I swear, I wasn't looking...I am a member of a local British Car Club and a lady reached out to our Facebook group about her late father's MGBs. Apparently he was a pretty active member and die-hard MGB guy, but fell ill in 2024 and the cars hadn't moved since. Info was spotty, the lady only had one awful photo, so most people passed. I decided to check them out and found to really nice cars, and secured them for a really, really good price.
The beige one is a 1974, the last of the chrome bumper cars, and looks like it was restored somewhat recently...Fresh (and really nice) "harvest gold" paint, brand new carpet and interior panels, engine bay has been painted and detailed with some chrome accessories. It's damn close to pristine, just dirty. This car was apparently his driver and he drove it up until he got sick.
The white one is a 1976, which started life as a rubber bumper car. It was converted to chrome bumpers at some point, and apparently had been sitting for a few years before he got sick even. Decent paint, no rust, lots of nice performance upgrades, but it looks like it got hit in the left rear, not a big hit, but enough to tweak the bumper and push it into the rear quarter panel.
Both cars have just about every aftermarket accessory type add-on available for these, and lots of new parts...Like most wear items are brand new. I get the sense that this guy just liked tinkering and bolting on shiny new parts.
Today I closed the deal on them and then spent about an hour getting the beige one running. It was leaking fuel at the fuel pump, and the fuel line to the carbs was disconnected/broken. I borrowed a fitting for the fuel pump from the white car and installed it - a pain in the butt laying on a dirty garage floor with my family, and the seller's family, standing around waiting in 97F heat...but got it done, got the front fuel line replaced, and it fired right up and runs great!
Pushed the white one outside and used AAA to get it towed home, while I drove the beige one home...About 20 miles, car ran great all the way home.
I think I got some mild heat stroke after working in the heat, and then driving back with the top down and black interior. So I didn't touch them at all after getting home. Suppose to be stormy tomorrow, but if I get a chance I'll dig in a little more. I'd like to get the white run up and running - it looks complete, so it should run once I put a battery in it and replace that fuel pump fitting.
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Damn, that's quite the score! Seems like a case of "I'd be stupid not to".
Will you end up keeping both?
Very nice and sounds like it was worth going to see. Is my assumption of a possible clean up/fix up and then flip for a profit is the plan for these?
Going to flip these as well?
Yes, I don't need anymore 'keeper' MGBs, so these will both go, eventually. Having these at the house really messes with my parking layout, requiring more jockeying to get other cars out, so I'd like to move one of them rather quickly. The beige one needs the least amount of work, so I am focusing there first. I got it washed up today, vacuumed, touched up some chips on the wheels, polished the windows in the top, correctly mounted the rear license plate holder, little things like that. It needs another couple little things, and a good detailing, and then I'll get it listed somewhere.
The white one needs more work...I am pretty sure it'll run and drive if I get a battery and hookup the fuel pump, but it needs more cosmetics, and some re-assembly in the interior.
Sweet find! Love the wheels on the white one. Both cars look great!!
Thanks! I also like those wheels on the white one...Might keep them and put them on my good Blue car. They need tires though, for whatever reason the rears are winter tires...Which is really weird when you think about the fact that we're in the South and most people here have never heard of winter tires.
Gotta love the whole, "but babe, they literally followed me home" situation. Nice score man!!
Great find Firm. I love the Motomaster box on the floor of the beige one. You still got spare parts kicking around or is that for a charger/booster or something like that?
lol, good eye. The MotoMaster box is a lithium booster - not sure that model ever made it out, it was a prototype from when I was still working there. The box under it is a Mastercraft tool set too...Most of my tools are still CTC stuff.
Love the Panasport wheels on the white one. Need centercaps though. ;D
Yeah, I really like them too! I am thinking about keeping them and putting them on a 'good' blue MGB. A good set of Panasports are not cheap these days. I do have all the center caps, some of them were kicking around in the trunk. I haven't really touched the white car yet.
