The MG name was introduced in the 1920s under the sales promotion
branch of Morris Garages out of Oxford. A separate company named
the MG Car Company was incorporated in 1930 and remained under
William Morris's ownership until being sold to his holding company.
They gained in popularity and the small sports car was perfect for
the streets of England. In the late 60s they made an attempt to
create a high performance version of the MGB called the MGC and
incorporated a 3.0L straight six engine. It was quickly cancelled
after wide criticism pointing to the nose heavy motor that ruined
the handling. A racer and engineer, Ken Costello, set his sights on
the Rover 3.5L V8 that was all aluminum and actually weighted in
around 40 lbs less than the standard 4 cylinder. He started
building aftermarket version which were fast, reliable and handled
perfectly. This got the attention of the factory which launched the
official MGB GT V8 model in August 1973. Approximately 2,591 units
were built before pulling the plug in 1976 despite its rave
reviews. This 1974 MGB is a fastback coupe but did start its life
as a 4 cylinder. The originals are pretty rare so this beautiful
example was built as a nice tribute. It is painted in the Pewter
Silver Metallic paint which has a great finish and is paired with
the Black rubber safety bumpers. It has been badged with the MG BGT
emblems and V8 emblems. The car sits on the limited edition
aluminum wheels with MG center caps, exposed lug nuts and the
Pirelli tires.
Under the hood the car is very clean and has been redone as a
tribute to those factory GT V8 cars. It has a nice chrome air
cleaner, Black valve covers, a Mallory unilite distributor and
ceramic coated valve covers. Backing the motor is a 4 speed manual
transmission that shifts smoothly with no issues. Being a light
weight sports car with the power of a V8 the car is very fun to
drive and zip around in.
The interior is done in all Black and is in great condition. Being
the fastback model these had both front bucket seats and the bench
rear. Open up the hatchback rear and you will find a nicely
carpeted area that offers plenty of extra storage space. The
original console runs up to the dash and is where you will find the
floor shifter with MG knob. An aftermarket Sony Xplod
AM/FM/CD/Aux/USB stereo has been added and sounds great. In front
of the driver are the original style gauges which reflect 27,439
miles and a 3 spoke woodgrain steering wheel with MG horn
button.
This is a really neat car that you really don't see many of. The
originals fetch a pretty good price due to limited production so
here is the opportunity to get one in your collection for much less
cost.
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