The fixed-roof MGB GT was introduced in October 1965 and production continued until 1980, although export to the US ceased in 1974. The GT was a concept dear to MG’s managing director John Thornley. He wanted to build a ‘poor man’s Aston Martin’. The team at MG had some difficulty in designing the coupé shape, so they commissioned Pininfarina to do the job. The design that came back was beautiful. Autocar magazine wrote ‘Perhaps one of the prettiest sports coupes ever to leave the BMC drawing boards’. The new configuration was a 2+2 design but the new rear bench seat was very small and of limited use for adults or older children, however there was more luggage space than in the roadster. The engine and gearbox were the same as those in the roadster. In fact relatively few components differed from those used for the roadster, although the MGB GT did receive different suspension springs and anti-roll bars. The MGB GT also featured a different windscreen which was more easily and inexpensively serviceable. Acceleration of the GT was slightly slower than that of the roadster due to its increased weight, though handling improved due to significantly increased chassis rigidity and perhaps slightly better weight distribution. Top speed improved by 5 mph (8 km/h) to 105 mph (170 km/h) due to better aerodynamics.

Pete's MG BGT

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I brought a chartreuse MGBGT VAB on the 1st February 1980; I was the second
owner of the car. On my way home after stopping several times to see what was wrong I realised the cars that were flashing me were MG's, that was my introduction to the world of MG's.

After a couple of months of ownership I heard about the MGOC so I decided to go to a fairly local meeting and see what was involved, little knowing twenty five years later I would still be involved with the club. For many years VAB was my every day transport, fitting in work between club runs and club events all round the country. From Jersey in the south to Harrogate in the north, I had very few weekends to myself for the first few years. The car has always (touch wood) behaved herself unlike the driver! With very few problems apart from normal wear.

In 1997 I started to rebuild the front suspension, a couple of weekends it should have been! Seven years latter I am finally back on the road thanks to Chris Rodgers who put a lot of work into an almost total rebuild.

Alan's MGBGT

My particular MGB GT began life in April 1971. As DVLA computerised records don't go back that far, I have yet to trace the original owner, but for twelve years from 1974 it belonged to Byron and lived in Windsor. Byron reports that it was always a low-mileage car because he had a company car at the time, and the MG was mainly used by his wife for the school run and shopping. Byron very kindly sent me a photo of the car dating from 1974.
A number of questions were immediately answered by this photo. The car now has an all-chrome (Mk I style) radiator grill, whereas 1971 model-year Mk II MGBs left the factory with a recessed, black grill as we can see here. The original version of the British Racing Green paintwork was also darker than at present (I have discovered that many different paint codes used over the years are all referred to as "BRG"). It seems that the car has always had wire wheels with spinners. It also had 1970s-style wing mirrors and modern reflective number plates, which have not survived, nor (less surprisingly) have the original pair of 6V batteries that were fitted to all MGBs well in the '70s.
The next owner I managed to contact was Matt, who during his time of driving the car was a student at UEA in Norwich. So at the end of the 1980s the MG lived in Norfolk. With the car approaching its 20th birthday (about the same age as the driver!), Matt reports that starting in damp conditions was becoming a problem, and he describes the car's overall condition as only "fair". Even so, he confirms that it was fun to drive.
Since then it has spent most of its life in Kent, and I am grateful to Shaun (owner 1995-1998) for supplying more vital information, including the fact that he replaced the engine and speedometer (at about 67,000 miles). The reconditioned engine exchange was necessary after a previous owner allowed the car to be driven without water in the radiator, causing the original engine to seize! With the current reading of about 20,000, it appears that this remarkable car has covered less than 90,000 miles during its 34-year history. Shaun (a real enthusiast) was responsible for other valuable restoration work, including the chrome and Mk I-style radiator grille, before selling it in favour of an MGB roadster.
More recently, the car was apparently involved in an accident and eventually found its way to BRG Classics of Hemel Hempstead. There, in the autumn of 2002, with the paintwork showing its age as well as a rear wing needing to be replaced, a complete bare metal re-spray was carried out to a high standard. The restored MG then passed into the care of Alan H, during which time it covered just 500 miles, from whom I purchased it in April 2004.
During the summer of 2004, a great deal of time, effort - and money - was spent restoring the inside of the vehicle together with other necessary work, helped by Pete. Replacing the (badly-worn) points corrected a recurring electrical fault that was causing the engine to cut out: a problem first encountered on my initial journey driving the MG up the M1 from Hertfordshire. Since then, the old car has been completely reliable - and great fun: I covered 1500 miles in the first two months of ownership!
The original (as far as I know) seats with nylon-type upholstery (complete with cigarette burns!) have been replaced with new leather versions: black with green piping. The dashboard, covered in a layer of oily black paint, has been replaced with an authentic "wrinkle-finish" type. A set of auxiliary instruments (ammeter, clock and voltmeter), all "classic" types with 52mm faces and chrome bezels, has been fitted across the transmission tunnel - but preserving the octagonal speaker grill behind. A
As well as attending to various oil leaks from the engine and overdrive unit, the oil pressure relief valve has been replaced (from the state of it, the one removed must have been the original), resulting in an increase in oil pressure of up to 10psi. A reassuring 50-60psi is now reported, even at moderate speeds, so the engine seems in good heart, and achieved petrol consumption (Shell Optimax + Castrol Valvemaster, no unleaded cylinder head - yet!) of 27mpg on a recent day trip to Wales (22-25mpg is more normal on shorter trips). The suspension was rather lower on the offside than on the nearside, so the rear leaf-springs have been replaced. Finally, the correct 1971 model-year "B GT" tailgate badges (the originals having gone missing, presumably during the re-spray) were sourced from Leacy MG of Birmingham and, together with a chrome exhaust trim, the rear of the car is now fully restored.

Shiny new performance manifold in stainless steel can just be seen behind the heat-shield

Latest change has involved replacing the standard mild steel manifold with a stainless steel three-branch performance manifold manufactured by Bell. This system is designed to improve gasflow and, with the high performance air-filters and richer carb needles (see above), makes the car feel much livelier and more responsive. Definitely to be recommended!

2005 began with a full service and a passing of the annual MOT. But the service revealed (the spark plugs were black!) that all was not well with the fuel/air mixture. We also realised that the carburetors were HIF4s, not the HS4 types that must have been fitted originally to a 1971 model (presumably these came with the new engine). So the carbs were refurbished & adjusted, and higher performance K & N pancake air filters added together with "richer" AAA carb needles (this is what Brown & Gammons call "stage 1 tuning"). This produced an immediate improvement in both performance and economy - and the car now sounds more purposeful!
The horn has now been sorted. As purchased, the car had a single (low-tone) horn but the original spec had twin-tone horns. Having sourced a high-tone horn from Leacy MG, the necessary electrical connection was "piggybacked" off the existing horn. Initially, this blew a fuse, but upon investigation it became apparent that someone had previously replaced what should have been a 35A fuse with a 10A, so there was no fault with my wiring and all now works well via a replacement 25A fuse!
Latest change has involved replacing the standard mild steel manifold with a stainless steel three-branch performance manifold manufactured by Bell. This system is designed to improve gasflow and, with the high performance air-filters and richer carb needles (see above), makes the car feel much livelier and more responsive. Definitely to be recommended!