Weather here has been stormy, but I've been trying to work on the Beige one when I can. Earlier in the week I got the choke fixed and working properly, and then sync'd up the SU carbs, someone had the linkages adjusted wrong causing the rear carb to open up faster than the front. Got that corrected and it runs great. Did a bunch of other little things; swapped on a retractable antenna, re-mounted the fuel pump so the lines don't kink, got the horn working, detailed the interior, etc. Got a few more little things to do, but making good progress. The worst is probably the windshield seals, whoever painted the car installed the seals at the corner of the windshield frame (where it meets the fenders) upside down....Only fix is to remove the windshield frame (which is a real PITA) and flip the seals around.
Little British Cars - collect them all, they're small!
My buddy has an MG Midget. He took me out in it a couple of weeks ago. Man, what a hoot that thing was. Hard to get in/out of, and definitely not fast, but you know what they say - slow car fast! It's probably the closest thing to being on a motorcycle without being on a motorcycle. My buddy and I are both tall, relatively large guys, so the only way we fit in the Midget was with our respective elbows hanging out over our respective doors, lol.
It was awesome! I totally understand the draw to these cars.
Oh, and the sound from the tailpipe. It sounded like somebody blowing raspberries, but it was fricken hilarious. Loved it!
That's great that you enjoyed it. They really are fun cars...extremely raw, even though they're slow, there's a reason these were so popular, and still have a strong following. We're blessed with some great roads right outside my door...twists, a couple hairpins, elevation changes, full tree canopy, perfect for driving this kinda stuff.
And yeah, very distinct sound. My blue one has the factory exhaust and it's quieter, smoother, but with an aftermarket system they can be quite loud and barky sounding....Sometimes a little too loud and crude sounding, which is why I prefer the factory system in most cases. This beige one has a full SS "Tourist Trophy" system, including the headers, which is a really nice system, but it's a bit too aggressive sounding for my personal taste.
Neat little cars Firm. Good to see you utilizing your acres for a fine collection of automobiles. ;D
Moving here has been both the best thing, and the worst thing, for my car habit ;D
Couple weekends ago I got the beige one all finished up, took care of a bunch of little cosmetic things, detailed everything, and took some beauty shots. Will get it listed in the next couple weeks...Still waiting on the title to come in the mail (here in TN the DMV prints you a registration, but title is mailed from a central 'official' printer, takes about 6 weeks). One of the nicest MGBs I've had the pleasure of owning, but I don't need it, and it's much too nice to live outside like it has been now.
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Today I started working on the white one for the first time...I had taken a fitting from the fuel pump to get the beige one going, so I started with replacing that, but the fuel pump itself was dead. A brand new one, still sealed in it's box, was in the trunk, so I installed that....also dead. Validated connections, all good, pulled the pump back out and bench tested...Brand new pump, total DOA. So I messed around with the original one to get it working and re-installed it, and finally got fuel flowing....except this old pump leaks.
Once I had fuel flowing I went to turn it over and got nothing but clicks...Turned out the engine was seized. Never even crossed my mind that it would be since the car only sat a couple years, and was in a nice dry garage, but it was seized up tight. Couldn't budge it either, until I went out and got a 1-5/16" socket and was able to get my 4ft breaker bar + a 2ft extension thanks to a jack handle, and with all my weight on that, I was able to free it up.
Once the engine was freed up, the car fired up immediately and idled great right away...So one point for the Weber Carb conversion I guess. Car seems to run really well. Didn't attempt to drive it yet as that old fuel pump was leaking, and coolant is very low, I didn't have the correct green stuff on hand and didn't feel like going to get any.
As I was cleaning up a neighbor, who I've only met once before, stopped in and was oggling the MGs...apparently he had one as a college kid and always wanted another. The beige one is more $$ than he's looking to spend, but he was quite interested in the white one, so it may be sold...we'll see. I did let him spin the beige one around a bit, and he took his wife for a ride in it. Dude was grinning ear to ear, so at the very least I felt good about that.
Nice work as always!! That beige one turned out great, looks fantastic!!
For the white one with the engine seized up like that, would it have been easier to pour a little engine oil into each spark plug hole to get some lubrication around the pistons first? I know the YouTube guy from Legit Street Cars uses a crazy concoction of oil, acetone & trans fluid to get engines un-seized sometimes.
