Production Figures

[John Black]

Hi Guy,

I assume this information is out there somewhere but has anyone collated the production numbers for all the manufacturers combined. These things have now been around a great many years in  their various forms, eg, factory built, kits etc so how many potential members for this forum are there out there? A great many  of the kit makers came and went pretty quickly, never mind the factory built ones, but did they leave any records as to build numbers etc.

Anxious  minds need to know!

John the Brit

[Paul Mossberg]

I’ve searched.

 

Never found anything. 🙁

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[Rosebud and Bill]

Paul,

 

I wonderi if all our members sent in their make and body numbers, if we could get any idea of production numbers?

 

Bill

Bad Bill

[Paul Mossberg]

Honest? I doubt it Bill.

We’re far from critical mass as far as our numbers go.

I’m not sure we can even determine how the various manufacturers numbered their cars. Did they start at number 1?  Or 1001? Did they restart the count every year? How did the many mergers and takeovers affect serial numbers?

Just my two cents, probably worth one with inflation. 😉

PMOSSBERG2015-07-19 23:29:44

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[edward ericson]

So I met 2 people who worked at British Coach Works back in the day. One was Jack Fusseneger, the founder’s son and I think a co-founder. He said “less than 700” BCWs were made, 1980-86. Production stopped when chevettes were discontinued; many of the cars went overseas, mostly to Japan, he said.

[Paul Mossberg]

You learned more than I did Ed!

 

I met Gary Rutherford a few times. Gary founded Classic Roadsters Ltd., sold it to the sharks in Florida because he wanted to focus on his boat business. Then bought it back after they tried to kill it. He never mentioned any real production numbers.

PMOSSBERG2015-07-20 09:48:03

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[newkitman]

I used to do a spreadsheet for my Southeast Karmann Ghia
club. I recorded each by Year, VIN, Transaxle Type (autostick or manual), Coupe or Convertible, Interior color, Exterior color, Owner’s Name and State. But only posted Year of Manufacture, Owner Last Name, State, Color, Transaxle Type and Coupe or Convertible.

As I am now retired I could make up a spreadsheet sorted by manufacturer (for club members only)who would want to email me their data. This would at least give us a snapshot of current data. Could be a bit tricky as the FiberFab and CMC kits were Chevy Chevette, Ford Pinto and VW based kits. Don’t know about the other kit manufacturers. I’ll let y’all mull it over and then see where it all falls out.

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[Rich Kallenberger]

Considering the Japanese tendency to organize things, is there a TDr club in Japan?

[edward ericson]

It’d be fun to find out. My Japanese skills are nonexistent, tho, so not sure how to search.

[Paul Mossberg]

I have that already Allen. 😉

 

This will probably format poorly, but here is a summary from the registry:

 

Name (Screen name)                                            Year                              Manufacturer

W. Lee Truman (WLeeTruman)                                                                   

Wayne Wells (blu2u)                                                                                   

John Black (britinaAz)                                            1968 VW pan                

Will Burge (Washington Will)                                 1983                             

Hubert Atkinson (BaytownTD)                                1984                             

Volkmar Koehler (Riley)                                         1984                             

Mike (Smithgall)                                                    1980                              Allison

Tom Colello (Gunfighter)                                        1981                              Allison

Richard Wobby (Richard Wobby)                           1979                              Allison Daytona

Gordon Waples (Allison GW)                                 1980                              Allison Daytona

Dick Herman (DickH)                                                                                   BCW

Jim Edmonds (jfbworld)                                         1969 VW pan                  BCW

Jack Breza (HappyJack)                                        1970 VW                        BCW

Greg Schauber (clkdoc)                                         1982                              BCW

Neil Flaherty (Profile57)                                         1985 (?)                         BCW

Chuck & Nadine Smith (CSmith)                             1986                              BCW

Larry Murphy (LarryMurphy)                                  1998                              BCW

Edward Ericson (edsnova)                                     1982 on 1969 VW           BCW

Bob Bowen (rsbowen)                                            1985                              BCW # 324

Jerry Van Avery (Van Avery)                                 1986                              BCW #140

