An MG ZS 180 has just smashed the auction record for this Noughties classic. Could the last Longbridge-era MG finally be coming into its own?
French auction house Aguttes has just sold a 2005 MG ZS 180 for a remarkable €16,631 (about £14,200) – easily setting a record price for the model.
It was consigned to the 10 March sale with an estimate of €15,000- €20,000 (about £12,800-£17,100), with the selling price being more than twice the previous record of £6020, achieved by a 2002 example at a Mathewsons sale last year. Marque enthusiasts were fired up not only by the left-hand-drive French market 180’s condition, but also it reputedly being the last example of the model made before MG Rover’s 2005 demise.
Former CCW editor and founder of Modern Classics magazine, Keith Adams said: ‘This one definitely lays a marker and, in the 100th year of MG, it’s a good time. I know this car and it’s a beauty. It’s also significant for the rehabilitation of these MG Zed cars into the classic scene because, for a long time, they weren’t the most loved cars ever to come out of Longbridge – even if they were a commercial success. Good MG Zed cars have been quietly climbing in value recently, and this may accelerate that trend significantly ’.
This very late car’s condition and history obviously contributed to it selling near its upper estimate, because the first and last of anything tend to attract a premium. Aguttes described it as ‘most certainly one of the last MGs of the Longbridge era’ in its auction listing. Keith agrees. ‘It’s certainly the highest VIN we know of and is likely to have been built a fair amount of time after MG Rover went into administration.’ Aguttes’ classic car specialist Raphaël de Serres told CCW: ‘We are very happy with the result but this car deserved a good price because it was in an amazing condition and had an incredible history. Believed to
