Hi,
Yes it's a for sale ad - but you get the "finding it" story first
A year or so back, a friend of a friend (who is involved with the U.K. Sprite and midget club) received a call about a couple of old cars sitting in a garage that the owner wanted to move on having realised he’d never get around to fixing them- the friend of a friend, a friend and I went on a trip one sunny afternoon to have a look, they turned out to be an mk1 Sprite and a midget based Arkley which had been sitting unused in a North London garage since 1982.
An agreement was made with the owner and my friend and I returned one weekend to dig them out. We swept out the leaves, dusted them off, pumped up the tyres etc and had a good look at them with the aid of a jack etc. The Arkley was deemed ‘relatively easy project’ and the sprite ‘brave project’ as an unfortunately placed roof leak above the sprite had taken its toll. We then arranged for transport down to Somerset where we’ve rented a barn from a farmer. As an aside- Shipley made this really easy to arrange and the guy who arrived did an impressive job of reversing his flatbed and trailer off the road and down the narrow lane in a single try.
First off then- what is an Arkley? they’re a fibreglass kit designed to make use of crashed and rusty sprites and midgets, of which I imagine there were a few in the 70s and 80s. Designed and originally produced in Barnet, so not far from where the cars sat for all that time, the kits are still in production today.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkley_(automobile)
Apparently they’re pretty good fun to drive, since they’re a bit lighter and therefore quicker than a midget and handle fairly well. Definitely a marmite car, I think with decently sized wheels and an alternative to the awful standard rear lights they look alright. As you might expect for any quirky looking car, they have a bit of a cult following online and various have raced them in sprint/trials type races.
My plan for the Arkley was to fix it up and get it going as a side-project, but over a year later I haven’t done anything with it and realistically I probably won’t for another year (the bigger picture is that we haven’t managed to buy a house with a garage or driveway space and it seems unlikely we will in the immediate future).
So having drafted the above as the start of a project thread, it’s turning into a for sale thread- but I’ve posted it here as I thought people might like the story.
It seems a bit silly to have it sitting there, so I’m thinking of selling it on as it stands. It’s a 1966, registered as an ‘MG Unknown’ with the DVLA. The engine is a 1100cc (I think) with twin carbs and turns freely. There are discs up front and drums at the rear.
The garage it was in was mostly leak free where the Arkley was stored, so it’s actually in pretty good shape although of course the tyres/brakes/all sorts of things are perished or seized or what have you. The interior is cobwebby but all there, the hood is really brittle and cracked. It does roll, but all the brakes are partially stuck on so it needs a few people to push or a winch/tow.
I went down to Somerset last weekend and put it up on a ramp for a poke around underneath- it’s not terrible and it’s all there. The rear spring mounting points are solid and so are the sills. I also took a few videos to show the general condition, but I don’t think I can upload those here.
It would be nice to see a project thread about it on retrorides, hence why I’m advertising it here rather than on ebay (at least to start with). I asked how much it would be worth on an Arkley group and the suggestion was to advertise it at £1500 and see what offers I get but I don’t think it’s worth that, so I've priced it more realistically at £1000 or offers, if you're interested, try me - I can only say no!
So, there you have it- probably the only genuine untouched garage/barn find I’ll ever be involved in, but unfortunately timing is all wrong for me to take it any further. Does anyone want to take it on and continue the project thread?
It’s at a farm near Wincanton in Somerset. A guy the farmer knows does car deliveries and can deliver it. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll send you the videos I took via WhatsApp.
Cheers
Yes it's a for sale ad - but you get the "finding it" story first
A year or so back, a friend of a friend (who is involved with the U.K. Sprite and midget club) received a call about a couple of old cars sitting in a garage that the owner wanted to move on having realised he’d never get around to fixing them- the friend of a friend, a friend and I went on a trip one sunny afternoon to have a look, they turned out to be an mk1 Sprite and a midget based Arkley which had been sitting unused in a North London garage since 1982.
An agreement was made with the owner and my friend and I returned one weekend to dig them out. We swept out the leaves, dusted them off, pumped up the tyres etc and had a good look at them with the aid of a jack etc. The Arkley was deemed ‘relatively easy project’ and the sprite ‘brave project’ as an unfortunately placed roof leak above the sprite had taken its toll. We then arranged for transport down to Somerset where we’ve rented a barn from a farmer. As an aside- Shipley made this really easy to arrange and the guy who arrived did an impressive job of reversing his flatbed and trailer off the road and down the narrow lane in a single try.
First off then- what is an Arkley? they’re a fibreglass kit designed to make use of crashed and rusty sprites and midgets, of which I imagine there were a few in the 70s and 80s. Designed and originally produced in Barnet, so not far from where the cars sat for all that time, the kits are still in production today.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkley_(automobile)
Apparently they’re pretty good fun to drive, since they’re a bit lighter and therefore quicker than a midget and handle fairly well. Definitely a marmite car, I think with decently sized wheels and an alternative to the awful standard rear lights they look alright. As you might expect for any quirky looking car, they have a bit of a cult following online and various have raced them in sprint/trials type races.
My plan for the Arkley was to fix it up and get it going as a side-project, but over a year later I haven’t done anything with it and realistically I probably won’t for another year (the bigger picture is that we haven’t managed to buy a house with a garage or driveway space and it seems unlikely we will in the immediate future).
So having drafted the above as the start of a project thread, it’s turning into a for sale thread- but I’ve posted it here as I thought people might like the story.
It seems a bit silly to have it sitting there, so I’m thinking of selling it on as it stands. It’s a 1966, registered as an ‘MG Unknown’ with the DVLA. The engine is a 1100cc (I think) with twin carbs and turns freely. There are discs up front and drums at the rear.
The garage it was in was mostly leak free where the Arkley was stored, so it’s actually in pretty good shape although of course the tyres/brakes/all sorts of things are perished or seized or what have you. The interior is cobwebby but all there, the hood is really brittle and cracked. It does roll, but all the brakes are partially stuck on so it needs a few people to push or a winch/tow.
I went down to Somerset last weekend and put it up on a ramp for a poke around underneath- it’s not terrible and it’s all there. The rear spring mounting points are solid and so are the sills. I also took a few videos to show the general condition, but I don’t think I can upload those here.
It would be nice to see a project thread about it on retrorides, hence why I’m advertising it here rather than on ebay (at least to start with). I asked how much it would be worth on an Arkley group and the suggestion was to advertise it at £1500 and see what offers I get but I don’t think it’s worth that, so I've priced it more realistically at £1000 or offers, if you're interested, try me - I can only say no!
So, there you have it- probably the only genuine untouched garage/barn find I’ll ever be involved in, but unfortunately timing is all wrong for me to take it any further. Does anyone want to take it on and continue the project thread?
It’s at a farm near Wincanton in Somerset. A guy the farmer knows does car deliveries and can deliver it. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll send you the videos I took via WhatsApp.
Cheers
