In recent weeks we’ve focused on a few staples of the classic car scene that somehow or other we hadn’t previously featured as one of our weekly Prime Finds, and this week, we’re taking a look at another – the venerable MGB.
MG as a marque is one of the best-supported in the entire classic motoring world, and the “B” is probably one of the most common classics still on the roads. No event – whether small or large – is complete without at least a couple, and sometimes scores of MGB’s. The MG Car Club – based at the home of MG, Abingdon, near Oxford – is one of the world’s biggest, boasting some 55,000 members, and supports that membership in every conceivable way.
There are several good reasons for the MGB’s ubiquity. For a start, it’s a good-looking car, especially the GT. In a lengthy production run starting in 1962 – meaning that it celebrates it’s 60th anniversary this year, so another reason to feature it! – and ending in 1980, 512,112 examples were built, excluding the six-cylinder and V8 versions. Of these, 14,000 roadsters and 11,000 GT coupés are still on UK roads, as well as 1,897 of the six-and-eight cylinder cars.
Add to this the fact that even excellent examples are rarely more than £20,000 – in fact, a cursory look through the classifieds will show £10-15,000 will buy a pretty decent “B”, with only the very best hitting our theoretical budget ceiling. It is in part their very ubiquity that keeps MGB values within reach of many enthusiasts, and a “B” is many people’s first classic. The car is also relatively simple mechanically, and there is excellent spares support, so it’s little wonder that we see so many of them.
Introduced in 1962 when MG was part of what was then called BMC (British Motor Corporation), the MGB was a mixture of contemporary engineering – using a unitary body and employing one of the earliest examples of a “crumple zone” – and old, with some components coming from the MGA and the engine’s origins went back to 1947. That power unit was the 1798cc B-series equipped with twin-carbs that pushed out 95bhp, enough to propel the car in roadster form to a maximum speed of 97mph, and a 0-60mph time of a little over eleven seconds.
In its early days the MGB was marketed under the slogan “Safety Fast” – combining its sporting pretensions with its modern safety features such as the aforementioned crumple zone. By the 1970’s, in an attempt to boost its appeal to young – and not so young – men, “Your mother wouldn’t like it”, accompanied by a photograph of the car with an attractive young woman, led their marketing campaigns. Very ‘70’s.
Over it’s 19-year production run, the MGB changed little, with one major exception. The original chrome-bumpered design was built until 1974, when US safety regulations resulted in an increased ride height and the addition of heavy rubberised – actually polyurethane – bumpers at both ends of the car, spoiling its previously clean lines. I know some people are OK with these bumpers, but personally, I can’t stand them. They also had an adverse effect on the car’s handling until suspension modifications were made in 1977.
1965 saw the launch of the very handsome fastback MGB GT. There was some design input from Pininfarina, and the GT was probably the first sporting hatchback, with it’s openable rear glass window. Like the roadster, it too was defaced with the heavy black bumpers from 1977, and production ended in 1980.
Although not directly relevant to this week’s Prime Find, it’s worth mentioning that the 3-litre six-cylinder MGC and 3.5-litre MGB V8 were also made available in both roadster and GT body styles.
Contemporary alternatives during the MGB’s lifetime included the homegrown Triumph Spitfire and GT6, as well as some stylish Italians in the shapes of the FIAT 124 Spider and X19, and the gorgeous Alfa Romeo Spider – stiff competition.
An MGB – or one of these?
So what did the motoring press make of the MGB GT? Autocar tested one in March 1966, and summarised the Abingdon sports GT thus – “robust body, well planned and finished inside and out; 100mph maximum, engine quiet and very smooth when cruising fast”.
They also called it a “very docile beast”, indicating that this made the MGB GT “very suitable for the woman driver who appreciates a chic line” – not sure they’d get away with that now…
The testers were very impressed by the car’s tractability from low speeds, and wrote highly of the MG’s combination of sporting looks and practicality, while considering performance to be about par. There were minor criticisms of the lack of synchromesh on first gear, the amount of pressure required for effective braking and awkward to use door handles but in general, the magazine felt the MGB GT “should go far – and fast”.
However, by the beginning of the next decade, the MGB was showing its age, and in its February 1971 issue, CAR magazine – in a fairly dismissive joint test with the Triumph GT6 – felt that the handling, steering and controls were all behind the times; things had moved on. However, The MGB remained pretty much as it was then for the rest of its days before being replaced by the Triumph TR7, sounding the death knell for the Abingdon factory.
Let’s take a look at the MGB GT that is our Prime Find this week…
Our car is a 1968 GT, so the chrome-bumpered version, and is on sale with a dealer in Cheshire, North West England, for what by MGB standards is a fairly lofty £19,995.
For that money, however, the dealer makes some strong claims for the car, describing it as “undoubtedly one of the finest examples currently on the market” and I have to say that based on the photographs on their website, it does look exceptional, as perhaps it should, having been the subject of a full body and mechanical restoration just three years ago.
The exterior is in Blue Royale, a strong deep blue that suits the GT’s shape very well, and it seems to have a deep and even shine. There’s a sunroof – presumably Webasto, though it’s not stated – and this for me is the one drawback to this GT – I’m not a fan of this type of sunroof. The interior is black and looks near as dammit perfect. Transmission is the standard four-speed manual, with the switch for overdrive on the far right of the dash – this was later moved to the top of the gear-lever knob, much more sensible.
The engine bay, and the B-series unit itself, looks to be in exemplary condition and the car – unusually, since most “B”s seem to be on wires, Rostyles or Minilites – sits on plain steel wheels with solid hubcaps. I might be tempted to put Rostyles on it if it were my car. The underside also looks to be in very good condition.
The mileage is claimed to be only 37,900, although it’s not stated whether this is documented or not – if correct, it would mean this GT as covered fewer than 500 miles a year on average. In any case, this MGB GT clearly has many miles of use left in it.
Will this MGB GT set your heart racing? Probably not. Will it provide you with thrills and spills? Also probably not. And with so many around, you will certainly not stand out from the crowd. However, you will be buying into the world’s best-supported single make car club, a huge community of like-minded owners, and with a car that offers good looks, decent performance and value for money. This particular GT appears to be in superb condition after its recent restoration and shouldn’t need any major attention for some time, so even though it’s fairly expensive for an MGB, whoever buys it shouldn’t have to spend anything on it – other than routine servicing – for quite a while. You can see the full advert here. If you fancy a traditional ‘60’s British GT car in excellent condition, this might be the one for you – as always, we recommend prior inspection before buying, if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk