Top Ten Trivia
So much has been written about the MGB already that we’ve had to dig deeply for this issue’s trivia, highlighting some of the model’s lesser known claims to fame.
Think you know all about the MGB? Maybe you do, but then again...
The MGB was quite a revolution for MG when it was launched in 1962, replacing the MGA’s separate chassis construction with a new monocoque design that featured a smooth cigarshaped profile. The styling at the front was influenced to some degree by the Renault Caravelle/ Floride, and indeed the French company did later threaten legal action, but nothing ever came of that.
The body – over- engineered in some regards and extremely strong – was productionised and produced by Pressed Steel in Swindon. Engines were originally intended to be from a new family of narrow angle V4 and V6 units, but these never made it into production and so power came instead from a newly enlarged 1798cc B-series. Suspension was largely derived from that found on the MGA, with independent coil springs up front, a live rear axle on leaf springs and lever arm dampers all round.
Production commenced in May 1962 for a launch in September. A hardtop was soon added to the options list, as was overdrive. Changes were initially only minor, such as the three-bearing engine gaining an extra two main bearings from October 1964, but in January 1964, Belgian coachbuilder
Jacques Coune had created a very delicate Italianate Coupé Berlinette version of the Roadster. This was killed off in 1965 when MG introduced their own much cheaper BGT 2+2 coupé. With styling by Pininfarina, the BGT had a taller windscreen than the Roadster, (which had been given a very shallow screen so that it would comply with certain racing regulations,) and this helped create a superbly balanced and extremely practical hatchback design.
The MkII arrived for 1967, with an allsynchromesh gearbox among the many small changes, plus an automatic option. A year later, MG found itself part of the Leyland operation, but obvious changes were few initially. For the 1970 season though, the chrome grille gave way to a recessed black plastic version modelled on the 1968
Ford Mustang. The following year the Roadster got a new folding hood designed by Michelotti. A year later, in October 1971 ready for 1972, the MGB became the MkIII, though the minimal tweaks did not really justify this.
The following year, a nose more redolent of the original was designed, and in August 1973 the BGT V8 was launched. This was a superb package, but fate was unkind and the fuel crisis dented sales. The V8 was only ever available from the factory as a GT, and it straddled the changeover from chrome to impact-absorbing rubber bumpers in September 1974. The V8 was discontinued in 1976. In September 1979 it was announced that MGB production would end and with the closure of the Abingdon factory. Despite various attempts to prevent this happening, in October 1980 the Abingdon gates were closed for the last time and it was all over.
Or was it...? When British Motor Heritage put the MGB bodyshell back into production in 1988 to supply the classic restoration industry, this formed the basis of Project Adder, which became the RV8 from 1993-1995 and paved the way for MG’s full-scale return with the MGF. That, however, is another story for another day.
1 Maidstone Sports Cars have a tradition of building wacky cars to exhibit at shows, but perhaps the wackiest was a fully-functional cutaway MGB! They had a derelict 1968 Roadster in the yard, took that back to the gearbox tunnel and built it up from there. Weight distribution was an issue, and they had to chop the springs on the cut- out side to nearly nothing to stop it listing to starboard. A brace was added to keep the front and rear suspensions apart on the nearside. With a tuned 1950cc engine it was pretty quick in a straight line, but MSC boss Andy Marsh described its handling as ‘floppy!’
2 Old Speckled Hen was an ale commissioned to celebrate the 50th birthday of MG. The name is supposedly a corruption of Owld Speckled ‘Un, the name that had been given to a fabric bodied saloon used as a pre-war factory runabout and which, according to legend, had acquired a speckled appearance after straying too close to the paint shop. What does this have to do with the MGB? Well, originally brewed by Moreland in Abingdon, Old Speckled Hen has been owned by Greene King of Bury St Edmunds since 1999, and in 2012 they turned an MGB Roadster into a tribute to this story, complete with full speckled body wrap, to celebrate the MGB’s 50th anniversary.
