Reader Jeff S recently purchased this sweet MGB from a friend. It’s showing just 13k miles on the odometer and has been parked in their garage for most of the time that they’ve owned it. Normally, we would assume that the odometer has rolled over, but this car looks it and has documentation back to the original owner to back it up. Of course, it’s been parked so it needs to be serviced, but Jeff is going through it to ensure that it runs and drives as it should!
What Makes This Vehicle Special? This is an actual 13,332 mile British Racing Green MGB Roadster. The car comes equipped with the hard to find overdrive transmission and wire wheels. It’s a two owner car with the second owner purchasing it in early 1980. The car comes with all original selling documents including window sticker, manuals, and the passport to service. It has the correct original tools, tonneau cover, and top boot. The original Michelin MXV tires were even still on the car. It sat in a heated/cooled garage that doubled as a woodworking shop for 13 years. When we pulled it out, it had thirteen years worth of sawdust covering the car. We have cleaned it and are currently awakening the car in every aspect so that the next caretaker will have a car that looks and drives as a true 13,000-mile car should.
Describe The Mechanical Condition: Mechanically it’s a 13,000-mile car, but we are refreshing everything so that it’s ready to drive.
Describe The Body Condition: Body is perfect and still wears its original paint
It always amazes me when low mileage MGBs pop up. You wouldn’t think anyone would buy an affordable little sports car just to drive it a couple of summers and then park it, but there were a few people that did just that. We actually featured a 1980 MGB a while back that had just 2,500 miles on it and it ended up selling for $13,800. Jeff’s has a few more miles on it, but it has wire wheels and is British Racing Green. That one sweet combination!
It sure cleaned up nicely inside and out! Clearly, this car was used sparingly and cared for during the time it was on the road. Jeff’s friend needed it gone, so Jeff decided to buy it and get it fixed back up. With a hoard of other British cars to care for, he’s decided it’s best if he lets this one go to another BF Reader. It will be ready to drive prior to heading off to its new owner, but it really shouldn’t take much to have it back on the road. If you’d love to give this survivor a good home, be sure to contact Jeff via the form below!
- Asking Price: $14,500
- Location: Lebanon, Tennessee
- Mileage: 13,332
- Title Status: Clean
- VIN: GHN5UL497271G
If you have a low mileage survivor that needs a new home, please consider listing it here on Barn Finds!
If it’s in such great condition why does it have one of those absolutely stupid lace-on steering wheel covers?
And what makes it worth $700 more than a newer one with 11,000 fewer miles?
I love MGBs but I’m sure other Inquiring Minds would like to know…
Maybe you’re younger than me, but in the late 70’s and early 80’s, if you didn’t have a Pep Boys steering wheel cover like this, you weren’t even past step one of making a car your own. Remember back then, steering wheels weren’t nice, padded deals like today. Been a while since I drove an MG, but lots of cars back then featured a hard plastic 3/4 inch diameter steering wheel.
I had a Midget in the early 80’s, liked it a lot but paid almost nothing for it. It’s not a lot of car for the money, but the mileage and condition will likely lead to selling at close to the ask. These are coming into fashion as reasonably priced hobby vehicles.
This car is kind of a different animal with such low miles, but I gotta wonder what happened to the days of the cheap MGB? I swear just 4 or 5 years ago a really nice B could be bought for 4 or 5K. A respectable driver could be had for 2500 smackers. What’s causing prices to rise?
Is it a myth that us boomers are aging out of the hobby, or have the millennials suddenly put their I-phones down for 5 minutes to discover reality? Well, I do know us boomers are aging, and frankly I can’t see millennials putting down the phone long enough to shift gears. So what IS driving up the prices?
I’ll put in my two cents here. Having owned a number of MG’s, Triumphs, and a couple of Miatas I feel the Miata is the best car.
Now think about the Miata you could get for this money. A sweet ride. Would you wash it after every drive? No need to. Would you open the hood and check for anything amiss? No need to. Would you wake to a sunny Sunday morning and go for a back roads drive? Maybe.
The reason the prices have gone up is you get a lot of memories and emotion for the price. Thank god they don’t build them like they used to for a go to work car, and thank god they did for putting a smile on my face.
