The honor of having a golden jubilee now may be claimed by the MGB.

In the early spring of 1962 the 100,000th MGA rolled off the factory floor in Abingdon, England, certainly one of the most successful MGs ever produced. Like the previous MG TC and TD it had a four-year production run, which most people thought was about the right time before a company presented a new product — especially in the motor market!  The motor journalists of the day asked, “What can MG do to beat this record and produce an equally attractive sports car?” They did not have to wait long for an answer.

That June the new MGB was presented to the public and the media. Both were quite ecstatic, the reviews in the national press saying virtually everything positive about the car. In fact, it would be hard to find a negative review. The MGB had arrived with a body style created by Farina (of Italy) and a revamped power unit that had been increased to almost 1800cc, equivalent to the average British family vehicle of the time with a third of the weight.

I was told by the designer of the new MGB that they had intended to make it larger than the MGA but the bean counters got into the picture and eventually reduced the wheelbase by three inches and the length by five. This reduced the production costs as they did not have to design new jigs — they could simply reuse the MGA production tools. It also saved using larger wheels and tires. The new MGB retained the same MGA steering units, suspension and drivetrain, with a few modifications of course.

The design team also created a hatchback version of the car now known as the MGB GT, and it may surprise some readers to know that the two cars were ready for production in 1961 but the GT sat in the wings for reasons that are still not quite clear — unless MG decided that they could not maintain production for both vehicles, or that one might push the other out of the public eye. Remember there were other small and attractive sports cars available in the early ’60s such as the Triumph TR3 and TR4, not to mention the Mini Cooper S that saw the light of day in 1963. It was a very competitive market.

The price of the early MGB off the showroom floor was just over $1500, based on the exchange rate of the day. The car was a few bucks cheaper and faster than the Sunbeam Alpine, another competitor. Obviously it was not in competition with the likes of the Healey 3000 or the Lotus Élan at close to $2000, but the MGB within its class provided real value for the money and it looked good, drove well, and was certainly a winner.

The MGB also had a decent amount of leg and luggage room, something unique in the British sports cars of the day. Most of the time the owner and the passenger had to share the limited cargo area with a spare wheel and a set of tools, but the MGB did allow space for a travel case and a couple of soft bags. An outside luggage rack was offered as an extra for those who needed more.

Nineteen sixty-four was a record year for Abingdon, the MGB having certainly found its place in the sports car world. The following year saw a decline in sales, nothing serious, and in October 1965 the new MGB GT was launched, the car I described as under wraps for over three years. Apart from anything else the new GT enlarged the potential market for MG and attracted buyers who would never considered buying a “sporty ragtop.”

The motor media gave the GT thumbs up. One writer commented, “At last, a comfortable sports car that I will be able to enjoy in my old age!” Others suggested it would be the ideal second car for a middle-class family. In reality this proved to be the case, the comfort, design and convenience of the hatchback style appealing particularly to women — but that’s not to say that men were not attracted to the car, especially when it started to win rally events. Performance on the street was not that bad considering the extra weight that the car was carrying (in excess of 200 lbs.). It could almost reach the top speed of the MGB Tourer (105mph); it just took a little longer!

In error the British Motor Corporation’s marketing department promoted the car as a 2+2, which it never was. Even by the greatest stretch of the imagination no one could suggest that four adults could ever travel in the GT unless two sat on a roof rack! At best a small child or the family dog would be the limit of the rear seat, if that’s the right word for the area behind the driver and passenger. Sure, you could fold this small seat and turn the rear into a decent size shopping container, but that was about the limit of its usable capacity.

Styled by Pininfarina, the GT certainly had good looks in company with its older brother, the Tourer. Another attraction was that MG managed to offer this car at virtually the same price as the ragtop. Of course, that is referring to the basic price. If you wanted a heater it was extra, seat belts were extra, a radio was extra, and the popular overdrive that gave the car that extra motorway cruising gear that both the Tourer and the GT certainly needed cost around $180.

