1972 MG B GT Sebring V8

Serial MG owner and fettler John Cavendish bought this car last summer after completing an MG Metro project, which he had worked on and completed during the first lockdown.

“I was looking for another project and saw potential in this car because of the spec, as well as the way it had been developed as a Sebring replica – albeit, then only part of the way,” explains John. “My plan was to work my way through it, improve the car and then sell it. If I’m honest it was a bit sorry for itself and unloved, but I felt that with a little TLC it could turn into something that was really nice.”

That said, the base work had already been completed to a very good standard by a previous owner at some time estimated to be in the early 2000s. “It was obviously built by a good engineer. He appears in a couple of the rebuild photos in his garage but unfortunately I don’t know who he is, as I bought the car at auction from a specialist that’d taken it in part-exchange. If you look through the supplied build-sheets, it was constructed to a high spec.”

The bodyshell was stripped and rebuilt using a John Hills’ glass fibre ‘Sebring’ kit. A half competition roll cage was fitted at the same time and the rebuilt engine features several high-performance tweaks by Middlesex-based V8 engine specialist Real Steel, including:

• a Holley 4-barrel 390 cfm carburettor and Offenhauser dual port inlet manifold

• an uprated camshaft

• a 3.9-litre gas-flowed cylinder head (as opposed to a 3.5-litre unit)

“Looking at the info on its website, I reckon it should output around 250bhp, which explains why it goes like hell,” says John. “Although, I haven’t had it on a rolling to road to confirm that.”

Other highlights include beefed up suspension, V8 ventilated disc brakes, a competition clutch and a high-performance exhaust system. Another point of note is that immediate prior owner spent £7500 on the car in 2019 (invoices can be seen in the Photo Gallery, below).

Having worked on the car for 9 months (more on John’s own tweaks and additions, below), it’s now ready to go. “The next owner has a lot of options; it’d make a fantastic car for historic rallying, sprints and hillclimbs or equally as a fast road/occasional track car.”

If you’re a fan of MG, and of its many racing exploits, then this car’s aesthetics will surely get your pulse motoring. If there’s one post-war Abingdon creation that stands out in terms of sheer visual aggression, then it’s the works racer ‘Mabel’, which achieved racing success at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1968, when Paddy Hopkirk and Andrew Hedges took tenth place overall and first in class.

This car’s lowered, de-bumpered and muscular wheel arches lend it a look of pure belligerence. Add to that a racing fuel cap on its rump, twin-exit exhaust pipes and the correct decals that John sourced, and as he himself says, “it’s quite a good replica”.

The V8 badges on the wings and the fact that it sports a V8 engine under the bonnet give the game away somewhat, as Mabel was of course an MGC – complete with six-cylinder power plant. However, this car does as you would expect sport an alloy MGC bonnet for the full visual effect.

The glass fibre wings are the ‘early’ type, which are a better fit than the later ones, which tend to be very gappy to the wheels. The full complement of cowled Perspex headlamps, bonnet and boot securing straps and exterior electrical cut-off pull handles lend it a very racy look.

“I think the body has been done to a good standard,” says John. “As an older restoration you can’t say it’s a condition 1 car, but it’s very good.”

The fitted tyres were he says ‘hopeless’ and these were replaced with a set of fresh Nankang 225/60/R15s.

For a racer the cabin retains quite a civilized ambience; it’s carpeted (still in good condition) and the Recaro bucket seats are discreet, as well as supportive and surprisingly comfortable (important for long-distance rallying in particular). There’s a nice meaty Moto-Lita leather steering wheel and the rest is chrome-rimmed gauge MGB at its best. There’s little sign of wear in here, as you’d expect given that John thinks the car hasn’t seen much action at all since completion.

“The seatbelts were very old, extraordinary things and not very good,” he says. “So, I replaced them with a set of TRS Magnum competition harnesses. To get the optimum angle for over the shoulder belts I sourced and fitted a Safety Devices crossbar that sits between the cage’s roll-over bar.”

A new fire extinguisher has been added in the passenger footwell; the requisite electrical cut off handle sits in the centre column and you’ll find a spare wheel secured in the carpeted boot.

Most works carried out by John have been suspension related, “It was frankly pretty hopeless when it arrived. Ground clearance was negligible, and it just didn’t handle; I replaced the rear suspension with parabolic springs mated to telescopic dampers and replaced the front springs. The result is now altogether more impressive.”

He should know what he’s doing, as a Sebring replica already resides within his own collection of MGs. “I compete in sprints and hillclimbs in a similar car, although it’s a four-cylinder model with a supercharger – that one goes well, too! I didn’t want to turn this car into another one (i.e. so hardcore), but I did want it to resemble it. Basically, now sorted and ready to go, it will give the next owner a lot of options.”

So how does it drive? “I haven’t driven it in anger on a track, but I did drive it to The Market and it stops, handles and goes like hell. The most amazing thing about it is the torque. As a V8 it has it anyway but, to give you an idea of how much it has, for fun I left it in third gear at a crossroads and it still pulled away lustily. I’ve piloted a lot of powerful machinery in my time and I must admit that this one did impress me.”

Since it’s been up at our Abingdon headquarters, we’ve had it out on a few spins and can confirm that this V8 Sebring rep is very entertaining. It makes a proper V8 noise and is full of a rambunctious character; brakes are sharp, and the handling feels nicely sorted.

A quick peek underneath shows a solid looking underside, although one or two areas could benefit from a bit of wire brush work and chassis black. John thinks the car must have been parked up in a damp garage after being completed, with some rust encroaching into the back end, as there’s a significant invoice from 2019 when Majestic Motors carried out restorative works; this included rear chassis leg repairs, a new boot floor repair section welded in and re-painting in 2k epoxy underbody paint and seam sealing.

There’s a lovely photo booklet that visually details the car’s build; this is backed up with comprehensive build sheets detailing every aspect of its construction – it’s certainly worth interested bidders taking their time to electronically leaf through them. You’ll also find all the previous owner’s invoices from Majestic Motors, as well as those from John’s fettling since June last year.

There are a number of expired MOT certificates, as well as a current ticket that runs until the 11th of February 2022. The included V5 document shows that the car was first registered on the 22nd of June 1972. It’s had a walloping 17 owners from new, but that’s superseded by the full rebuild and negligible subsequent mileage covered.

You’ll also find a brief info sheet, written by John.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of the paperwork to support our claim that this car has been constructed to a very good standard.

Its combination of comfort and performance means that this ‘Sebring’ could be used for a variety of duties including hill climbing, as a road car or, with further development, as the basis for an historic race car. It’s not perfect, but it is very usable.

A quick check of its MOT history shows that it has completed only negligible mileage since 2006, when the odometer showed 4,325 miles; if that’s the case, then it’s reasonable to assume that the V8 engine is barely even run in.

Taking everything into consideration, we think this V8 Mabel replica will sell for somewhere between £15,500 and £19,000. “It’s a pretty damned good car and is for somebody that wants to have something unusual,” says John. “And the V8 engine is a much better one (than the MGC’s six-cylinder unit) for a performance car of this type.”

Having been rebuilt to a high specification, there’s no doubt it’s now time for the next owner to give this beast some serious beans…

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’.