Case histories
We test the classics that you can buy
MG MAGNETTE ZB VARITONE
Year of manufacture 1958 Recorded mileage 12,006 Asking price £12,950 Vendor Fender Broad, Chateau Impney, Worcs; 07794 477785; www.fenderbroad.com
WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £1032 7s Max power 68bhp Max torque 83lb ft 0-60mph 19 secs Top speed 85mph Mpg 24
This tidy Varitone (larger rear window, extra chrome and, in this case, two-tone paint) ZB appears to be rot-free, thanks to a couple of patches in the floor, welded repairs in the door shuts and most likely new sills. The top half was last repainted in 2011. As a result, it’s straight and clean both up top and underneath, and presents very well. There’s ownership history back to 1978 and a sheaf of bills – which includes one for a new windscreen in 2011 – since 2010, when it lived in Glasgow. The chrome is all good (the rear bumper has been replated) apart from slightly pickled doorhandles, and the headlights are H4s. The tyres are 2012-dated Nankangs and the exhaust looks fairly new, with the back half in stainless-steel.
Inside, the leather is all tidy, with some light wear and creasing to the front seats, better in the back, and inertia-reel belts all round. The carpets are unworn and don’t look very old, protected by overmats and probably dating from the time the new headlining was fitted in 2012, when the car appears to have undergone much refurbishment. The dashboard has been refinished, as was the speedometer when it was recalibrated, because in 2011 the car was fitted with a five-speed Ford gearbox using a Hi-gear bolt-in conversion kit.
The (original) motor is tidy, with newish plugs and lots of coolant, the oil dark and over ‘max.’ It starts easily and goes better than you’d expect for a 1500cc saloon. The all-drum brakes drag a bit to begin with and pull to the left, but the car had been standing for a while, so it’s likely they would improve with use. The five-speed ’box has a nice, positive action, so from this and the solid lever we deduce that it likely wears a quickshift. Oil pressure is up to 70psi on the move with temperature under ‘N,’ though it rises when you stop, and the ammeter shows charge. The period Radiomobile still works, too.
The Magnette will be sold with its original four-speed gearbox, a factory operation manual and an MOT that is current until December, although it doesn’t now need one by law.