I've been away from the list for the past 10 days, travelling on business and
vacationing. I was lucky enough to spend a week at the Breakers in Palm Beach
Florida. Gosh it would have been a great place for the TD (except for
interstate 95...my rented Olds Ciera could barely keep up with the frenzied
80 MPH pace - not a cop in sight either!).
Anyway, if you happen to find yourself (or lose yourself) in Palm Beach, be
sure eat dinner at a place called "Ragtops" [(407) 655-2836]. I participated in
a conference and the sponsors took us there one evening. It's a three story
building with roughly 20 well restored or nice original convertibles on each
floor. I counted 14 LBC's among the 60+ cars on display. The food was good
(catered by the Breakers) and the atmosphere was authentic grease monkey
(the place was a car dealership founded in 1927 - original grease still on the
battered wooden floors). The cars are available for purchase, some are on
consignment, the others are owned by Ragtops. The owners/founders are Sherri
and Ty Houck. I don't know anything about them, but I enjoyed their
establishment. I took the trouble of writing down information on the LBC's in
Ragtops, and I will repeat it below for your enjoyment.
(all ragtops, of course)
Year Desc. Color Miles Price
---- ----- -------- --------- --------
1932 MG J2 green 15,263km $22,900
1958 MGA black 1,663 $11,500
1958 TR3A Red 1,157 $18,900
1960 Daimler
sp250 Red 49,576 $15,950
1962 XKE V12 White 41,506 $59,900 (whoa - a bit high?)
1963 AH3000
MKII Red 86,140 $18,500
1967 AH3000
MKIII Green 0 $21,500
" " White 58,954 $25,900
1974 XKE Silver 18,000 $34,900
1976 Jensen
Interceptor White 43,583 $28,500 (neat car!)
1980 MGB Black 63,847 $ 5,995
1988 XJS Burgundy 68,235 $16,900
1991 XJS Green 31,000 $31,900
1992 Cobra Black 54 $29,900
Replica (new)
(I presume the low odometer readings indicate that most of the cars
have had at least one turn on the odometer)
In general I can tell you that the cars I saw (with the exception of the
very nice fiberglass Cobra) were authentic or well restored. I've never before
seen a Daimler (I thought it was a Sunbeam!), but it's British, with a V8. I
was surprised not to see a single T series MG. They said the T series sells out
fast. There was also a Lotus 7 that was on display, without a price. The cars
do sell - there's a new price list and inventory each week. Is this an
indication (finally) that old car prices are firming up?
I made the mistake of telling my colleagues that I'm a car collector, and spent
2 hours after dinner explaining everything I knew about the cars on display.
Much of my knowledge was gleaned from this list. Thanks for the tutorials
everyone!
Best to all of you.
Doug
(now well rested, and a bit tan)
* Doug Phillips (Douglas.W.Phillips@Williams.edu)/Williamstown, MA/ '52 MG TD *
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