Ed and Harriet Turner (oldroadie)                           1985 (?)                         BCW #222 Schweppes Special Edition

Ric Garwood (ricrx7)                                             1986 s                            British Coach Work

Douglas Small (rcsign)                                          1982                              Classic Coach

Dean Woodward (Dean in Denver)                                                                Classic Motor Carriages

George Bono (GeorgeB)                                        1988                              Classic Motor Carriages (CMC) (maybe)

Mike Deren (MikeD )                                              1982                              Classic Roadster

Perry Christenberry (Fairweather)                                                                Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

John Eggett (Court Wizard)                                                                          Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Stephen Chuck (scchuck)                                      1981                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Steve Crites (Ringo)                                              1984                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Rich Gearheart (ArGee)                                         1986                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Bob Gielow & Paula Sullivan (Bob & Paula)             1986                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Ray & Cathy Conn (ray10)                                     1988                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Rick Mullins (Rockyx)                                            1981                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (Custom Classic Duchess)

Rick Cooper (Secretagentcat)                                                                      Classic Roadsters Ltd Grand Duchess

Chuck Niedzialkowski (Chuckonwhidbey)               1980???s VW                     Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Drew Robinson (Flekst)                                         1980                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Dick Lemons (Sopgravy)                                       1981                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Jeff Thornton (Jeffthornton)                                    1981                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Paul Mossberg (PMossberg)                                  1982                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Curt Porter (Cookdog)                                           1985                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Dave Roy (davearoy)                                             1985                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Jerry Schmidt  (Flightshack42)                                              1988                                       Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Dave Borch (Dave B)                                             1993                              Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess

Flip Galloway (Flipmgtd)                                                                              CMC

John Jones (jjones)                                                                                     CMC

Dale Schumacher (schu)                                                                              CMC

Mel Zeiger (luvmytd)                                              1985                              CMC

Gabor Kesseru (gkesseru)                                     1987                              CMC

Joe Monesmith (JoeMoe65)                                   1987                              CMC

Geoff Berdick (Geoff104)                                       1989                              CMC

Rick Gawlowski (Doozer449)                                 1989                              CMC

Montie Henderson (Montie)                                    1989                              CMC

Johnny Baxter (JohnnyB)                                       1990                              CMC

John McDermon (Hawk521)                                   2009                              CMC

James Cochran (JasCochran)                                1985 May                       CMC Fiberfab

Bill Stuck (billsflorida)                                            1986?                             CMC/Fiberfab

Carlene Dornbush (Purplemyth)                                                                   Daytona MIGI

Daniel Fore (Junkman)                                                                                 Daytona MiGi

Robert Smith (Smitty)                                                                                  Daytona MiGi

Will Burge (Washington Will)                                 1969 VW                        Daytona Migi

Kelven R. Mercer (Justduky)                                  1975                              Daytona Migi

Ron Sparks (Ron S)                                               1978                              Daytona Migi

Susan McCain (Susan)                                          1979                              Daytona Migi

Ed Ellingson (EdEngineer)                                     1982                              Daytona MiGI

Roy Hendrix (Royal)                                              1983                              Daytona MiGi

Russell Boulanger (RussLB)                                  1984                              Daytona Migi

Scott Werseen (sw1gr8guy)                                   1986                              Daytona MIGI

Charlie Stevens (kschas)                                                                             Design Classics Inc.

Tom Swartzwelder (tomscs)                                   1984                              Fiberfab (Dulcinea)

Sam Yerardi (samyer)                                                                                  Fibefab

Phil MacGregor (Sailor)                                         1989                              Fiber Fab

Brian Key (Mpavblue)                                                                                  Fiber Fab MiGi

Paul Villeneuve (Villeneuve)                                   1980                              Fiber Fab on a 1969 Volkswagen

Chief (Chief)                                                                                                Fiberfab

Jon DuBurg (Jond209)                                                                                 Fiberfab

Steve French (Steve French)                                                                       Fiberfab

Steve French (Steve French)                                                                       Fiberfab

Bill Has (crash55)                                                                                        FiberFab

