a baby Rolls-Royce, or perhaps a lesser-known Aston Martin, and although British, it’s neither of those things. Instead, this rather wonderful creation – the MG-Arnolt – is the result of a three-way collaboration between MG, an Italian coachbuilder on the verge of collapse and an American entrepreneur with rather lofty aspirations, and it makes for fascinating reading.

Very much a patchwork quilt of influences, the MG-Arnolt Coupé was the brainchild of larger than life industrialist and engineer Stanley H. Arnolt II, but the story of the car in question goes back a little further – to 1952 to be precise, and the Turin Motor Show.

As the ’40s gave way to a new decade of post-war economic struggle, steel was in short supply, with production previously having been re-routed in order to build planes, tanks, guns and anything else necessary to fight in a global conflict, and as such Italy’s esteemed assemblage of carrozzeria were in a spot of bother.

Coachbuilders like Vignale, Zagato and Bertone, to name just three, were becoming desperate for business. On top of the material shortage at the time, a shift in production methods saw cars moving towards unibody construction, with the chassis and body being a single unit as oppose to separate entities. Whereas historically, a rolling chassis would be sent to one of these custom builders for a bespoke body, the new unibody cars were being produced fully built, severely diminishing the need for such work.

In a bid to remain relevant, Bertone acquired a couple of used MG TD chassis and built two bespoke bodies for them before displaying them both at the aforementioned motor show in Turin, one a coupé, the other a convertible. Despite their rather meagre underpinnings the cars looked modern and stylish and soon caught the eye of our main protagonist. Enter stage right: Stanley Arnolt.

Having begun his career selling marine engines to the government during World War Two, Arnolt would continue to build his empire producing and distributing various products over the coming years, but his passions always lay in the automotive world and he would subsequently set up a Chicago-based dealership selling British cars in 1950.

Some people imagine seeing their name in lights one day, but Arnolt wanted his on a car, and when he spied the Bertone MGs in Turin he saw his chance to make that dream a reality and immediately ordered 100 of each to sell in his native U S of A. A deal was struck but Arnolt and Bertone still had to convince the brass at MG that their bespoke creations wouldn’t detract from MG’s sales figures.

Fortunately Arnolt had the gift of the gab and managed to convince the British manufacturer to supply him with the required number of TD chassis, complete with engine, transmission, steering, brakes and suspension. The story, as told by Nuccio Bertone to Motor Klassik magazine in 1994, involves the buying of gifts for everyone at MG to grease the wheels, so to speak, including a magnificent but rather stinky Gorgonzola that almost botched the deal!

Despite the fromage faux pas, however, the collaboration went ahead and the TDs were shipped from the UK to Turin where Bertone would build them using its custom, hand-hammered bodies and fancier interiors before shipping them to Arnolt in the US to be sold to the public, bringing the famous Italian carrozzeria back from the brink of extinction in the process.

Fitted with the TD’s standard 54bhp, 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine mated to a four-speed gearbox, the performance of the MG-Arnolts remained comparable to the car’s upon which they were based and the simple set up meant they were incredibly easy to work on and maintain, but boy did they look a whole lot smarter. Bertone’s stylish bodywork and improved interiors elevated the Arnolt models far above the original TD, but despite all of this sales were hard to come by.

After just a year of production, BMC pulled its supply of TD chassis with just over 100 MG Arnolt models having been built. Some say MG stopped supplying Arnolt and Bertone with TDs due to the firm concentrating its efforts on future models, whilst others claim that Arnolt had gotten bored and already moved on to a more fully realised incarnation of his dream to produce his own cars in the form of the six-cylinder Arnolt-Bristol, based on that company’s 404-series chassis.

Whatever the case may be, the MG-Arnolt remains an incredibly rare machine that combines sturdy and reliable British mechanicals with stylish, hand-built Italian coachwork. A bit of an anomaly in the grand automotive landscape but one that’s nevertheless incredibly appealing to classic car fans, the MG-Arnolt is as interesting as it is pretty, and we have one available right here on Car & Classic via our auctions platform.

This car has been kept and maintained with great care, receiving extensive attention in the early 2000s before being exported to Italy in 2015. Distinguished by a light brown colour scheme over a black interior it now presents in a wonderfully usable condition. Accompanied by a rich collection of documents, invoices and its original owner’s manual the car does run and drive but will require a little fettling here and there, so if you fancy a unique, interesting and characterful light project that’s a doddle to spanner on then this is most certainly the car for you.

Head on over to the listing for the full rundown and a ton of pictures before chucking in your bid. Let’s be honest, as one of only 67 MG-Arnolt coupés ever built, where else are you going to find one of these fascinating cars for sale?