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Hi all:
   
   It's been a while.
   
   I kept checking back from time to time to see if there were any updates on Mark's restoration of MA200, but there haven't been any for some time, and least that I've seen.
   
   However, a quick check, tonight, at the resto shop's site shows that the project is finally done.  MA200 is back on the street, and it's gorgeous.
   
   Go to www.thecreativeworkshop.com for tons of pics from it's birth in 1963 to the finished restoration.
   
   Nice job, Mark.  She's a beauty.

Nice article, Mark and seems to add a bit more detail to the overall specification of this car.  I noticed a couple of additional pictures I've never seen before, specifically the head on shot of the front end, and the engine compartment shot.
   
   I assume they're from your archive.  Would it be possible to post them on this thread, or your Photobucket page?  I'd love to add the front end shot to my desktop.
   
   Speaking of pictures, I've also noticed that The Creative Workshop website adds photos of the restoration from time to time.  How's the project coming along?  Still in the bare metal stage?
   
   Did you ever track down those Fiat taillights you were looking for?
   Have any other parts been difficult to identify?
   
   If you do have a tough time sourcing the proprietary parts, you know where to come, right?

"that is f'in unbeleivabel!!!"
   
   Behold the power of the interweb!!!

Jeez, I just noticed...they're in Argenfrickentina.  Wow.
   
   Oh, well, at least we found them.

Looks like each lense is in 2 pieces, (or 3 if the center reflector is also a separate item) and the line is just the backgound the parts were laid on for the photograph.  I think these are the correct ones.
   
   Not a bad price, either.
   
   Well, that was easy.
   
   Anything else we can do for you, Mark?

Mark:
   
   Looks like the Fiat 1100 sedan may be the origin of your taillight. I haven't found any decent shots online, (not a real collector car, you know), but oddly enough, I did find this video.
   
   Watch it all the way through.  There is a close up shot of the taillights.
   
   Check it out.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXVwbqsEyZ4
   
   There may be quite a few out there.  They were sold in Italy as Fiats, Spain, as Seats, and Germany as Fiat Neckars.  They also built them in India for a number of years, sold as Padminis.
   
   Who'd a thunk it?

Actually, that may be correct.  I've never heard of the model, but I've heard of NSU and of course, Fiat, but never the two together.
   
   However, a quick search showed that it does, indeed, exist and was built in the correct time frame.  I couldn't find any clear pictures of the taillight, but the ones I did find look similar.
   
   Also, check out the Fiat 1100 sedan of the same year, or years.  It could be the same part, and I'm sure there's a lot more of them.
   
   Shouldn't be too hard to find. [;)]

Mark:
   
   I've been trying to dope that out since you first posted the pictures of the rear end design.
   
   My best guess was Rover P5.
   
   But that'd be a Lucas part.  Hella tells me it's a German or Swedish manufacturer.
   
   Volvo 122, maybe?

Hi Mark,
   
   I would guess the matte finish would appropriate, as all the pics I've seen (pre-Minilite)seem to indicate that.  More than likely stove enamelled, (a primitive baked on finish).  I'd also guess that they would be the same stock finish as offered by AC on the slab side 289 when they were new.
   
   Glad to see you're going back to original metallic blue, as that blue green shade was just a bit too loud.  The color in the factory photo was just right, IMO.

Hi Mark:
   
   Great to hear the resto work is progressing so smoothly.  The uniqueness of the car and the careful stewardship of it's relatively few previous owners seems to have paid off.
   
   Let's face it, you don't find too many 40 year old cars that haven't had one or two dented panels or fallen victim to the tin worm.  It's obvious that the car has lead a fairly pampered life.
   
   Given the fragility of it's hand formed aluminum panels, it's even more remarkable.
   
   I can see the Porsche parts on the rear bumper now that you've given the heads up, (I doubt I would have made the connection otherwise).
   
   Did you get a list of the parts sources in the paperwork that came with the car?  I think I see Rover P5 in the front turn signals and taillights, but I could be wrong.
   
   The trunk locks look pretty generic, they could have even come from my MG TD as they are similar in function, if not identical in appearance.  The lid itself could have come from a Gordon-Keeble, although I'm sure AC built one specific to this project. Unless it's fiberglass rather than aluminum...then it could very well be from GK.
   
   And I've yet to figure the source for the bumpers...I'm guessing they were one offs as well.
   
   Do you have any shots of the interior?  Love to see what that looks like.

Hi Strada:
   
   I've been dropping in and out of this thread, (mostly out,lately) and if you've read my posts, can see that I share your interest in this particular vehicle, and have done so for many years.
   
