Drivetime
MGB
Never was a sports car more loved by the British public than the MGB - a car that was later literally dumped by its manufacturer.
The MGB was the true essence of British sporting excellence. It was totally practical to own and conveyed a superb mixture of good honest power mixed with true driving satisfaction.
It first appeared at the 1962 Motor Show and took over the slot occupied by the popular and curvy MGA, of which 100,000 examples had been produced.
Heavier and much more bulky than the lithe MGA, the B, as it became affecionately known was little different mechanically with the same live axle and semi-eliptic rear springs.
It was powered by a 1,798cc four-cylinder engine which produced 95bhp. This gave a top speed of 105mph and the ability to reach 60mph in just 12.2 seconds.
Casting my mind back to when I drove one of these amazing cars it always gave the impression of being faster than it really was - especially with the roof down.
To be honest, the B designers got it right first time. Although later versions are still popular with collectors, it is the early “pure” cars especially with wire wheels that are the gems for MG fans.
The MG preservation brigade is passionate about the car. A friend of mine keeps his B in a totally pampered state and always takes my ribbing with good humour when I question the amount of time he takes cleaning his wheel spokes with a toothbrush.
But this is what the MGB does to people. Once you have fallen under the spell you are totally hooked.
Yet the MGB was not just for the wind-in-the-hair brigade. In 1965 the MGB GT appeared which also proved immensely popular with its fastback styling.
But lack development hard.
A six-cylinder adaptation called the MGC did not inspire the customers and the later V8 version never sold in the quantities the company had hoped for.
In the mid-1970s the solid, original thinking of the old BMC design office was being eroded by sheer of hit sensitive the MGB The MGB was the fianl MG to be built at the famous Abingdon factory corporate neglect.
The biggest blow came when federal regulations in the USA led to all MGBS, including those for the home market, being raised and equipped with large and, in my opinion, ugly rubber bumpers.
By the time the MGB was finally strangled to death in 1980 it was, in many ways, the same car it had been 18 years before.
Had the right team been given free rein and the B sensitively developed, I have no doubt it would still rule the roost in UK sports car showrooms.