Richard Johnson (rrffjj)                                                                                Fiberfab

Harry Lewis (Spike Lewis)                                                                           FiberFab

Bill Oakes (billoakes)                                                                                   Fiberfab

Craig K. Robinson (crobinson)                                                                     Fiberfab

Ricky Rodriguez (mymgtd)                                                                          Fiberfab

Kent Thomas (KentT)                                                                                  Fiberfab

Mark Welch (MGLondonRoadste)                                                                 Fiberfab

Mark D. Williams (Shaky57)                                                                                                 Fiberfab

David York (mikeeva)                                                                                  Fiberfab

Jim Saunders (Jsaunders)                                                     1971                                       Fiberfab

Tom Downs (Tdowns)                                            1980                              Fiberfab

Bill Hursh (BillHursh)                                             1980???s                            Fiberfab

Shane Jones (ShaneJ)                                           1980’s                            FiberFab

Don Loveless (DonsMG)                                        1980’s                            FiberFab

Arthur Provenz (ArtsMGTD)                                   1980                              Fiberfab

Paul Allain (pga64)                                                1981                              Fiberfab

Doug Berry (dberry)                                               1981                              Fiberfab

Melvin Collins (fairwindsnc)                                                    1982                                       Fiberfab

Mike Poinsett (Huskykicker)                                                  1982                                       Fiberfab

Stan Slatkin (Widetrack)                                        1982                              Fiberfab

Allen Caron (newkitman)                                        1983                              Fiberfab

Phil Kanwischer (Phil)                                            1983                              Fiberfab

Bob Hughes(LRH)                                                 1984                              Fiberfab

Kevin Hux (RedMGTD) Car Name: Maggie             1984                              FiberFab

Doug Schmidt (dougsgarage)                                                1984                                       Fiberfab

Walter A. Weiss (Colorado)                                    1985                              Fiberfab

Gene Jenkins (jenkinen)                                        1986                              Fiberfab

Marc Lipsius (mrlmd)                                             1987                              Fiberfab

Rob Baker (RobBaker)                                           1988                              Fiberfab

Rich Bellefeuille (RichBelfay)                                 1988                              Fiberfab

Lane Farka (Bodge Garage)                                   1988                              Fiberfab

Rob Haettich (mrhydrant)                                       1988                              FiberFab

Bailey Harris (bailey)                                             1988                              FiberFab

Bill Ascheman (billnparts)                                      1989                              Fiberfab

Leon Arbeene Jr (Winnipaw)                                  1990                              Fiberfab

Ray Conn (ray10)                                                  1991                              Fiberfab

Mike Neben (capnmike)                                                                               Fiberfab (?)

Bob Boese (Bob)                                                   1989                              Fiberfab (?)

John Simion (johnsimion)                                       1983                              FiberFab (assembled in 1999)

Paul Burkheimer (Burkheimer)                               1994                              FiberFab (purchased from Daytona Automotive)

Rich Kallenberger (Kall)                                         1985ish                          Fiberfab (serial number FM 1775)

Bill Gayler (bgayler)                                               1979                              Fiberfab Daytona Migi

Jack Breza (HappyJack)                                        1980                              FiberFab II

Bill Bastian & Deborah Ellis (RosebudandBill)         1961 VW                        Fiberfab MiGi

Ed Service (Eddy)                                                 1979                              Fiberfab MiGi

Chuck Schmit (chuckles)                                       1985?                             FiberFab MiGi

Al Greig (Al Greig)                                                 1986                              FiberFab MiGi

Dennis Brock (dbrock)                                           1979 on 1965 VW           Fiberfab MiGI

Mark Konrad (MarkK)                                            1981                              Fiberfab Migi II

Vicenç Feliú (Sabreur76)                                                        1983                                       Fiberfab MiGi II

Steve Struchen (mustang_evets)                           1981                              FiberFab MiGi II serial #812074-5

Sam Reynolds (sreynolds)                                                                           FiberFab VIN 929576 87

Lou Ostendorff (louosten)                                       1986                              Fiberfab/CMC

Roland C Smullen (Rollie)                                      1980                              FiberFab/MiGi