When the GT arrived the idea of an MG sports coupe was not new, having been tried a few years earlier with the MGA Coupe, a modest success but in need of air conditioning on a typical summer’s day. The MGA’s evergreen 1600cc engine did not make this refinement feasible. On the other hand, the MGB GT was a good candidate for such equipment with its larger engine, so many this side of the water did have A/C fitted by local service shops.

In total 125,000 GTs were produced, which may sound impressive but not when compared with the Tourer at over half a million from 1962 through 1980, when the Abingdon factory closed its doors.

Enter the MGC and V8

An interesting sidelight that parallels the development of the MGB Tourer and MGB GT took place in 1967 as BMC, now partnering with Jaguar in a new company, British Motor Holdings, phased out the Austin-Healey 3000 with a suggestion that a new Healey would be designed at some future date. A new, powerful sports car was needed to take its place, if only in the short term. Someone reasoned, why not take the three-liter, six-cylinder Healey engine and fit it into an MGB to bridge the gap?

The end result was the MGC.  It was the first MG to have a six-cylinder engine since the prewar days, its capacity 2912cc, with disc brakes in front but the standard drums on the rear. Top speed was 120mph or close; make that very close as at least two of the display cars touched 124mph on a test track! An MGC GT was offered alongside the roadster, as with the MGB, for those who wanted a little more comfort.

In total 4,457 MGC GTs were sold during their short run of but two years, 1967 to 1969. The roadster achieved a few more at 4,542. There was nothing wrong with the car apart from early steering problems due to the extra weight of the engine, and perhaps the fact that if you were lucky you might see around 16-18 miles per gallon.

By the early 1970s MG was part of a new conglomerate, British Leyland, which sold everything from sports cars to trucks. MG, the smallest of the BL companies, needed something new, and in August 1973 the first factory eight-cylinder MGBs rolled off the production line, ready for the Motor Show scheduled a few weeks later. The 3.5-liter engine came from BL partner Rover. A special body had to be designed to take both the weight and stress of such a machine, but you would have had a hard job from twenty feet to know the difference between this vehicle and a standard MGB GT.

Top speed in the V8 MGB GT was just five miles higher than in the ill-fated six-cylinder MGC. Even today it’s not clear why the V8 GT was ever produced or what it was intended to replace. None were exported to the U.S., MG’s biggest market, which should tell us something! It has been suggested that it could have been intended to replace the E-type Jaguar that was starting to show its age, especially in American dealerships, but I find this hard to accept as the E-type was such a unique and beautiful example of design and engineering. MG meanwhile continued to use the old discs-in-the-front, drums-in-the-rear brake scheme, and this for a car the company claimed was in the 125-130mph brigade. Between 1973 and 1976 the price increased from $3,000 to $6,000, during which time only 2,591 examples were produced.

By 1977, 15 years since the launch of the MGB, the overseas demand for traditional British sports cars was drying up and, to add to the problems, new safety and emissions requirements were being implemented on all imported cars offered for sale in the USA. For one, cars had to be able to withstand a front or rear impact at 5mph. Accordingly, MG fitted the MGB and GT with steel armatures that were covered with black polyurethane molded bumpers on the back and front. Compared with the traditional chrome that enhanced any car, these were at best ugly.

[Exec. Ed. note: This opinion is not held by all MGB enthusiasts. Those who would differ with Mr. Wheatley say the addition of rubber bumpers not only allowed the MGB and GT to meet safety requirements but gave the car a modern, tapered, almost streamlined look quite in common with its contemporary, the Alfa Romeo Spider, a beautiful car by most people’s reckoning. —BV]

Other changes took place. In order to meet emission requirements the sporty twin carburetors were replaced with a single unit that also reduced the performance. The car was heightened by one and a half inches, causing the MGB to roll in corners. In short the car was reduced to a Sunday afternoon driver rather than a sports car.

By 1979 BL was claiming that MG was losing about $1,000 on every car it exported, even though with the exchange value of the pound the price of a new MGB, when one included dealer prep costs, delivery, tags, etc., topped $9,000. Shipping costs were a factor, having increased due to the higher cost of oil.

