Final Parking Space: 1973 MG MGB
During the 1970s, American car shoppers looking to commute in a two-seat European roadster at a reasonable price had two obvious choices: the Fiat 124 Sport Spider and the MG MGB. I see plenty of discarded examples of both types during my junkyard travels, but genuine chrome-bumper MGBs are much harder to find in car graveyards than the later “rubber-bumper” cars and any Fiat 124 Spiders. Today we’ve got one of those cars, spotted in a Pull-A-Part in Columbia, South Carolina recently.
One of the first cars we saw in this series was an MG, but it was a U.K.-market 2005 ZT 190 from the final days of pre-Chinese-ownership MG. You can buy a new MG in many parts of the world right now (in fact, MG’s 100th anniversary just took place last year), but the final model year for new Morris Garage products in the United States was 1980. That was when the final MGBs were sold here, a year after we got our last Midgets.
MG was part of the mighty British Leyland empire from 1968 through 1986, and many BL products received these badges for a time during the early 1970s.
The MGB was the successor to the MGA, and one of the best-selling British cars ever offered in the United States. Sales of the MGB began here in the 1963 model year and continued through 1980.
At first, all MGBs were two-seat roadsters. A Pininfarina-styled fastback coupe called the MGB GT first appeared in the United States as a 1966 model.
I owned a British Racing Green 1973 MGB-GT as my daily driver while I was in college during the late 1980s, and that car— which I loved, most of the time— made me a much better mechanic.
Like this car, my B had a 1.8-liter pushrod BMC B engine rated at 78.5 horsepower (yes, British Leyland claimed that half-horse in marketing materials). These cars aren’t at all fast with the stock running gear, but they are fun.
In theory, some MGBs were built with Borg-Warner automatic transmissions, but every example I’ve ever seen had a four-speed manual. An electrically-actuated overdrive unit was a much-sought-after option in these cars.
This car has the optional wire wheels, which would have been bought within days of showing up in a U-Pull junkyard 30 years ago. Nowadays, though, most MGB owners who want wire wheels have them already.
In 1973, the MSRP for a new MGB roadster was $3545 (about $25,991 in 2024 dollars). Meanwhile, its Fiat 124 Sport Spider rival listed at $3816 ($27,978 after inflation).
The 124 Sport Spider for ’73 came with a more modern 1.6-liter DOHC straight-four rated at 90 horsepower. That was quite a bit more than the MGB, but the Fiat also scaled in at 200 more pounds than its English rival. The MGB was sturdier, while both cars had similarly character-building electrical systems.
British Leyland also offered the Triumph TR6 and its 106 horsepower for 1973, with a $3980 price tag ($29,180 now). If you wanted a genuinely quick European convertible that year, your best bet was to spend $4948 ($36,277 in today’s money) for a new Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce… which took you into the same price range as a new Chevrolet Corvette.
This car is reasonably complete and not particularly rusty. Why is it here, just a few rows away from a Toyota Avalon that came within a hair of hitting the million-mile mark on its odometer?
Project MGBs are still fairly easy to find, so cars like this often sit in driveways or yards for decades before being sent on that final, sad tow-truck ride.
Still, the 1973 and early 1974 MGBs are the final models before federal crash-bumper and headlight-height regulations resulted in MGBs with big black rubber bumpers and lifted suspensions. This car should have been worth enough to avoid such a junkyardy fate, but perhaps South Carolina isn’t much of a hotbed for MGB enthusiasts nowadays.
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That is a sad specimen.
My brother had an MGC, which was a straight six and automatic. The drivetrain weighed a ton, the car was a pig, maybe from all the drivetrain weight. It had a teardrop on the hood to clear the carb, and a bump on the front of the hood for the radiator if you ever see one. My sister had a MGB, it locked up with a main bearing trashed. I replaced the bearing and crank, and it trashed the bearing again in five minutes. First thought that it was trash in the oil passages, but after about the third quick rebuild and failure I heard an old man at the shop said that it could be a warped block. Sure enough, one of the mains was shifted slightly. Had it line bored and it was fine. They really were high maintenance cars.
Whispering …. kill…me
Although many people had adverse experiences with various British cars from the 50’s to the 80’s, it was mostly a consequence of the car’s history of neglect. MGBs and Midgets were simple reliable machines that were no more complex to maintain than a garden tractor. The problem is that, like a lawn mower or garden tractor, they rarely got serviced regularly or appropriately and as a consequence would manifest all sorts of problems, few of which were really serious but were often inconvenient to the owner.
I have had multiple Bs, Midgets and TR7s and other various British vehicles over the years and have rarely had a breakdown that couldn’t be fixed with a little effort and the right knowledge as to what the source of the problem was. That being said, the later more complex vehicles with extensive electronics and computer controls can be a challenge. For example, for a number of years I commuted 400 kms weekly in all kinds of weather in my ’73 B roadster and only once was prevented from making the trip, not because of a mechanical issue but because of a freak spring snow storm that dumped a meter of snow on the roads making them impassible. Then again, having an air suspension failure on a classic 90s or 2000s Jag is somewhat of a different situation; that’s where a Haggerty membership comes in very handy.
The litany of complaints about LBCs (Little British Cars) mostly arise from a lack of maintenance or the knowledge of how to correct a problem when it occurs. For example, the on-going complaints about” Lucas Prince of Darkness” electrics. these cars are decades old and are rarely treated to regular preventative maintenance because they are cheap and usually a second car or hobby vehicle. Simple things like electrical connections and switches are subject to corrosion and fail when least expected… how is that a surprise?
A lot of us in the car hobby cut our teeth on LBCs and learned how to wrench on them thereby gaining the satisfaction of keeping them running and moving on to other classic machines, often with V8s and more muscle, but which still call upon those basic skills learned from keeping an LBC running.
I have been doing my best to introduce the younger crowd in my community to the exquisite pleasure of being confronted with a problem when a car won’t run (newer of classic) and being able to figure out how to bring it back to life. I recommend the experience to share our knowledge to all of those in the hobby; it is its own reward.
Excellent comment, David
I’ve seen worse but it would be quite a project. A Sony Casette stereo, so modern!
Totally restorable and would look good cruzing Myrtle Beach
You state that in ‘1973, the MSRP for a new MGB roadster was $3545 (about $25,991 in 2024 dollars)’.
Does anyone know what the MSRP for a 1969 MGB was?
With and without wire wheels?
Is there a web-site that list the original prices for 1960’s MGB’s.
Please advise as to my queries, if you know, thanks.
what would it say, a British Leyland product?
i’ll tell you what it would say…
kill me!
kill me!
I’m 65 miles away in Augusta, GA. I know what my wife would say.
Makes me sad to see this as this is our 40th year owning a glacier white MGB similar to the car in the junkyard. Ours is in great condition and driven regularly. Lots of fun miles over the years, easy parts availability and great club support. I agree, yes this car could be saved.
I am in th UK and my wife has this sam car in thr garage. We have got it back to great condition and is used all summer long. It’s her baby
My first car was a blue 1973 MGB. I used to drive it back and forth from Boston to Chicago for college. Most of the time with the top down. That thing ran great with just minor tune-ups and oil changes, and it always got lots of attention on the highway. I was very sad when I sold it, but I replaced it with a 1973 TR6.
It would say, Please save me !
looks like a fun project. I could be driving it in a month . too bad I’m married .
I bought a 1970 Triumph GT6+ upon my return from Viet Nam. Drove it yesterday (5-3-24) to early voting. Stillget a lot of attention and questions.