If you were to compile a list of the nation’s favourite classic cars, the MGB would most certainly feature in it. As with the likes of the original Land Rover and the E-Type, the B is the archetypal British classic, its unmistakable design endlessly gracing mugs and birthday cards for the motoring enthusiast.
Heck, the car even became a classic in its own lifetime, cultivating an image of olde world Englishness and a reputation as one of the more usable older cars long before production ended in 1980 after an incredible 18-year life.
In that time, more than half a million MGB roadsters and GT fastbacks were made, and it is a testament to the sheer rightness of the original package, the adoration among owners and the first-class parts supply and club support that the B survives today in vast numbers.
Key to the MGB’s appeal, I think, is the styling. Elegant, pretty, well proportioned, unfussy - all these words can be used to describe the B’s aesthetics. Arguably even more of a looker is the GT, launched in 1965 and possessing a slickly incorporated, Pininfarina-designed fastback. Of course, as the B got older and several changes were made to keep it fresh, it arguably lost some of that original design purity, especially in the case of the ‘rubber bumper’ Mk4 of the mid-1970s. Yet age has most definitely mellowed these models, and their distinctive front-end styling has many fans, myself included.
Is the MGB a bit of a cliche? Could it even be described as a 'boring' choice? It’s true that it is hardly the most imaginative classic car purchase, but it is still more than capable of generating interest at classic car events, while the combination of classically British style and almost modern-day usability means it is that rarest of things: a classic car you can buy with your head as well as your heart. Prices are competitive, too, so you won’t need an oil company CEO’s wage packet to get one in your garage.
The B holds a personal appeal to me as well. Our family GP has owned a green GT for as long as I have been alive, and I remember him calling to the house when I was a child in it, and in all weathers, too. And now, as a fully grown (if not fully matured) adult, pulling in to the surgery car park and seeing that same car with its chrome glistening in the sunshine, never fails to raise a smile from a devout and incurable petrolhead like myself. A car of timeless appeal, I endeavour to try one for myself one day...
Comments