MGB BUYING GUIDE
If you want an affordable and practical everyday sports car, then the MGB has to be on your list of potential candidates, whether it’s a ragtop Roadster or fastback-styled 2+2 BGT. Production spanned an impressive 18 years and sales exceeded half a million, so even though these cars are all over 40 years old, there are still around 36,000 models taxed or SORN’d in the UK (according to www.howmanyleft.co.uk) and potentially many more returning to the road with a brand-new Heritage bodyshell.
Launched in 1962 as a replacement for the MGA, the MGB first appeared as a two-seater roadster, but was joined by the more practical GT in 1965. These models continued side by side with chrome bumpers for the next nine years, outlasting the likes of the six-cylinder MGC that was introduced in 1967 and competing with the V8-powered MGB GT V8 that first appeared in 1973.
The most noticeable change in the time line of the MGB has got to be in 1974 when the chrome bumpers were replaced with large pieces of black polyurethane to satisfy US crash protection laws, adding some 100lb (45kg) to the weight of the car and requiring the ride height to be raised by around 1½in (38mm). This feature marks not only a major change in the MGB’s history, but also in the value of these cars today – the chrome bumper models are generally more expensive to buy, with the Roadsters often being more expensive than the GTs. Rubber bumper models can be converted to chrome bumpers, but this is not cheap and requires a surprising amount of bodywork alterations, yet doesn’t necessarily increase the sale price because originality is now more desirable than ever.
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