The odometer on this 1974 MG MGB Roadster in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, reads 21,604 miles, but it might have turned over once. The low mileage could actually be believable because the car looks pretty darned good for its age. Bidding is at a very reasonable $3,500, but the reserve hasn’t been met.
There was a time when MGs like this one were ubiquitous on American roads, and dirt cheap to buy as used cars. Those days are mostly gone, but MGBs were made in such numbers that they are still among the bargain classics—particularly late model rubber-bumper examples like this one. The first rubber bumpers actually appeared the year this car was made, and when so-equipped the cars are known as 1974 ½ models. The bumpers are not actually rubber, but polyurethane plastic.
Nobody much likes the big black growths at the front and rear of the car, and they mar both the looks and the value. Part of the new safety requirements, as seen on this car, are a revised suspension with a one-inch higher ride height. The vendor tells us that the 1.8-liter car has manual transmission, a clean title, wire wheels and knockoffs (with the hammer supplied), a clean title, and “a few minor body dings.”
It’s a “solid driving and running car. Engine strong with a nice exhaust note. No rebuild history on motor or transmission. Not baked in original California sun—garaged last 12 to 15 years. Suspension tight. Rack-and-pinion steering precise.” The previous owner notes a repaint in the original maroon, the new top, a rewired heater box, aftermarket fuel pump, new brake hoses and a full bleed.
The paint is shiny, the engine bay clean (with a Weber carb replacing the original twin SUs or single Zenith-Stromberg) and the interior mostly tidy, though the driver’s seat has a gaffer’s tape “repair.” The chrome is all there and polished to a fare-thee-well. It doesn’t appear to need much. The top (finicky on these) looks like a late addition. The trunk fit appears a bit off.
If you’re going to buy a rubber-bumper MGB, these earlier ones had some issues. The heavier bumpers caused a big sacrifice in the handling. In 1977 there were some suspension geometry fixes, but emissions regulations caused a big hit to horsepower from which the MGB (which went out of production in 1980) never overcame.
1974 ½ brought a Laycock Type LH overdrive unit, a rectangular-shaped access cover, a square clutch fork boot, and a blue label on the OD solenoid cover.
A good condition 1974 MGB Roadster is listed at $10,073 on Classic.com. One the same color as this car brought $30,000 recently, but it had the chrome bumpers. It is possible to retrofit a rubber car with chrome bumpers, but it’s not an easy job, requiring modifications to the extended frame rails and the front fenders (for turn signals), and installing new mounting brackets from a specialized kit. Moss Motors will supply the necessary parts for $1,340.
Oh, the temptation is great with this one, and right in my area too. Dang, you know, a retired person with a few bucks is like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and dang if he knows how to use it( RIP Phil Hartman) I’ve been following these, and prices have dropped dramatically, as shown. Several red flags for me, I’d need a garage to tinker, because tinker you shall, wires, meh, no O/D, big downer, Weber, meh, rubber baby buggy bumpers, I suppose I could live with but a really nice car regardless. Mileage unknown, Lucas speedometers not the best, seems pretty clean for 120K, and the trunk got bent because the trunk stay didn’t release, ask me how I know. I see the air pump is froze( no belt), those didn’t last long, might be an issue with emissions if your area has that and no oil cooler? You can’t go wrong with an MGB!
Thank you for the simpsons reference!!
First, I prefer the black bumpers, on both the MGs and Triumphs. They make the car look far more modern!
As for this one, I have a feeling this is a high mileage example. There is obvious wear in the door panels and chrome, and the repaint may be covering up more than faded paint.
And frankly, I prefer later models without the chrome strips.
Depends on what their reserve is as to whether this will be a good deal or not. But I’ve seen numerous samples in much nicer shape going for not a lot more.
Also, I’d want to make sure it included the original carburetor, even if the swap IS more reliable
This car is in great shape and looks to be well maintained also. I am an old school, chrome-bumpered-B-person and I do not like the rubber bumpered cars, nor the side light markers, nor the squared off tail lights; However there are a many who do like the modern B look and that is what this car is for! “To each his own!” as the old saying goes…..Wire wheels always look good on a B, even though steel wheels are less problematic. 55 years ago, as a kid, when I drove my 67 BGT as a daily, I would pride myself on how fast I could change a flat tire with knock offs!!
