1976 MG MGB Roadster

The subject of a recent full, nut-and-bolt restoration, this delightful Damask Red MGB Roadster is in immaculate condition and ready to delight and thrill its new owner. The vendor has been restoring MGBs as a hobby for the past 30 years, so he’s got his eye in by now and this is the first he’s been able to work on full-time. 

Keen to keep himself busy, he devoted the first nine months of his retirement to it and now it is finished, he his is keen to start clearing the backlog of five more his has in his workshop, all of which are destined to be converted to V8 power. 

Having been stripped to a shell, it was only natural to convert the MGB from rubber bumpers to chrome. He’s done a top-notch job and the result is indicative of the care and attention to detail that pervades throughout the entire vehicle. As a time-served professional engineer, his attitude towards the car’s mechanical components was best summed up when he told us that “if it rotates, replace it.”

Oh, and the car has covered a total of 18 miles since being completed. Like so many of you out there, he derives his pleasure from the building, rather than the driving, so you’re bidding on what is effectively a new car.

The owner only had to replace the floor panels and the door skins because the MGB’s body was otherwise in good condition. After carefully prepping the car all that remained was for it to be painted. 

Which he did. Three times. 

Not happy with his own efforts he then paid for it to be done professionally. The car came back but he still wasn’t happy, so he arranged for it to be done a third time. This is the sort of chap you are buying a car from, and if that doesn’t reassure you then can we suggest that SsangYong offer a seven-year warranty on their cars and the PCP rates are highly competitive?

So, the Damask Red coachwork is in fabulous condition, and is still as fresh and tidy as the day it was finished. The owner clearly took a long time to get the panels and doors aligned properly, which is always the mark of a conscientious restoration.

There is the odd imperfection, most notably on the offside front wing, the offside trailing edge of the bonnet and the rear of the offside front wing, but these are minor and could be rectified without having to go to too much trouble or having to invest too much money. Or, of course, you could just leave them as they are and concentrate on enjoying your new car in the knowledge that it has already started to develop its own patina, leaving you free of the worry of being the one who was responsible for the first blemish. Nonetheless, we think we might be tempted to invest in a professional paint correction to ensure that the car looks its very best as there are a few places where the dreaded orange peel has made an appearance.

The Minator, Minilite-style alloy wheels are new, and shod with matching Yokohama tyres. We know you are fed up with us saying it, but matching, high-quality tyres are probably the very best way to gauge the degree to which an owner is prepared to invest the appropriate amount of money to keep his classic car performing at its very best; if they’ve skimped here, then they are almost certainly going to have skimped elsewhere… 

The black folding hood looks to be new and is in good condition, and the car also comes with a tonneau cover, although that hasn’t been fitted.

The engine bay is as neat and tidy as you would expect, and the underside is virtually clean enough to be able to eat your dinner off it. What looks like rust -there is actually a small amount of overspray. Ten minutes with a rag soaked in something like white spirit should remove it.

The car comes with a couple of spare hard-tops, should the new owner want them. The owner tells us that he will even pop them on a pallet and arrange for them to be couriered to you at no extra cost – and he’ll even throw in what is left of the paint so that when you can get them painted they’ll colour-match the rest of the bodywork perfectly.

The black leather seats are trimmed with red piping, and brand new. Much more supportive and comfortable than the seats the MGB left the factory with, they are, of course, in almost perfect condition (bar a small white mark on the outside bolster of the driver’s seat) and look stunning. 

The same can be said of the carpets, the red-trimmed door cards, and dashboard, all of which have benefitted from the owner’s tender ministrations – and a significant financial investment.

The three-spoke steering wheel is wonderfully period, and the black crackle-finish dashboard just reeks of years gone by.

The boot area is tidy and needs nothing other than a vacuum and the wiring to the nearside rear light clipping up and out of the way.

What can we say about the car’s mechanical condition other than to tell you that everything was stripped down, cleaned, refurbished or replaced before being carefully reassembled? As a taster, the engine was disassembled and rebuilt with a reground crankshaft, resurfaced cylinder head, recut and refaced valve seats, new main and big-end bearings: the list goes on. As we mentioned earlier, his attitude, borne as a result of decades as a professional engineer, is “if it rotates, replace it.”

The engine was then filled with Castrol Classic oil, another sign of a meticulous engineer who understands that a classic engine really does need the proper oil if it is to fulfil its full potential. The engine has also been, rather charmingly, painted to match the car’s exterior colour. This isn’t something we’ve seen before but it does look very smart.

Please take the time to look through the dozens of invoices for the parts he’s bought; we’d hate to add them all up but can confidently say that buying this car would be a far cheaper way of getting a box-fresh MGB in your garage than doing it yourself…

It really is a first-rate job (nine-and-a-half hours went into having the gearbox teeth cut alone, along with a bill for £200 for plating and anodizing miscellaneous components!) and we’d strongly encourage potential bidders to take a look at the car for themselves in order to fully appreciate what a cracking job he’s done with it.

The owner tells us that it drives beautifully, and needs nothing other than a tankful of fuel and a winding road ahead. Honestly, we can’t think of many better cars in which to enjoy what’s left of the summer.

The online MOT history, which extends until 2016, shows nothing of concern whatsoever and confirms the car’s mileage. The car comes with a number of expired MOT certificates plus a thick sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the recent work that has been done to it.

The MOT certificate has expired, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained in recent years to the very highest standard.

As a new restoration, the MGB comes with a wealth of modern history, so anyone considering this car can do so safe in the knowledge that it’s a good ‘un. The owner is as pragmatic as he is skilled, and he accepts that the car will sell for less than he has invested in it, but is happy that this is the price he has to pay to continue to enjoy a hobby that has kept him happily occupied for the past three decades.

Bearing all this in mind, our guide price for the car is a very reasonable £10,000 to £13,000, which we think is outstanding value for a car of this quality.

Of course, the reserve is set at an even lower point, so why not pop a cheeky bid in and see if you can walk away with a bargain? Remember; with interest rates as low as they are, a decent MGB is as good as money in the bank and cars like this one might even show you a bit of a profit in the long-term…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen in Cumbria; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive. 

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.