Read what I wrote and it wasn’t very clear. The MGB’s are raising in value because you get a lot of hobby car for the money. What else could you buy for this money that will give you this top down Sunday drive pleasure? Not a lot.
I am 63 and purchased a 1977 MGB new, for $5,600 then 2 years later my wife was expecting our first child, so I traded it in on a new 1979 Mustang for $5,900. I would never pay anything close to $14,500 for either car even with the low miles. Memories – MGB fun to drive, when not in the shop. Mustang just basic transportation with the 2.3L 4cyl, nothing special.
Memories I would like to forget.
Don’t kid yourself, Rex, cheaper MGB’s are still out there. Ok, they may not have 13K miles, but before I cancelled my recent search, clean B’s came up all the time for $4-$6g’s all day, most with 50K miles and no O/D. I think a low mileage anything can bring 5 figures today, just because they can’t be found. If low mileage does anything for some, then have at it, but it’s been my experience, whether a MGB has 13K or 50K, you’re going to have to tinker with it, and to us that had these cars, it’s not worth the extra money. Like the other one with 2500 miles, these are the least popular B’s to have.The O/D adds at least a couple grand, but this a $6-$7,000 dollar car, tops. You’re right, many today have no idea what a MGB is, and this will appeal to mostly older folks that had one and like me, want another, but for 5 figures, they can keep it.
After they raised the center of gravity, removed a carb, and leaned out the engine with an air pump, then stuck the horrid cheap plastic bumpers on it, there wasn’t much left to love. The color and overdrive are nice, but the 40 year old perishables (rubber, etc..) are not. For that money I think a pretty nice 60s example could be found, or a Miata. (if you’re not too tall).
It is interesting to find one in such condition, but it is about the least desirable model.
Back when I owned a “British classic”, the joke was it was easy to find low mileage examples because they were so unreliable- the trick was to find one with more miles because it meant it could be driven. Ironically, this particular 70HP example would really benefit from a little back-dating to an earlier, high-performance specification.
This one’s a quick turnaround and double your money with little effort. This VERY car was listed on this site via the craigslist ad from the prior owner a little over a week ago for only $8000.
The color is actually Brooklands green. BRG (both different colors that had that name on the B) went out in 1970. It is probably the best green of the B.
Price does seem high.
Albert,
If you read this or anyone else that may read this.Lets consider this “double your money with little effort”
1) To perform this transaction legally one must have a proper license which requires approval from state,insurance payed monthly,overhead on a facility that is required to have a license.
2)Purchase a truck and trailer that must be maintained as well as insured
3)Have cash available to hand over to seller
4)Take a day or possibly two to risk life and limb on interstate highways to view and transport “find”
5)Take risk that car may or may not run and perform properly at the other end of the $3500-$4000 mechanics visit.
6) Prepare car both cosmetically, mechanically to take to market
7) Prepare ads,taking pictures and writing text
8)Kindly and patiently guide each and every call from interested parties in order to obtain the mutual goal of transfer of vehicle to possible new owner
9) Take car for independent inspection
10) Help obtain transport to new owner
11) Prepare proper documentation for transaction
12) Guide the new owner in proper procedures on how to operate and register their new vehicle,then “babysit’ them through each anxiety that may arise from their new purchase
Then at the end of the day one hopes he has profit after averaging the many that were not profitable.
I have traded classic European vehicles for 44 years,all think it is such an easy job and those “flippers” are making so much money.I have seen hundreds come and go(broke) thinking it is so easy-buy low,sell higher.
Spend a few hundred thousand over the years in order to glean knowledge in order to actually be able to profit then come and talk to me about “EASY QUICK DOUBLE YOUR MONEY”
Jeff Frazier
Sounds good Jeff. I too, have been buying and trading for over 30 years. So I guess when you have a checklist of items to charge for like guiding a buyer on how to register a car, I guess there is a dollar value to it. Like I said, the car was listed on this site a little over a week ago. You bought it, obviously have the time to have taken it from long term storage, to 100% road worthy in that time, and rather than drive it and enjoy it, you’re selling it on for almost double the original price. Great. Good luck with the sale.