A not-so-recent article in Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car listed the world’s most popular (by quantity built) open cloth top roadsters. It bridged a whole variety of the class, all the way from the MG Midget to the Mercedes R107 SL, with many in between, and serves as good inspiration for a couple of postings. While the Mazda Miata was the most popular car on the list, second place went to the MGB. While many of these have moved out of reach for the collector on a budget, it is still possible to find some nice-looking examples at a reasonable price, particularly if you’re willing to compromise on things like giant, black battering ram bumpers and a color that makes you want to reach for a packet of Swiss Miss (or worse, but this is a mostly family friendly website). You can find this 1980 MGB for sale in Kansas City, MS for $4000.
Considering the challenge MG and all other manufacturers faced at the time, MG actually did quite a neat job of integrating the large rubber bumpers – many others like BMW and Alfa Romeo had less well-integrated solutions than this. At least one rubber bumper MGB owner has flipped the bumper upside down and installed an earlier grill, giving back some of the original look. Luckily for this car, brown is in again, so it’s not as much of a negative as it once was.
Everything looks to be in really good shape, as you’d expect on a car of this mileage. The Rostyle wheels are very clean, and the paint is nice and glossy – someone really cared about this car. The tires are said to have plenty of tread, but to be 5-6 years old with only a few hundred miles on them. So it appears the seller did not add much to the total 53,544 miles (and the car may need some recommissioning as a result).
The interior looks original, and shows a little bit of wear, but overall is in excellent shape. It’s hard to imagine that at one point, people thought this would be one of the last open-top sports cars ever produced. The seller has not posted a picture of the engine, but honestly, under miles of government-mandated pipes, hoses, and air pump, it’s no thing of beauty. That said, even nice rubber bumper MGBs seem to be asking more than this, so this might be a bargain – check it out and report back if you live in Missouri.
Rusty But Trusty 
January 24, 2014 at 2:35 pm |
There are kits to convert these to chrome bumpers that look good if they’re installed correctly. This is a fair deal, I’d say; I see these selling for anywhere from under $1000 to over 7K around here. The color doesn’t bother me; I wouldn’t much see it from behind the wheel.
December 30, 2014 at 11:54 am |
LOOKING TO PURCHASE THIS CAR THIS WEEK