I’m betting 120,000 on the speedo: wear on clutch pedal, looks like “heel and toe” for brake gas. Driver door card bottom front torn up, passenger card repaired, window crank broken. No under pics. Hole in middle of seat puzzles me how it was made. Seats were out (pic), replaced carpet?
Tempting but there are some things about this one. Door panels have been replaced by an amateur, passenger door panel has 2 duct tape repairs & a broken window crank (does the window even go up & down?) under dash and under hood wiring has been messed with by an amateur, needs cleaned up and possibly repaired, driver’s seat needs recovered, cheap paint job has a lot of orange peel, trunk lid is tweeked. For the price it may be a fun toy but not an investment, but that depends on the reserve, which hasn’t been met yet with a $4,050 bid.
This was on Bring a Trailer back in October. Bid to $2900 and did not sell. It needs a lot of work.
Bill and group. I am the owner. I bought it on Barn Find three years ago for $3600. It’s everything as advertised and the odometer has not rolled over. A man in Idaho bought it from California in 2011 and did most of the work which included new wiring. The odometer was shown as zero but I think that is what Idaho does with a car like this. 21,000 miles is obviously not accurate and I think about 15,000 have been put on it since 2011. That said it is not a high mileage car that is obvious from the way it handles and drives and starts and runs with the original engine. It does not burn oil. I keep Castro in it and it is up on the dipstick at all times. So what all this means to me is with the black rubber bumpers that most like to moan about: it is what it is in the Bard Finds group is being alerted to a bargain car because of that. I owned a 53 TD in 1967 and bought and restored a 55TF in 1972. The car brought back many pleasant memories and doesn’t exhibit all of the ugly memories I had maintaining a T series car. Since it didn’t sell last fall and I put new brake hoses on, I think the buyer group out there is looking for something that can have fun with during this summer. And no, it is not a project car, it is a pleasant driver that starts every time and the heater box was completely rebuilt not just painted and wired. It works! A fun car with minimal worries for an MGB enthusiast.
There is a place in this hobby for the rubber bumper B’s. Fifteen years or so ago, I was flipping B’s for fun and profit, and ran thru three or four of the little rascals. Now be aware, I am a dedicated Mk1 guy, and the late cars took some getting used to, but I somehow muddled through. It may shock some of you to know I have an opinion on these cars: Everyone talks about losing the bumpers, and in my opinion that is a mistake. If you take the time and energy to make the swap, you find that it is costly, difficult (to make it look right-there are plenty of bodges out there to choose from) and if you don’t lower the ride height (which for some reason, folks seem to fail to perform this task) IMO they just look foolish. I found that a lowered RBB with aftermarket 15″ wheels looks really good, and “feels” like it handles better. More importantly, returning the engine to the pre-emission status is the best bang for the buck you can do on these cars. Without changing the pistons from the 8:1 deep dish pistons, adding an early Lucas 25D distributor with a properly adjusted vacuum advance, changing timing gears to the early dual row chain (adds advance back to the cam) and losing the pitiful Zenith’Stromberg single carb and horrible breathing exhaust manifold will add 10-12 horsepower, but more importantly change the anemic power back to closer to the original concept. No, it won’t go like an early car, but it will feel like it’s going much better than it was. So, to sum up, forget the cosmetics. If you want a chrome bumper B why not save up some more money and buy one. If you want a B to work on, the engine mods I listed are the best way to go. There’s a guy in Texas that offers the entire Carburetter set up to make the driving experience a lot more enjoyable.
Just don’t throw out the original components. Big mistake
Just rip those rubber atrocities off it and reinstall chrome bumpers and Robert is your mother’s brother.
There really is a lot more to it than that
Leave the bumpers that came on it on the car!!! I hate when people vandalize them!!!
I owned five MGBs, the last purchased new in 1977. So I say with certainty that British Leyland crippled a fine little sport car by fitting the black bumpers, raising the car’s height, and tacking on an emissions system, seemingly as an afterthought, to a de-tuned engine. The performance of the ’77, both speed and handling, was decidedly inferior to any of the earlier models, and indeed inferior to that of a Toyota Corolla that I owned during same time frame..