Scott Chynoweth (1oldbuzz)                                   1983                              FiberFab/Mmigi (to be titled as 1953 MG)

Ron Sturdy (1940gearhead)                                   1984                              Lafer MP

Edward Davidson (MG wanna B)                                                                  London Roadster

Mark Welch(MGLondonRoadste)                                                                  London Roadster

Mike Palmer (MikeP)                                             1981                              London Roadster

Karen McCarron (KarenMc)                                   1983                              London Roadster

Gloria McFarland (cucumber1949)                          1983                              London Roadster

Larry Murphy (Larry Murphy)                                 1983                              London Roadster

Chip (Chip)                                                            1985                              London Roadster

Greg Press (greg press)                                        1985                              London Roadster

John Barry (jebarry)                                               1986                              London Roadster

Marilou Carandang (Maricar19)                              1986                              London Roadster

Dick Shear (gbidick)                                              1986                              London Roadster

John Richardson (Prisoner#6)                                1978                              manufacturer unknown (serial number 929918-78)

Dan Grant (dggrant)                                                                                    Might be FiberFab

Donna Leer (Donna)                                                                                     Migi

Stan Slatkin (Widetrack)                                                                              Migi

Dan Rosa (DanR)                                                  1986                              MiGi

Bob Cornwall (MIGINova)                                      1982                              Migi Daytona

Bill Dillon (Willgwv)                                                1988                              MIGIII

Chris Hamlin (CHC325)                                                                               Modern Classic

Ricardo Olimon (Calafer)                                       1980                              MP Lafer

Bill Gould (TexAg71)                                             1981                              MP Lafer TI

Randall Eshpeter (BeBop)                                                                            Rich Industries

Douglas Willis (STG-inc.)                                      1988 May                       Uknown

Dennis Brock (Dbrock)                                                                                Unknown

Paul Bureau (Paul6221)                                         1969 VW                        Unknown

Billy McJunkins (billymcj)                                      1980                              unknown

Bruce Clifford (bcliff)                                                                                    Victor Motor Company MG-TF

PMOSSBERG2015-07-20 18:00:51

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[newkitman]

Thanks Paul. Let me play with it some tomorrow and see what shakes out. I’ll start with the Duchess.

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[greg press]

When I purchased my London roadster in July .That winter I became interest in production numbers . I discovered a form you could fill out through the DMV that would tell how many were in NYS . I sent it in plus 10 bucks . About a month later I received a letter that said there were 3 in NYS . It also indicated if it wasn’t registered it didn’t exist. I also contacted the Inkster Michigan (where it was made) Historical Society . They referred me to the Ford Museum in Detroit. Happened to be in the area . Filled out a form , never heard from them . Once I was in a car shop talking to this mechanic and he told me a friend of his used to work for London Roadster inc. Who knows ?

[Rich Kallenberger]

Who Knew and What have I gotten myself into now?

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/about/

PMOSSBERG2015-07-20 22:12:55

[John Simion]

It’s about Americans who are nostalgic about Japanese cars (the pictures are all Japanese cars and all the events are in America).  Maybe I’m dense, but I don’t “get” the connection to this thread.

[Bob]

Impressive list of owner cars! Although terribly lacking info for S/N or VIN. heh-heh  🙂

Seeing the following is at least something… to me.

Rich Kallenberger (Kall)                                         1985ish                          Fiberfab (serial number FM 1775)

Mine being FM1307 titled August 1984 sure doesn’t help much either, and I can’t imagine 468 kits being made from one year to the next. Not that I have any clue what the actual numbers would be, I just thought maybe a hundred or two per year might be more realistic. But hey, what do I know?! Uh… nothing, yep. Not enough for any kind of guesstimation.

I hope people will find this and provide their VIN or S/N too, if they can.

[Paul Mossberg]

The list above is excerpted from the info in the registry (link in my signature).

When we created the registry, we did not ask for serial numbers. In part because no one has ever been able to determine exactly what they mean. There is no standard. There seem to be no public records for the various manufacturers that would enable us to interpret their serial numbers.

