Category Archive

For Xisdibik:

First of all: The older the MGB is, the more expensive it’s going to be, with a considerable jump in late 1974 when MG started making the Bs with rubber bumpers, and messed with the handling. The handling is particularly bad for the 1974 rubber bumper, 1975 and 1976 cars, so these are the cheapest. The ’77,’78,’79, and ’80 models are fine, but all of the RBs sit higher than the CBs. RBs can be converted, aesthetically, to a CB for a couple thousand dollars if you know how to weld. Again, that should be brought into consideration if you plan on doing that.

For $500 or less, you can get a parts car. These don’t run, and don’t have much hope of it usually. You could score one if you’re doing a real restoration, which while it doesn’t sound like you are, you never know: you might eventually. A lot of people buy one of these for the looks or because they think it’s fun to drive, and get sucked into the obsession :).
For around $1,000 you can find yourself a project. These may have any number of problems including rust, not running, bad interiors, and the list goes on. For reference, my MGB cost $800. It doesn’t run, needs a paint job, and the interior is tired but passable if it got a new carpet.

For around $3,000-$5,000 you can get something driveable. This example is good because the exterior looks good, the engine is described as working (probably has an issue here and there), and the interior is tired but passable. These are cars that went through a full restoration some years back and have started to wear out again, or were just kept in excellent condition from the get-go, but will need major work probably in the next 10 years to prevent them from being a project. On the mgexperience forums, these are the cars that are “daily drivers” most of the time.

But of course, in the $3k-$5k range, you should watch out for rip-offs. This one has rust on the underside and is going to require big bodywork, and the fact that it’s paint job looks so recent with that body rot is a bad sign. You have to check for rust. One with engine troubles and no rust is a much better buy than one with rust and a good engine. You’ll only get better aquainted with the car if there’s an engine mishap from time to time!

If you have serious dough, you can get pristine cars. Besides the assumed extra work of owning an older car, that one looks like something that’s almost as good as new, for about $10,000. You can pay as much as $30,000, but frankly, even if you have the cash: don’t.

Pictures of my MGB now that she’s home:

Can’t wait to get to work!