The "actual" 1st?? Le500 Owner

Hello guys , girls, people, pets etc, Im the owner of a presscar LE500. Ive had her 7ish years now and have lurked here on and off for help. I am slowly working to get it back to day1 condition. She has had a few issues prior to purchase that werent disclosed. Anyway her VIN is SPRxxxxxx230 and as some of yous may know MG production VIN start ending 251. And i have found an old listing for the no1 Le500 with vin 251. So this leads to the assumtion that 20 press cars were made and mine being 230 is the first of them???

So a few things i have had done since taking her in:
Front badge replacement (x3 bloody shitey enamel)
front subframe refub
new Air-con condensor
new alternatior
new engine bay fan
new back box
interior badge replacement (part progress)
remote boot release
weatherstrip replacements
Hardtop respray / restore (part progress)

When i got the car i was a relative mg virgin having briefly owned a ZS180 for a few years in my early twentys. Getting the press car was an unknown to me but seemed a sound idea to help car keep its value, and the dealer i got it from seemed like an MG TF specialist so was happy to buy unseen and have delivered.

Then i got it and started to learn/notice things. The paint on the wings is just slightly off. The badge in the interior is just a random MG logo sticker not the metal press/NoXXX badge. This one annoyed me as it is the hardest to replace. Dealers have denied knowledge and im left in the wind. Managed to get a friendly designer to recreated the images and got MG to allow use of logos, to print at least the matching badge/sticker so now i have someting simliar to what should be there til i can work out how to get a metal replacement made.

It came without its original orange hardtop, only a black one, which i have recently had body coloured and just need to replace the correct headliner, once i work out what should have been in it.

The reverse sensors didnt work, and upon investigation the whole box in boot inner wing was missing at £50 for a replacment i didnt even contact dealers

Anyway all this aside, i love the motor and will contine to try to abate the decay that MG build quality and chinese parts on a practice built car, can casue. hopefully with more help form you kind folks

Oooh let’s have some pictures please, especially of your recreated badge, we like things like that!
M

Attached the high res image i used to get printed on a metallic domed vinyl sticker and give the effect of it being a metal badge

Edit: heres a pic of my replacement in situ

 

 

I can see why that part would be hard to replace, wouldn't have been many of them in the first place.

Well if you think about it although there wouldn't be many, there would have been more of the press car badges made than the numbered ones, tho still no less impossible to get hold of a replacement

Interesting about the VIN numbers. Never knew about the press car thing before.