PROVENANCE
British Motor Corporation, Abingdon, United Kingdom (retained for 12 Hours of Sebring)
Ship & Shore Motors, West Palm Beach, Florida (acquired from the above)
Dr. Paul Buchanan, Landrum, South Carolina (acquired from the above in 1962)
Lyle York, Anderson, Indiana (acquired from the above in June 1967)
Current Owner (acquired from the above in September 2002)

RACE HISTORY
12 Hours of Sebring, March 1960, Parkinson/Flaherty, No. 40 (4th in Class, 29th Overall)

EXHIBITED
Watkins Glen Collier Cup, Watkins Glen, New York, 2004
Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance, Edgemont, Pennsylvania, September 2010 (First in Class)
Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, March 2012

THIS CAR
Following the launch of the Twin-Cam MGA in 1958, BMC’s Competitions Department set its sights on the Under-1.6 liter GT class at Sebring with a trio of race-prepared MGA coupes in 1959. While roadster-type bodies were initially allocated for Sebring – including YD2/2571, the car offered here – MGA coupes were ultimately chosen for 1959. Entered by MG distributor The Hambro Corporation, the entire MG team finished the very wet race and earned 2nd and 3rd in class. A Le Mans class victory that year added momentum. For 1960, BMC returned to Sebring with six race cars, including three MGA Twin-Cams. This car, YD2/2571, initially selected for 1959 but shelved, was now utilized and subtly updated to reflect the new MGA 1600 body style.

Among their many racing modifications, the MGAs were equipped with lightweight Vanden Plas aluminum hardtops and a special cockpit tonneau panel to accommodate a hypothetical traveling suitcase (a new FIA requirement for 1960). The special MGAs were consecutively numbered, with no. 38 driven by Englishmen Lund/Escott, no. 39 by Canadians Hayes/Leavens, and no. 40 – this car, YD2/2571 (UK Registration UMO 93) – driven by California BMC dealers Parkinson/Flaherty. While no. 38 retired early, no. 39 finished 3rd in Class and 24th Overall, and this car came 4th in Class and 29th Overall.

After Sebring, YD2/2571 returned to BMC dealer Ship and Shore Motors in West Palm Beach, Florida, and then to Dr. Paul Buchanan, who raced the MGA in SCCA events but dropped a valve around 1962 and retired the car. In 1967, he sold it to noted MG Twin-Cam enthusiast Lyle York, who preserved it and sold it to the current owner in 2002. Since then, the cylinder head was repaired and the engine’s bottom end remains as built by the BMC Comps Department, as does the rest of the car, which has never been restored and has been maintained in highly original form. As offered, YD2/2571 proudly shows traces of its rare original Ash Green paint under the Brooklands Green racing finish, of which a great majority remains. Routine maintenance has been performed and repairs made as needed.

Notable outings with the current owner include participation in the 2004 Collier Cup race at Watkins Glen. Shown at Pennsylvania’s Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance in September 2010, YD2/2571 earned First Place in the Historic Race Car class. As offered, YD2/2571 is a charismatic virtual time warp as the only unrestored example of the nine known BMC prepared Sebring MGAs. Beautifully preserved and showing less than 6,500 miles from new, YD2/2571 is accompanied by a DVD, historical data and images, plus additional seat leather, a removable roll-bar hoop, and original side curtains. An outstanding package for enthusiasts of real, honest competition cars, YD2/2571 carries unbroken provenance and marks a significant and historic find.