MGB Roadster

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One of several MGBs in our sale today, this MkIII was first registered in March 1970 and was originally a GT Coupe, as denoted by the third letter in the chassis number – D for a GT and N for a Roadster.

Our vendor has always been a big fan of the MG marque and being a generous sort, he decided to mark the occasion of his grandson’s 18th birthday by having an MGB specially built so the lucky lad could run around in style once he had passed his driving test. To this end, in 1997 he commissioned MG specialists Wheel Right Motors of Hereford to restore the car from the ground up to as close to new as possible.

Given that it would need a new body anyway, he opted to go down the Roadster route, the Heritage shell alone costing some £8,000. The engine was rebuilt and converted to unleaded; the engine bay detailed with chrome highlights; the battery converted to a single 12v; the interior retrimmed in cream leather with a painted dash, a stereo and a sports steering wheel; a luggage rack was fitted plus a stainless steel exhaust, Minilite-style alloys, a new hood, hood bag and tonneau cover. Basically, no expense was spared to make the car as appealing to the young lad as possible.

Come the big day and guess what? Grandson was not impressed. He couldn’t understand why grandad had given him a 30-year-old car when he wanted something modern and plastic. To cut a long story short, grandad ended up giving him something else for his birthday and kept the MG for himself.

In 1999 he took it to Northern Ireland on an MG Club event where the crowd proved much more appreciative than his ungrateful offspring, awarding him not only ‘Best MG’ but also ‘Furthest Travelled’ – although in true Irish style the plaque he was given said ‘Most Enjoyable Event’ although his hosts did throw in a model of his car too!

Since the rebuild was completed the MG has only covered some 6,200 fine weather miles and it remains in sparkling condition throughout. Said to drive as well as it looks with working overdrive, it comes with a V5C, an MOT to 23rd May 2019 with no advisories recorded, a few restoration photos, the aforementioned plaque and MG model but no bills: unfortunately these have long since gone astray and grandad would rather not remember how much he lavished on the restoration in any case.

Having enjoyed the car for 22 years he now wishes to hand it on to someone who will appreciate it rather more than his ungracious grandson…