While there are a lot of amazing cars out there, for some reason this is the one I would want to find out in the driveway on Christmas morning! Talk about a beautiful and rare machine! It’s an Arnolt MG Coupe, one of only 67 coupes to be built from the relationship between Mr. Arnolt, Bertone and MG. I’m sure many of you have heard of the Arnolt Bristol, but it’s understandable if you’ve never seen or heard of the Arnolt MG. They didn’t build many and so far there are around 35 missing. The seller claims this one is all original, although I have my doubts, I still would love to have it. You can find this rare beauty here on eBay in Monte Carlo, Monaco with a current bid of £18k ($22k).

The story goes that Mr. Arnolt, a successful Chicago based car distributor spotted a beautiful Bertone bodied MG at the 1952 Turin autoshow. He loved the design so much, he ordered 200 bodies from Bertone and made arrangements with MG to provide him with MG TD chassis to install them on. After building just 102 cars, MG could no longer provide him with TD engines and chassis, leaving Arnolt to figure out how to meet his side of the deal with Bertone. Thankfully he was able to work out a deal with Bristol, giving birth to the Arnolt Bristol. As incredible as those cars are, I would love to have this MG Special.

MG hasn’t ever been known for building high powered engines, but they have a long history of building some wonderful sports cars. The 1.3 liter MG inline 4 only produces about 50 horsepower, but what the TD lacks in power it makes up for in handling prowess. While I’m sure the Bertone body adds a decent amount of weight, I doubt it’s enough to have a drastic impact on handling or performance. This one looks to be in nice and clean shape. That valve cover looks like an aftermarket replacement to me, but otherwise the engine looks to be original. I see some overspray around the engine bay, which suggests this car isn’t as original as the seller states.

The interior doesn’t look all original to me either, but it looks correct. It looks a lot more comfortable than a TD, or any MG T-series for that matter. It is still fairly spartan, but having a roof over your head and roll up windows makes a world of difference when your cruising down the road.

While I don’t believe that this car is all original, it does look to be in great shape and is complete. Finding replacement body and interior parts could be tricky, so having all the correct screws, bolts and trim pieces is extremely important. As much as I love it, I do have one major issue with it, I’d be scared to drive it. When you own a car this is just one of 67 or so left, it becomes your responsibility to protect and preserve it for the future. Once these cars are gone, they will be gone forever. Do you think you could bring yourself to actually drive it everyday or would you share my fears of damaging it? Either way, if it ends up in your driveway on Christmas morning, we sure would love to hear about it!