Man that beige one certainly did turn out great. So what are you thinking of listing it at in your area? I wouldn't have a sweet clue what a reasonable price is for these things.
I would be so tempted by that little beige MGB. What does a car in that condition usually go for?
Alas, I need to replace the roof on my house, and I'm also replacing all our wood siding with hardieboard at the same time, so it'll be a no-go.
Is there a better market in the US vs here for these?
Everytime I go to sell an MG I am always shocked by how strong the market is...For relatively obscure cars, they have a strong following. Not sure how long it'll last as the demographic is definitely old, but no shortage of 55+ year old guys looking to re-live their youth in a cheap little British roadster.
The beige one was sold at a Classic Car dealer back in 2022 for $16.8K....Which is absolute top of the market for a 'normal' MGB IMO. I'd love to get $12K for it, but something around $10K would be fine with me. Think I am going to try eBay first as I had good luck there recently with that MGA...Failing that, I might try BAT. Doubt the local market here in Memphis is great for 'upper market' MGBs...But I've been surprised before. I sold that semi-ratty blue rubber bumper car last summer locally for $6K in about a week and had no shortage of interest.
Man, the beige one really is very nice, and looks to be just about as turn-key as one could want.
I've got a buddy with an MG Midget, and I just fell in love with the cars when he took me for a drive.
I don't think now is the time, but man, I'll have one of these at some point.
Quote from: Gurgie on Jul 13, 2026, 07:59 AMFor the white one with the engine seized up like that, would it have been easier to pour a little engine oil into each spark plug hole to get some lubrication around the pistons first? I know the YouTube guy from Legit Street Cars uses a crazy concoction of oil, acetone & trans fluid to get engines un-seized sometimes.
Legit Street Cars seems like a cool guy. I did pull the plugs and soaked the cylinders down with WD-40, because that's what I had handy. I've done it before with Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF, some people swear by diesel or white vinegar too. I am sure any of those help, but to what degree, iunno. On that last MGA I tried all of the above, and let it soak for months, and still no dice. In this case, the WD-40 only soaked for maybe an hour or so before I was able to get things freed up.
Quote from: Firm on Jul 14, 2026, 02:49 PMQuote from: Gurgie on Jul 13, 2026, 07:59 AMFor the white one with the engine seized up like that, would it have been easier to pour a little engine oil into each spark plug hole to get some lubrication around the pistons first? I know the YouTube guy from Legit Street Cars uses a crazy concoction of oil, acetone & trans fluid to get engines un-seized sometimes.
Legit Street Cars seems like a cool guy. I did pull the plugs and soaked the cylinders down with WD-40, because that's what I had handy. I've done it before with Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF, some people swear by diesel or white vinegar too. I am sure any of those help, but to what degree, iunno. On that last MGA I tried all of the above, and let it soak for months, and still no dice. In this case, the WD-40 only soaked for maybe an hour or so before I was able to get things freed up.
Nice, that worked out well for you then 8)
Playing around in Google and I found old ads for both of these cars - I am assuming that the previous owner purchased them from these sellers. Helpful to have a little more info on what's been done to them. Note that the ad for the white car calls out new rods, pistons, etc....That explains why the motor seized up after sitting only a couple years, brand new internals that are tight and not caked in oil.
https://www.jpfrazier.com/vehicles/755/1974-mg-mgb (https://www.jpfrazier.com/vehicles/755/1974-mg-mgb)
https://davidsclassiccars.com/mg/508426-classic-vintage-mg.html (https://davidsclassiccars.com/mg/508426-classic-vintage-mg.html)
Oh that's cool to find some history on the cars! Not only does it help with potential diagnosis/repairs having that info, but should also assist with the sale of the cars having more information on them.
Beige on is up on eBay...I put a pretty conservative reserve on it, so hopefully it'll go, I had good luck with eBay on that MGA project car, but this is very different, so we'll see how it does.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/137549269500 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/137549269500)
Ad looks great Firm, including the photos. Good luck with the sale.