1971 MG B Roadster

This delightful MGB Roadster was owned by the owner of Enterprise Garage Ltd between 1991 and 2016, a 25-year span that saw it being fully restored with a new British Motor Industry Heritage Trust bodyshell (no. 601180) using an MGB GT donor car.

Believed to have been carried out for his grandson, the work was comprehensive and included a change of colour to the red it wears today. It had a change of registration number too, and there are copious bills and receipts to support the work even though the in-house ones obviously show a zero cost!

Fitted with the ultra-reliable and silky smooth 1.8-litre engine, it sends its power to the rear wheels via a manual gearbox and overdrive. There are twin SU carburettors too, plus a Kenlowe electric fan. It has, in other words, all the Good Stuff. We’ve driven it and can confirm that it drives as well as it looks, which is high praise indeed.

Offered in a very, very good condition and in need of nothing other than continued love and attention, this is a fine example of a perennially popular classic British sports car that isn’t going to break the bank.

Look, we could waffle on for a few hundred words about how good the MGB is but what would be the point? Let’s face it, any car that’s been rebuilt using a genuine British Motor Industry Heritage Trust bodyshell (shell No. 601180) by professionals with decades of experience under their belts is going to be solid and free of the sort of usual rust and rot issues, isn’t it?

As for the quality of the work, given that it was being done for the boss’s grandson, we’d be entitled to assume an unusually high degree of diligence on their behalf, wouldn’t we? And anyway, poor workmanship is going to be very easy to spot given the number of detailed photographs we’ve posted here and the quality is, as you can see for yourselves, excellent.

This means tight and even shutlines and straight panels that are free of the sort of car-park dents, dinks and ripples a carelessly maintained car will collect. It also means an unholy gleam to the paintwork that speaks of meticulous application and many long hours spent polishing it afterwards. There aren't signs of rust around the wheelarches apart from an inch long bit of mild surface oxidation in one front wheelarch.

There is bright, rust-free chromework too, plus light lenses that are clear and free of cracks, and glazing that is neatly retained by good rubber seals. All of which tells a tale worth hearing.

A new hood is yet another good sign and this one was fitted in late 2016. The frame was fettled to get a better fit at the same time and they did a fine job because it now sits as straight as any we’ve seen. It’s nice and taut when it is raised as well, and furls and unfurls easily.

More good news comes with the fact that the MGB sits on very good 14-inch ‘Minator’ Minilite-style wheels (made in the UK, no less…) and these ride on matching 185/70R14 Goodyear GT70 tyres, all of which still look almost new.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Work to do? Well, nothing really. If it were ours – and Lord knows, we’d love to have the money to buy it – we’d leave it as it is and just enjoy driving it year-round.

The black leather seats, which have been piped in red, look sensational. The MGB’s interior can be a little drab, so it’s great to see that someone has thought it through and come up with a relatively understated way to brighten it up a little.

They’ve taken care of it too because the webbing on the driver’s seat was replaced in early 2019, which means it’s now as firm and comfortable as it has ever been. The gear knob is a replacement too, which again hints at the care with which this MGB has been curated over the years.

A wood-rimmed Mota-Lita steering wheel strikes exactly the right note, as does the wooden gear knob and MGB-embossed rubber mats that protect the very good carpets. In fact, the whole interior is an absolute delight and it’s a lovely, lovely place to be.

A modern Bluetooth compatible head unit can be operated via the supplied remote control. It is also connected to an electric aerial, which means there’s no aerial sticking up to ruin its lines when it’s parked. The speakers have been tucked away out of sight behind the front seats too; someone has clearly gone to an awful lot of time and trouble to integrate these modern electronics as unobtrusively as possible.

The carpet in the boot was replaced with a new one in May 2019, and while the steel spare wheel that sits under the natty carpeted cover might be a little tatty it is fitted with a brand-new tyre, so #swingsandroundabouts, eh?

There really isn’t much for you to put right in here, either. If it were ours then we’d straighten the combination oil pressure/water temperature gauge, and twist the gear knob round a few degrees to align that properly, too. But that that would take you all of half-an-hour speaks volumes about how well-presented it is.

Recent mechanical work includes replacing the old Facet fuel pump with a new Hardi-German SU-type in June 2019, along with the fuel lines and filter leading to it as a precautionary measure.

Other work in the same year includes some minor fettling of the cooling system and buying and fitting an original backing plate for the numberplate. We mention these little jobs not because they add greatly to the MGB’s value but because the fact that the chap documented them hints at his fastidious nature, and that’s never a bad sign when you’re thinking of buying an old classic car, is it?

Work to do is minimal. The clutch was identified as being towards the end of its life in May 2018 but a handwritten note on the invoice suggests that it is actually fine. Certainly, we haven’t noticed any slippage or other problems during our, albeit brief, test drive. In fact, the only note says that “it’s in immaculate condition and drives really, really well!”

As you can see and hear in the video, it starts very well and quickly settles into an even tickover with very good oil pressure. It also revs beautifully and has a lovely bark to the exhaust note.

The underbonnet area itself is very, very good and the underbonnet soundproofing, an area many people skimp on when they’re restoring a car, looks fresh and new, too.

In fact, the engine bay is spoiled only by some light surface rust on the radiator and the heater coolant pipe. Still, given we’re all going to be locked down for the next couple of months, using that as an excuse to disappear into the garage for a couple of days to paint it can only be seen as a good thing, surely?

The MGB doesn’t have a current MOT certificate, 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…

On a brighter note, the MGB’s MOT history from 2017 to 2019 shows an unblemished run of passes with no advisories recorded; if we were gamblers then we’d be happy to lay a few quid on it passing its next MOT without serious cause for concern…

It has a number of expired MOT certificates plus a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years by Enterprise Garage Ltd who, you will recall, not only owned it for a quarter of a century but fully restored it with a new Heritage bodyshell. (If you’d like to check the Heritage bodyshell’s serial number against the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust’s records, please contact us and we’ll let you have it so you can undertake your own due diligence.)

There are also some hand-written notes detailing some of the recent work the previous owner carried out on it, as well as some professional receipts for the work that was carried out post-2016 including some to resolve the sort of niggles men of a certain mindset enjoy getting sorted. After all, what’s the point of having a toy if you don’t play with it?

The last service was in December 2019 at 24,071 miles, but if it were ours we’d still be tempted to pop a new oil filter and give it a change of oil just to be on the safe side…

NB. Please note that the MGB had a new speedometer fitted at 20,719 miles, so the current reading is almost certainly not an accurate reflection of the car’s total mileage.

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 to a very good standard.

The range of cars we get offered here is vast, spanning barn-find basketcases all the way through to quarter-of-a-million-pound Ferraris – and everything in between.

And a significant percentage of the cars that pass through our hands are MGBs. A stalwart of the classic car scene for decades, few cars are as ubiquitous - and for good reason; they’re a great place for any enthusiast to start while still being interesting enough to hold the attention of long-timers like us.

The MGBs we see also span a vast range from heavily modified cars through to restoration projects, which means that cars such as this tend to fade into the background a little.

Which is a shame because while it isn’t at all flashy, it’s a very well presented, ultra-solid, professionally painted and restored example that runs and drives incredibly well – and you really can’t ask for more when you’re only looking at spending between £10,000 and £13,000, can you?

Inspection is always encouraged, within Govt. guidelines of course, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; 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’.