The moment I saw this car I got on the phone and started asking questions. There just aren't that many original owner cars that are still in original condition. Most have been tampered with or updated. After lengthy discussions I'm now the proud new owner of this car. This was a sight unseen purchase other than the pictures shown in Hemmings and quite a few more that he sent me. Hopefully it will it will look as good as I am expecting.
The guy I bought it from started out with a Mk II Tiger. After owning it less than a few months the car dealer totaled it. It was completely smashed along with 130 feet of guard rail. He did manage to salvage the jack and tool kit which I also bought from him. They set out to find him a replacement Mk II but weren't able to so they got him this one.
The car is very original so I'll probably have a bit of work ahead of me. Car has it's original paint (all of it- no touch-ups), interior, exhaust, clutch, water pump and just about everything else. The roll bar was custom made by the dealer and along with the traction bars were installed before initial delivery. From what I can see the roll bar bolts in to the shoulder seat belt bosses. The Panasonic Radar-Matic portable stereo was installed in 1968. The extra push button on the dash is for the "seek" function on the radio. Didn't know they had those in 68. He even has the manual for the radio along with the original purchase invoice for the car, owner's manual, service manual and other dealer info.
My plans are to preserve this car as much as possible. I'll start with new tires and an overall clean up. Looks like an additional brake light switch was added. He switched to silicone based fluid and surprisingly it killed the switch so he installed another one over by the water bottle. I'll yank that out and go to a mechanical switch on the pedal. Other than that I'll have to take inventory and make up a plan when the car gets here.
