EPIC BATTLE MGB vs TR7 Nick Larkin answers the big question in a way only he can. MGB or TR7?

The Triumph TR& and MGB GT are both superb value and great to drive-but given the choice, which is the better buy? Nick Larkin decides in a classic shootout

Driving, savouring and analysing the fixed-head Triumph and late-model, rubber-bumpered MGB GT is a bit like spending a day listening attentively to all those Doctor Hook and Captain & Tennille singles that didn’t storm the charts when new, and even today, don’t exactly pulse out of your car radio. But give them a chance, ignore the dissenters and they’re still very good.

Both cars are from iconic manufacturers. The Triumph TR2-6 is held in deep esteem and the older MGs, including chrome-bumpered Bs, are still revered by classic fans. Yet while the convertible form of the Triumph TR7 is recognised as a highly desirable and practical classic, the more idiosyncratic fififixed-head version of the TR7 is still overlooked by some.

There are more than enough clichés spouted about these cars. It is generally acknowledged that early, Speke-built Triumph TR7s weren’t the best quality sports cars ever made, but that conveniently forgets the massive quality improvements made to later TR7s. In the same way, pub bores rubbish the rubber-bumpered MGB introduced in 1974, usually without ever having driven one. Such poppycock spouted by the so-called purists means that, even today, either of these cars can be bought for £3500 in good condition. And that’s fantastic news for classic fans.

Honestly, both are great. But which would be most fun to take to the International MG and Triumph Spares Day at Stoneleigh this Sunday (21 February)? Both will be rightly recognised there as card-carrying classics, but which is the absolute king of the underdogs?