MGB Roadster

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

Launched in 1962 and remaining in production until 1980, the MGB was gradually modernised over time but lost much of its original character along the way. Purists prefer the pre-1968 MkI cars which have many pleasing details (leather seats, crackle finish dash, pull handle doors, aluminium bonnet, chrome bumpers etc.) which were all relentlessly whittled away as the years went by.

This early MkI Roadster has effectively had just one owner from new, a Northumberland gent who bought it from A Carr & Son of Hexham in August 1964, the original purchase invoice showing that it cost him the princely sum of £909 6s 4d. He kept it right up until his death in 2017 at which point ownership transferred to his wife.

Clearly a much-loved family member, it comes with an exceptional history file which details meticulous upkeep from new, including some entertaining early correspondence in which the pernickety owner makes it very clear to the MG dealer network that their customer service is not all it could be!

In 1996 it was fitted with an Oselli engine, fully rebuilt with a balanced flywheel and crankshaft etc. More recent invoices show that the brakes were uprated in 2009, the overdrive gearbox was rebuilt in 2014, a stainless steel exhaust was fitted in 2017 and it was last serviced in December 2018. The Iris Blue bodywork was restored and repainted back in 1978 and although the Owatrol rust-proofing seems to have done its work well, preserving the underside remarkably well, the body and paintwork would now benefit from some light titivation here and there.

Supplied with its original handbooks, manuals, green logbook and much else besides, this one-family-owned MG still shows only 73,500 miles on the clock and is a most appealing prospect all round.