Background
Why is the MGB still the UK’s go-to top-down classic car? It’s an easy question to answer really. For a start it remains affordable. MGBs are great value for money, unlike some other classics of the period, which are now so expensive you’d have to seriously consider whether you wanted to leave one in the supermarket car park.
The MGB is a useable car that’s equally at home at a classic car show or the ring road on the way home. It’s also mechanically straightforward, so ideal for those who like to do their own spannering, or for those who prefer to keep their hands clean, as there are specialists all over the shop, and the parts supply is second to none.
On top of all this it’s a handsome looking thing – not too brash or flash, just solidly good looking in either of its three available flavours – Sixties, Seventies or late stage rubber bumpered model. The changes are all only skin deep and underneath the same running gear survived basically unchanged from 1962 to 1980.
True, in both chrome and rubber bumper forms, MGA owners sometimes claim it isn’t the out and out sports car that its forbear is, but they might just be jealous of the wind up windows and easily erected hood, on all but the very earliest of models anyway. Practically un-changed for 18 years, the B sold in the hundreds of thousands in its soft-top form (and the Pininfarina styled fixed head MGB GT didn’t do half badly either).
Key to its success was a formula of tried-and-tested mechanicals, that included the dependable BMC B-Series engine, and its then new monocoque construction. Even at its zestiest (unless you chose a GT V8) power outputs never broke 95bhp, but with weight coming in at just over 1000kg it was enough to propel the little beast along at a reasonably sporting rate. Today, just as then, in terms of smiles-per-mile (especially when you factor in running costs) few classics come close to an MGB.
Introduced in 1962 and still in production almost 20 years later, the MGB is the definitive classic British sports car. It started life as a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive, back-to-basics sportscar – and ended its life in much the same way.
Yes, it gained a little weight over the years but then don’t we all? And yes, the later rubber bumpers – fitted to meet American impact legislation from 1974 onwards – might lack the clean, elegant purity of the chrome originals but at its core the MGB remained true to the original concept of providing maximum fun for minimum investment.
The B-Series engine isn’t the last word in power and economy, but it’ll run and run, and a good one reminds you just how civilized and sweet a well-fettled four-cylinder engine can be. Besides, there are plenty of options if you want more go, including a supercharger kit that transforms the car into a V8 beating firebrand.
It’s a more versatile car than you might imagine, too. If you fit the optional hardtop and a set of steel wheels with winter tyres - and make sure that the heater is on top of its game, then you have a viable all-year-round daily driver. Then, in the Spring, simply switch to alloys or wire wheels with decent rubber, remove the hardtop, and give it a wipe over with an oily rag and you’re all set to enjoy the classic car show circuit, track days, and runs to the beach in the very same car you’ve just slogged through all gloom and drizzle in.
Drop in an overdrive gearbox and it makes a fine long-distance cruiser – and everyone loves a classic British sportscar, so city and motorway driving is a doddle as most other drivers will be falling over themselves to let you out of junctions, and into another lane.
With more than half-a-million having rolled off the production line, few cars offer the same ease of ownership as the MGB either, thanks to a huge network of suppliers, marque specialists and owners’ clubs that exist to help you keep your classic running sweetly and looking wonderful at minimal cost.
In standard form the MGB is not especially fast, but a well-sorted example handles in such a sure-footed way that it serves as a constant reminder that you don’t need to risk losing your licence to have an awful lot of fun.