3 The infamous rubber bumpers introduced in September 1974 were not in fact rubber at all, but a polyurethane material called Bayflex over steel armatures. They might have looked less prominent if they had been painted body colour, but paint technology of the time (and presumably BL’s finances!) were not up to the job. However, in 1978 with no new models on the horizon, BL planned to give the MGB a facelift by fitting the OHC O-series engine. Several development cars were built before it was decided to close MG instead, and some cheap cosmetic updates were also tried on one example. These included a metallic Denim Blue paint job, contrasting blue bumpers and complementary tartan upholstery whose fabric appears to have been lifted from the contemporary Mini options list. That BGT still survives in private ownership.
4 Once the closure of MG’s Abingdon factory had been announced on 10th September 1979, a consortium led by Aston Martin attempted to buy the
MG name and plant to keep the MGB in production until new models could be developed. The long-term plan was to fit the revised model with the O-series engine and a five-speed gearbox, but to show their vision they hurriedly put together a display model with cosmetic changes, and also with the taller BGT screen grafted onto the Roadster bodyshell. Sadly the plans came to nothing. Or maybe it was not so sad after all, as reactions to the hurried styling updates were rather mixed.
5 A 1964 MGB owned by then- chairman of the MG Car Club’s MGB Register, John Watson, was featured on one of a series of stamps issued by the Royal Mail in 2013 as part of their British Auto Legends series. John’s MGB was on the £1.28 stamp, an honour it shared with alternative designs featuring the Morgan Plus 8 and Lotus Esprit. There were three variations of first class stamp too, options here being the Jaguar E-type, Rolls- Royce Silver Shadow and Aston Martin DB5. John’s car is the Iris Blue beauty pictured on page 40.
6 There is at least one diesel-powered MGB that was converted in period. This is a 1972 BGT in Bronze Yellow, and under the bonnet is the diesel version of the B-series engine, as developed for marine and commercial vehicle use. There is some anecdotal evidence that this may have been an unofficial development project at Abingdon, but no concrete evidence to back up that claim. Either way, it was unsurprisingly not developed any further – the car is noisy and slow, but frugal (averaging 60mpg) and with plenty of torque, hardly a set of characteristics that shout ‘sports car.’
7 Another oddity is SSV1 – the Safety Systems Vehicle on display at the British Motor Museum and pictured on p40. This was designed for the TRANSPO 1972 event in the USA as one of the exhibits in the International Experimental Safety Vehicle display. Intended to show that even a sports car could comply with all conceivable US safety legislation, among numerous modifications to the MGB GT that included self-levelling suspension, anti-lock brakes and seat belts which fastened themselves automatically, it also had a periscope on the roof for full-width rear view vision.
8 Despite having power progressively strangled by emissions regulations, one US-spec four- cylinder Roadster of 1973 vintage was particularly fast. This was pushed out of a cargo plane in flight for a TV ad campaign dreamt up by British
Leyland in the USA. The idea was that a parachute would open, the MGB would float gently to the ground and a man who had also parachuted out of the plane would get in and drive the MG away before a pack of other sports cars chasing across the desert could reach it. Sadly the MGB’s parachute failed to open, it hurtled to the ground and was flattened like a pancake. However, an attempt with a second car was successful, and the One Jump Ahead advertising campaign was a great success.
9 There were very few limited edition MGBs, but in 1975 the company released the Jubilee GT to celebrate MG’s 50th anniversary. Among the cosmetic tweaks for this run of 750 cars were goldfinished badges, gold-painted Dunlop MGB GT V8 pattern wheels and gold side stripe decals on British Racing Green paint. Unfortunately, 1975 was not MG’s 50th anniversary, with the first MG cars having been sold in 1923. However, the exact date from when MG could be regarded as its own company has always been a movable feast guaranteed to generate fierce debate among aficionados, and besides – BL needed a sales boost in 1975!
10 When Rover Special Products were designing the RV8, Dev01 was an existing MGB V8 that was modified to develop the body styling, while Dev02 was a brand new Heritage MGB shell fitted with a 3.9 EFi V8 from the Land Rover plant. Dev02 was used for cold weather testing of the mechanical package, and was not built to be pretty! Instead it was crudely chopped about where necessary with, for example, a mock-up of the RV8’s front bumper to test its air-flowing abilities. RSP engineers called this car Baldrick, presumably because Project Adder and the RV8 was such a cunning plan?