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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I’m pretty sure SC is a hot MG state. Would bet this car is recused soon.
It is difficult for me to understand the neglect that allowed this car to deteriorate. I am the original owner of a 1971 MG Midget that just turned over 300,000 miles and that looks great in its original bronze yellow paint. I also have a 1970 B that I have driven from New Mexico to Newfoundland, down to the tip of Baja California, to Mexico City, North Carolina, Toronto and Seattle and so on. This one has 270,000 miles on it with Alaska planned as the next destination. I don’t comprehend a derelict MG.
I too have a 73 B but I owned mine from 75 to 82, sold it to guy who lived in London and by shear coincidence discovered it was for sale in December 2023 after the same owner had passed away just months earlier. Now having a full rebuild with 223,000 miles on the clock. Can’t wait to get my B back!
I OWNED A ’67 MG FOR ABOUT 6 MOUNTHS, TRADED IT IN FOR AMERICAN IRON.
It should be a tragedy if that “B” was broken up/crushed.
PLEASE! SOMEONE SAVE IT!
She’s saying “Put me down!”
sure looks familiar… can smell the rust + rot from here… where’s the repair manual??? put mine on the road, and got beat off the line at the 1st stop light – by a VW bug… sorta fun in the sun, but found holes in the roof when it rained… not being much of a sport, sold mine after just 2 months… but still ponder them + their british cousins on The Marketplace, even today. / sn
if the car could talk it’d be saying ‘i don’t belong here!!!” sad and disappointing to see a chrome bumper version in this condition in the yard. I see complete crap for sale compared to this.
The MGB photo in the wrecking yard reminded me of a scrap yard I found in the mid-sixties on Staten Island—Stucker’s. It specialized in imported cars. I had an Austin Healey 100-6 at the time that had beat up OE seats. Went there and found a pair of like-new Sunbeam Alpine seats, black with red piping. The seatback of one was badly bent, but the price was right. Bought them and straightened the seat. They looked great in my Healy that had been white but, I painted it Candy Apple Red.
That car lasted a year or two through college. After college, the Army and finding a job, I put a deposit on a new Porsche 356C Cabriolet for $4600. Before it came in, the company I had gone to work for went out on strike (Teamsters or stevedores) for long enough I could no longer afford that $4600. So, I bought a new 1965 MGB for $2600. It was more practical than the Healey, but still British. The Lucas fuel pump died at about 3,000 miles while on a ski trip to Vermont. It was replaced by a Bendix pimp when I got home. The B was BRG with black top & interior. Turned out it was nearly invisible. I was hit 24 times during the 2 years I had it. Only recurring problem was the starter solenoid would jam. So, having an appropriate wrench handy was a necessity. Years later I bought a 1980 MGB. It was okay but, I was getting interested in Vintage Racing. Ultimately I bought a 1966 MGB Roadster and began making changes to make it able to race in vintage events. I did happen. I raced that car 4 – 5 times a year in the Northeast and then when we moved to FL in the Southeast. It was a great Daily Driver and a competitive Vintage Racer. I even drove it in the NE US on business trips. How did it manage? Lucas electrics were replaced with Bosch and Japanese units. I had an engine built by Dave Headley (Fab-Tek) that was amazing. I saw 129 mph on the Back Sraight at Watkins Glen one of the years I raced there. It is one of two cars I wish I still had.
I had a BRG ’69 B for about a year back in the mid ’80’s, until my daughter got too big for the shelf behind the seats… I still miss it, and often am on the lookout for one (or a TR-6). But I don’t have a garage, and if there’s one thing you need with a British sports car, it’s a garage!
I have a 70 mgb gt. Unfortunately getting moved on property got good bent .
I also disagree. I’ve had my 1969 MGB since I was 14 years old. It’s as pretty today as it was when it left the showroom floor. It’s a fun car but they have to be treated just right.
Is this for sale
I have a 1966 MGB i want to sell. It does not run, but has been in the garage, I wish I could post pictures.