MG TF "McLaren"?

[Greve Haddock]

Hi all,

New member here. Just bought a 2004 MG TF Spark 135 two days ago and it's really a dream come true for me. Live in Sweden by the way.

There is a little mystery with my car which perhaps someone with deeper knowledge of these cars can clarify. This LHD car was manufactured in September 2004 and originally sold in Belgium. Later it was imported to Poland and then bought by the at the time Swedish ambassador i Warsaw who then brought it home to Sweden. Unfortunately it lacks the original service book, but that's not the mystery...

When I first looked at the car I noticed a "Team McLaren" bumper sticker on the rear bumper and decided to remove it as soon as the car was mine. Yesterday I went to reconditioning firm to book a full recondition and paintwork sealing and asked them to also remove the sticker. Then they noticed that the sticker(s) was covered with varnish and that it looked like they had been there from the start in the original paint job. Is it possible that this car may have had this from the beginning and that there has been some kind of cooperation between these two British companies at the time? If this is just a bad idea of "styling" done by a previous owner I will have it removed and the paint fixed, but want to do some investigation first. But who on earth gets the idea to put a McLaren logo on an MG car?

The VIN is SARRDWBKNSD636529 and you can see the mysterious logo on these images.

[colintf]

Hi and welcome,
that's a very nice TF you have there
I am unaware of any link with McLaren, but, you never know!

[nigelandjo]

Hi Greve,

Welcome to the MGF Register Forum. There is nothing in the build data to indicate that the car was "special". It simply shows as an export model for MG Rover Germany.

Nigel

[colintf]

could it of been a special created by the dealer ?

[Geoff.F]

Search McLaren MGF on the Internet.

[Notanumber]

Search McLaren MGF on the Internet.

That was an amusing suggestion as the only proper hit that Google finds for that combination is right back to this page on the forum.

Its probably wise to conclude this is just a sticker applied by a previous owner. It does not designate any recognised special edition and is as relevant as a Renault badge would be on a Ford

[Deepfat]

You could ask McLaren when that sticker was current, it may be a short window that might help narrow it down. You could also try to track down and ask the Swedish ambassador if it was on the car when purchased. In all likelihood it was a PO who supported the team and then had a bump and the remedial work included clear coating the bumper and embedded the sticker.
As a fan of Sherlock Holmes fan that's my theory but if a PO is called Moriarty beware.

[Greve Haddock]

Thanks for all suggestions. I'll probably have it removed but probably requires a paint job so the mystery will remain on the car for some time.

[Rob Bell]

I like the sticker, and having it under the final coat of lacquer means that it is much more durable - and probably why this was done by one of the previous owners.

A previous owner who presumably was a McLaren fan? Who knows, may be even a former McLaren employee???