   Mark Gold, the newest owner of MA 200, had linked his Photobucket page in another thread, which contains a few more additional pics of the car, including a rear end shot which, AFAIK, had never been previously published.
   
   You can find it at http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n20/markgold/.
   Just copy and past it into your browser and it should come up.
   
   I just visited the page and noticed a new picture added, that being a black and white photo of the 289 V8 in situ.
   
   Hopefully Mark will continue to add new pictures so that those interested can get a better idea of what this lovely design looked like when original built.
   
   In addition, the shop which is currently restoring the car, The Creative Workshop in Florida, has added a few new pictures of the car in it's present dissassembled state, as the restoration work continues.
   
   Just cut and paste:
   
   http://www.thecreativeworkshop.com/Pages/page%20Daily%20pics.htm
   
   and their site will come up.
   
   They seem to be making quite a bit of progress, considering how difficult it must be to restore a one-off, hand built car such as this beauty.
   
   As far as the suspension goes, it seems to be as unique as the car (and the original engine design) itself.  Neither leaf or typical Cobra coil sprung, it appears to be a protoype inboard coil with rocker arms setup, never used before (or since), on a production AC chassis.

Same thing was/is happening to the less valuable V12 Ferrari models, particularly the 250 and 330 2+2's.  They take the engine and drive train and build a GTO or Testa Rossa around it.  Even a replica can sell for 10 times what a 2+2 is worth on it's best day.

Whatever the original color is, it's better than the color shown in the recent T&CC article, or this ad in their Nov '97 issue when it came up for auction.  I'm guessing it was this color when you found it, Mark.
   
   (First try at posting a picture...hope it works)
   
   

Cass and All:
   
   Mark posted some additional pics on his Photobucket site (thanks, Mark!).  At last I know what the rest of MA200 looks like.  Not quite what I expected, but close. It looks like they stayed with a more traditional 50's look when the rest of the competition was going chopped off, Kamm style rear treatment.  Reminds me a bit of the DB5, as I first guessed, with a bit of Maserati 3500GT thrown in.
   
   Of course this was the prototype, so everything was subject to change, and indeed, it eventually did.
   
   Very handsome though, I like it...a lot.  Now about the interior...
   
   By the way, I forgot about the RHD.  That ought to make driving a bit interesting, stateside, no?

Cass:
   
   Good questions all.  How Hurlock got together with Frua was probably a natural progression, given the trend of British manufacturers to ally themselves with Italian designers in the early '60's.  Triumph teamed with Michelotti for the TR4, Spitfire, 2000 Sedan, and others, and with Vignale for the Italia.  Gordon-Keeble (the few that were produced) was a Bertone design, Aston Martin had Touring do their DB4 and 5, and Zagato did their DB4 Zagato.
   
   There was a lot of that going on, and maybe AC just went with the trend.  Unfortunately for AC, the convoluted and more sophisticated manufacturing processes, (body stamped and assembled in Italy, then shipped back to Thames Ditton for the trimming and fitting), probably pushed the finished costs beyond what they were aiming for.  All of a sudden they were in Ferrari territory, price wise.
   
   Before the 428, the E-type, Corvette, and Cobra all sold at roughly the same $6000US price point.  Had AC been able to sell the 428 in that price range, they probably would have moved thousands of them.  Of course, AC was a tiny company compared to Jaguar or GM, so, even if they could streamline the assembly process, the economies of scale would have prevented it.
   
   As to the value of 428's on the classic car market, it doesn't appear to me that they seem to suffer that much relative to their direct competition, aside from Ferrari.  Maserati, Bizzarini, Iso, Jensen, Lamborghini, Aston Martin all seem to hover around the same price range.  Only Ferrari is worth more, model for model.
   
   Why? Because nothing else in the world is Ferrari, with the competition history, glittering clientele, reputation, etc. Plus Ferrari has that V12 engine.
   
   The 428 may be a better car in many ways, and a lot rarer as well, but if you put a Ferrari emblem on it, it's value would triple overnight.
   
   Only dedicated car nuts know who the Hurlock brothers were, or the Orsi Brothers, or David Brown, or even Ferruchio Lamborghini.  Everyone knows who Enzo Ferrari was.
   
   Re:the Daimler prototype.  A brief online search didn't turn up any pictures of it.  I do remember an article in either Classic and Sportscar or T&CC (my Britbooks, as I call them).  If I can find the article, I'll scan it and try to post a picture on this forum.  Of course, if Mark posts a pic of MA200's rear end, we can moot the point, entirely.
   
   Got any more pictures, Mark?