The Late-model MGB

For 43 years the rubber-clad MGB has been a controversial and seemingly unpopular car. How did it come about, was it really that disliked and what should we think about it now?

- Jack Grover

There’s nothing ‘forgotten’ about the hero status of the MGB as a whole. Against stiff competition it stands as the most popular of the classic British sports cars (for over a decade it was the best-selling sports car in history) and it remains an enduring staple of the classic car scene in Britain, America and around the world. The MGB offers the same package that made it such a hit in the 1960s – it’s an affordable, stylish, simple and fun sports car blessed with engaging and balanced handling, adequate performance and enough refinement to be used whatever the distance or weather. And with a little tuning and modification you can turn a ’B into a serious piece of racing kit. For those looking for a more sedate ownership experience the MGB’s familiarity means that there is no shortage of support for both owners and cars and few other cars offer such a hassle-free classic experience.

But not all MGBs are equal and there’s a breed of ’B which has had a major image problem from the moment it was released. A version which described in one road test as “silly and irrelevant” and which did “not deserve still to be in the ranks of new cars.” An MGB which can be worth as little as a tenth of the price of other versions and which many MG dealers have found to be so undesirable that the only way to shift them is to convert them into another variant. We are, of course, talking about the infamous ‘rubber bumper’ MGBs built from 1974 to the end of MGB production in 1980.