In one last desperate attempt to hold on to its most lucrative market, MG in the spring of 1979 launched the “MGB Limited Edition” in the USA and Canada, which by any measure was still a production MGB, fancied-up without the chrome. It was not a success. In fact many never made it to the American dealers, they simply sat in their transport crates on the docks. What happened after that is not clear but my guess is that you could pick up an MGB for a very reasonable price within a hundred miles of dock land!

So after 18 years and over half a million cars (513,276 to be exact) the MGB — and the MG Car Company as it was known throughout the lifetime of the car — ceased to exist. The factory in Abingdon closed its doors in 1980 and a few years later it was demolished to make way for a business park.

When BMW purchased Rover years later, the deal included MG and for a few years the breed was revamped with a mid-engine design and sold in the UK as the MGF, but the demand for such cars in the USA waned with the new generation of car drivers entering the market. Today unless you are an enthusiast the term “MG” means very little. In fact I was once asked if GM made the car — they got the name the wrong way round!

[Geoff is the consummate MG enthusiast and historian, having written on the subject many times for the New England MG T Register, numerous club newsletters, and this publication.]

COVENTRY, UK — An all-new Jensen Interceptor will be launched next year.

This announcement was made after CPP Global Holdings was appointed to engineer, develop and build the new car by the brand’s owners, Healey Sports Cars Switzerland Ltd (HSCS).

CPP, the British specialist automotive group, will finalise the new car’s development in Coventry and manufacture it at a new production facility on Browns Lane from 2014. 

A team of Coventry-based design consultants employed by HSCS has completed the design of the new Interceptor, which has already gained significant customer interest.

The new Jensen Interceptor — echoing the four-seat grand tourer layout of the much-loved original built between 1966 and 1976 — is based on an all-new aluminium chassis and handcrafted aluminium body.

The public unveiling of the Interceptor is planned for late 2012, with deliveries to customers beginning in 2014.  Annual production numbers and pricing are yet to be confirmed, but will be fixed to ensure ultra-exclusivity.

Expressions of interest can be registered on the website www.jensensportscars.com.

Brendan O’Toole, founder and co-owner of CPP, recalled how he started his career restoring bodies and components for classic British sports cars and commented that for his firm to take the lead role in reviving the iconic Jensen brand “is very exciting for the business, and for me personally.” 

O’Toole invites comparisons with the former model.

“The Jensen design team has respected and honoured the great heritage and attributes of the original Interceptor,” he observed, “while injecting a contemporary edge and advanced technologies that will ensure it appeals to the passionate, discerning motoring enthusiast of today.

“This work is at an advanced stage, and married to CPP’s expert coachbuilding, craftsmanship and engineering skills, the new Interceptor will be an exceptional example of British automotive excellence.”

Liam Cardiff, director of Healey Sports Cars Switzerland, was equally enthusiastic.

“CPP is the perfect partner to revive the iconic Jensen Interceptor,” he said.  “With the Jensen design team integrated into an organisation with much greater resources and broader expertise, our dream of seeing the Jensen and Interceptor badges once again adorning the bonnets of beautiful, modern, British-built GT cars has come closer to reality.”

HSCS owns all assets, intellectual property, designs, and brand rights for the Jensen and Interceptor brands.

CPP is a group of automotive businesses with coachbuilding at its heart.  Over 250 highly skilled automotive specialist technicians and craftsmen in Coventry have considerable experience working with global luxury car brands, adapting standard vehicles or undertaking full production of low volume stand-alone models.

Over the past 16 years, founder and managing director O’Toole has grown the business continuously, and the partnership and support of Vladimir Antonov — car enthusiast, chairman of the Russian investment business Convers Group, and major shareholder in CPP — has seen this growth accelerate during the last two years. 

In January 2011, CPP acquired Bowler, the manufacturer of all-terrain supercars.  In February 2011, CPP signed a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire Spyker from its holding company, a deal that is anticipated to be completed shortly.  In July 2011, CPP confirmed that it was operating a joint venture with the Italian design studio that operates the Zagato brand under licence from the Zagato family.  In September 2011, CPP announced that it had signed an exclusive purchase agreement with Advantage West Midlands to purchase and redevelop the famous car production facility at Browns Lane, Coventry.

[From the CPP press office at PFPR Communications, Maidstone, Kent, UK.]