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1961 Sebring MGA (one of two entered) - RT-502

At 08:55 PM 8/4/04 -0400, Steve Woodyard <MG2Cam@aol.com> wrote:
"In 1975 or 76 I was offered one of the Sebring 1961 cars, located in Baton Rouge, Louisianna. I made the trip down there to buy it (trailer and all), but turned it down because of the extremely rusty condition of the car. The guy was asking $2000 for that car, then subsequently called and offered it to me for $1000. Again, I made a mistake! I have pictures of that car at that time, as well. I sent them to Frank Graham, but he never acknowledged my attempts to contact him.

At 07:48 PM 8/6/04 -0400, Steve Woodyard wrote:
"I am sending you scanned photos of the 1961 Sebring car, as I found it in the mid 70's. The fenders were rusted away from the body, and a hole was actually rusted though the top!

Photos courtesy of Steve Woodyard.
Click for larger pictures.
61 Sebring MGA front 61 Sebring MGA engine bay 61 Sebring MGA RR quarter 61 Sebring MGA dash
NOTE: To correct an earlier erroneous note here,
This IS the same car as: 1961 Sebring MGA #43 Restoration

Please visit that web site to see the story of its restoration by FrankGraham.

61 Sebring MGA after restoration
At 03:16 AM 8/20/04 -0400, FrankGraham <frankgraham@msn.com> wrote:
>>"Hi Barney,

I just came upon the photos of my car that Steve Woodyard sent you.
I am a little puzzled by Steve's comments since we have spoken on the phone about the Sebring car at least twice over the years, though the last contact was a good 2 or 3 years ago or more. We both happen to be dentists and I recall talking to him about that. I have the same photos of my car that you have on your site but received them 7 or 8 years ago from a fellow named Andy Steinberg, if memory serves, who accompanied Steve to Baton Rouge in '75 and, as I understand it, actually took the photos. I have other photos of the car taken in 1972 (the last time the car was on the road) by a previous owner with the same license plate on the car. So those photos are indeed of #43.

FWIW, I assume that the hole in the roof Steve refers to is the one in the center which was actually for the pit signal light. The light had been removed, the center bashed down and a 4" square piece of sheet metal crudely brazed over the hole, and the whole thing was covered with an inch thick layer of bondo that was peeling away. It certainly looked like a patched rust hole but it wasn't one although there were lots of other spots rusted through all over the car including the sides of the roof where it meets the rear fender. Perhaps those are the holes in the roof that Steve is referring to, either way, it was very rusty as Steve says and it only had gotten much worse by the time I acquired the car in 1989.

Regards,
Frank"


At 07:02 PM 8/21/04 -0400, FrankGraham wrote:
>>"For the sake of accuracy, I have since recalled that the photos came to me from Jim Wright who got them from Andy Steinberg. Andy is from the Kansas City area (I think) and I also spoke to him a long time ago about the car. I still have the emails from Jim about the photos, and he sent them to me three and a half years ago.

Regards,
Frank"

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