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[newkitman]

When I get back to the house I’ll post the explanation of the Fiberfab kit serial numbers that the owner explained to me. Not that it’ll be the same for other kits but may help members with Fiberfab kits.
newkitman2015-07-21 11:21:29

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[Paul Mossberg]

The counts:

 

Unknown ??? 11

Allison – 4

BCW – 12

Classic Coach – 1

CMC – 12 (plus 1 maybe)

CMC/FiberFab – 3

Classic Roadster – 1 (I suspect this is another Classic Roadsters Ltd.)

Classic Roadsters Ltd. – 18

Daytona MiGi – 11

Design Classics Inc. – 1

FiberFab – 50 (plus 3 possible)

FiberFab II – 1

FIberFab MiGi – 7

FiberFab MiGi II – 3

Lafer MP – 3

London Roadster – 11

MiGi – 3

MiGi Daytona – 1

MiGi II – 1

Modern Classic – 1

Rich Industries – 1

Victor Motor Company (TF) – 1

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[Paul Mossberg]

And some commentary…

 

CMC is Classic Motor Carriages, based mostly in Fort Lauderdale. They created the famous (or infamous?) Gazelle. Then basically destroyed the TD replicas and a good part of our hobby.

 

The list above is based on how our owners identified their cars.

 

Mostly because of CMC trying to suck the life out of this market, the lines are a bit blurry between CMC and Fiberfab.

 

I believe the MiGi and Migi II entries are likely part of the Fiberfab line.

 

BUT…There is also the Daytona MiGi. So I am not sure about that.

 

I’m also not sure if there was a relationship between Daytona and Fiberfab, either before, during or after CMC’s involvement.

 

And finally, I suspect Classic Coach, Design Classics Inc. and Modern Classic are actually assemblers, and not kit manufacturers. Not sure though.

PMOSSBERG2015-07-21 13:01:37

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[Rich Kallenberger]

No, you’re not dense. The connection, very slight, was in response to the comment above that “some of the kits went to Japan”.
Yes, any serious replica club in Japan would have a Japanese-language website which would make persuing this connection pretty difficult.
😕

[Rich Kallenberger]

LRH
If I were an optimistic manufacturer ordering pre-engraved plates, I would order a big supply all at once to get a quantity break from the engraver. Also, with all the shuffling going on between successive owners of kit companies, who knows what might have happened.

I think that some of these details are going to remain a mystery.

[Royal]

Each of Daytona and Fiberfab made both Migi and Migi II cars.  I have brochures from each. 

From an original of a Daytona Migi brochure:

 “…..we undertook the development in November 1974 and after many hours of mold development…we produced the FIRST MG-TD fiberglass replica body, which I named “MIGI”, in February 1975.” signed LaVerne Martincic, President Daytona Automotive Fiberglass, INC. 

May 1977 Car and Driver magazine also credits Daytona as “the first”. 

Fiberfab’s use of the Migi name was challenged by Daytona and in 1982 a Federal court order decreed that only Daytona could use the Migi name.  To further complicate things, for a while, Daytona called its Migi II a MIGETTE. Both the Daytona Migi II and the MIGETTE used a Chevette drivetrain.    

I have in my documentation somewhere that Fiberfab eventually bought all of Daytona’s molds.  (but I am not able to put my finger on it)  This sounds likely since the Daytona factory was literally a spit from Fiberfabs.  Daytona at 819 Carswell, Holly Hill, Fl.  Fiberfab at 852 Carswell, Holly Hill, Fl.  (almost directly across the street). 

[Paul Mossberg]

Good stuff! Thank you Roy!

 

So we know Daytona and FiberFab are separate companies.

 

What we don’t know is, of the members that simply entered MiGi or MiGi II, which company made their car?

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[edward ericson]

I think I want to write that book.

[Paul Mossberg]

Seems like we have at least one of every manufacturer’s product reresentated here except two:  

Piper Auto’s Seneca, and

Prototype Research & Development Ltd.’s TD

Not to late for one of them, if one of you wants to spend the big bucks required to buy a TD from Prototype!  Pricey!

 

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[Author]

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