V8s are great. V8s with rear wheel drive are even better still. And small, light cars with V8s and RWD are among the best fun you can have on the public highways. Top of the tree has always been TVR – but before TVR discovered the V8, there was the MGB GT V8. Both cars now have their followers, not only among marque devotees but among those who love the Rover V8 that is their shared history. But which makes a better classic buy, the BGT or the TVR Wedge?
BURBLY B
The MG BGT V8 has its origins in the work of Ken Costello. Much like Carroll Shelby, Ken Costello had a penchant for putting big V8 engines into small British sports cars. Costello, however, chose to insert the Rover 3.5 V8 from the P5 into the MGB. When British Leyland heard about the cars, they invited Costello to come and discuss his conversion with them – which later led to a production V8 MGB. Costello was involved in the development work of six prototypes ready for series production – these cars differed cosmetically from the Costello cars in that they retained the standard grille and bonnet, and also featured special alloy wheels produced by Dunlop. Unlike Costello, BL only ever produced factory V8s as GTs, and the lesser powered Range Rover unit was used in place of the more powerful unit from the P5. This engine was torquier, its power deemed sufficient for a car of the MG’s weight. Range Rover spec engines were also easier to source internally, owing to the Range Rover’s ever-strong demand.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 16, 2019 من Classic Car Buyer.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 16, 2019 من Classic Car Buyer.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Staff Classics
REPORTING ON: Alfa Romeo GTV
Rootes Group - The Golden Years
The Rootes Group’s finest years commenced immediately after the end of the Second World War with the launch of a handful of brand-new models and lasted until the company was absorbed into the Chrysler empire in the middle of the following decade
MG ZT
The MG ZT was more than a Rover 75 in sports shoes. Much, much more. It was a performance saloon par excellence and today makes for a superb classic sporting bargain
MG Display Controversy
A classic vehicle insurer met with a mixed response at the Classic Motor Show when its display stand depicted a 1998 MGF apparently crushed by a WW2 Hellcat tank. But was this a sacrilegious act against a classic car, or an inspired promotional display?
Extra Ordinary
Exotics are usually the go-to classic investments, but a recent trend in everyday cars means more common street sights could be the way to go
Alternative Go
As the internal combustion engine’s fate seems in question, we look back at its past challengers
Death Of The Sports Car?
Another manufacturer belies its heritage to switch to SUVs
Cool Coupes
Every manufacturer was in on the ’90s coupe trend, stylish two-doors in abundance. But nearly three decades on, which are worth investing in?
Classic Scenes
Writing this as news reports bring us images of Sheffield residents trapped overnight in shopping centers by floods, we were struck by this image from October 1987.
500 Not Out
We identify some modern classics in danger of extinction... and the older cars which massively outnumber them