MG MGB

MGB at a glance

From the MGA to a unit-body roadster

MG published the details of the MGB on 19 September 1962. It replaced the MGA, which had a separate chassis, with a welded steel unit body designed under Don Hayter. The new car was 76 mm shorter than the MGA and rode on 14-inch wheels instead of 15-inch ones. The engine was the 1,798 cc version of the BMC B-series with 70 kW (95 bhp) at 5,400 rpm and 149 Nm (110 lb ft).

At launch the V8 Register's model profile lists the Sunbeam Alpine, Triumph TR4 and Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II as its rivals. In October 1964 the engine gained a five-bearing crankshaft in place of the original three-bearing design. MGBs also raced at Le Mans, finishing 12th overall in 1963, 19th in 1964 and 11th in 1965.

The GT, the Mk II and the rubber-bumper years

The fixed-roof MGB GT arrived in October 1965. Pininfarina drew the roof, the rear opened as a tailgate, and a stronger Salisbury rear axle came with it. The GT reached 168 km/h (105 mph), about 8 km/h more than the roadster. According to Rimmer Bros, the roadster sold better in America, while the GT outsold it in the UK and most other markets.

The Mk II followed in late 1967 as a 1968 model. It brought a gearbox with synchromesh on all four forward gears, an alternator, negative earth and an optional Borg Warner 35 automatic, which stayed on the list until 1973. From September 1969 a recessed matt grille replaced the chrome original, and in 1973 the SU HS4 carburettors gave way to HIF4 units.

The biggest change came in the second half of 1974. Black polyurethane bumpers were fitted for the 1975 model year to meet US impact rules, and the ride height rose by 25 mm. Overdrive became standard from June 1975, and in June 1976 an electric radiator fan and a gear-lever overdrive switch were added. US cars lost power to emissions equipment: Wikipedia FR puts late American engines at about 51 kW (69 hp), with a single Stromberg carburettor.

Special runs filled the late years. Abingdon built 751 Jubilee GTs in 1975, and the final UK Limited Edition comprised 421 roadsters and 579 GTs. For the US, a black Limited Edition roadster planned at 500 cars ended at 6,682.

MGC and MGB GT V8: the bigger-engined MGBs

The MGC of 1967 used the MGB body with a 2,912 cc six-cylinder engine producing 108 kW (145 bhp) at 5,250 rpm. The engine was 95 kg heavier than the four, so the front suspension changed to torsion bars and the wheels grew back to 15 inches. Top speed rose to 192 km/h and 0-97 km/h took 10.0 s, but the press disliked the nose-heavy handling, partly because launch cars ran wrong tyre pressures. At GBP 1,102 in 1967 it cost slightly less than the Austin-Healey 3000 (GBP 1,126) it was meant to replace. Production stopped in August 1969 after 9,002 cars.

The MGB GT V8 was launched in August 1973 and was sold only as a GT. Its aluminium 3,528 cc Rover V8 gave 102 kW (137 bhp) and 262 Nm, and the engine weighed about 18 to 27 kg less than the iron four, depending on the source. The MG Car Club quotes 0-97 km/h in 7.7 s and 204 km/h (127 mph) in a 1973 road test. Its launch price of GBP 2,294 climbed to GBP 3,372 by autumn 1975. Limited engine supply, the high price and the late-1973 oil crisis held sales back, and production ended in July 1976 at 2,591 cars. Wikipedia DE splits them into 1,856 chrome-bumper and 735 rubber-bumper cars; the MG Car Club gives 1,862 chrome-bumper cars, so figures vary slightly.

Why the MGB ended at Abingdon in 1980

By the late 1970s British Leyland had the Triumph TR7 as its main sports car and felt the MGB was taking sales from it. The closure of Abingdon was announced in September 1979, and the factory gates shut in October 1980. Rimmer Bros notes that a late rubber-bumper MGB cost about as much in the showroom as an early Volkswagen Golf GTI. The TR7 itself was dropped about a year later. You can follow the wider story of the marque in our history of MG and in the MG catalogue.

The shape returned in 1989, when British Motor Heritage put the MGB bodyshell back into production for restorers. That shell became the basis of the MG RV8 of 1992-1995, with a 3.9-litre Rover V8 rated at 142 kW (190 bhp). Wikipedia EN gives 1,983 RV8s built, 1,579 of them for Japan.

MGB today: what to check when buying

Hagerty UK's buying guide warns that an MGB can look solid while hiding corrosion. Check the inner and outer sills and the castle rail, the front and rear wing top seams, the bottom of the windscreen frame on GTs, the trumpet section at the top of the inner wing, the ledge above the front arch, the rear spring hangers and the floor. Sill replacement costs thousands per side, and a roadster must be braced while the work is done.

Mechanically the B-series is simple. Smoke on start-up or under acceleration points to wear, and a silent top end can mean overtight tappets that damage the camshaft. Early three-synchro gearboxes are weak in second gear, while the later four-synchro gearbox is tougher. Overdrive faults usually trace back to the solenoid or the switch wiring. On the GT V8, the MG Car Club lists an undersized radiator, fragile first, second and reverse gears with laygears no longer available, and Dunlop composite wheels prone to rust pitting.

Hagerty UK notes that used spares are widely available, and Heritage bodyshells have been made new since 1989. The MGB prices here rest on public sale records gathered by britishclassiccars.co.uk, converted from sterling at an autumn 2026 rate of about EUR 1.15 per GBP. In August 2026 the median MGB roadster sold for about EUR 8,100 (GBP 7,056), with typical results between EUR 5,750 and EUR 12,400. Its September 2026 MGB GT guide gives a median of about EUR 6,000 (GBP 5,200), while GT V8s sold for a median of about EUR 16,200 (GBP 14,103) in the same September 2026 data. The same August 2026 roadster page says a rubber-bumper car fetches roughly a third to a half less than an equivalent chrome-bumper car. Other classics of the period are collected in our classic cars section, and the smaller Triumph rival is covered in our Triumph Spitfire hub.