Worth a punt 

"Svend" (svend) 12/19/2018 at 04:34 • Filed to: None

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A 1981 bronze MG MGB 1.8 Roadster, stored in a dry, heated garage from new. Only 1,900miles on the clock. £14,985. 

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pip bip - choose Corrour > Svend 12/19/2018 at 04:48

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shame it’s got the big ugly rubber bumpers

  > Svend 12/19/2018 at 04:52

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I always hated the black bumpers on the later cars and they look particularly bad with this colour. I’d hunt down a replacement set to have sprayed and put the originals away. The price seems very reasonable though.

Svend > pip bip - choose Corrour 12/19/2018 at 05:06

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Ye’, I’d like it either chrome bumpered or de-bumpered.

Svend >   12/19/2018 at 05:08

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I’d probably have the seats reupholstered in black or tan leather and maybe de-bumpered or chrome bumpered. 

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Svend 12/19/2018 at 05:25

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Under that shiny exterior lurks a world full of tears..

A very reasonably priced world of tears  however...

Tristan > Svend 12/19/2018 at 05:27

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Rubber baby buggy bumpers.

Svend > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media 12/19/2018 at 07:17

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1981 garaged car all it’s life.

I suspect it may of been one of the found MGBs in Abingdon a few years ago. When MG moved back in the early 1980s, they left a warehouse full of, if I recall correctly 200 MGBs in this same colour exterior and interior, all identical roadsters, MGBs that only recently got found. There was a similar thing a year or two later with red, 5 door MG Maestros all on a later G plate (I can't remember what year Pre-fix G was). 

Pancake > Svend 12/19/2018 at 07:34

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Won’t be surprised if this thing breaks during shipping.

someassemblyrequired > Svend 12/19/2018 at 09:45

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‘81 would make it pretty near the end of the line, Sept. 80 was the last build date. I’d be hard pressed to mess with it, since it’s one of the last “real” Abingdon built MGs .

someassemblyrequired > Tristan 12/19/2018 at 09:47

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Counterpoint: one of the best integrated 5MPH bumper designs.  Admittedly a low bar, but still, they looked a heck of a lot better than the shelves/overriders most cars had at the time.

Svend > someassemblyrequired 12/19/2018 at 10:13

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For me the car is an untouched canvas.

I like the car but not the colour, upholstery or bumpers.

There was a number of these ide ntical to this one (except it had four spoke wheels) found in an old Abingdon warehouse. Two years later there was a warehouse of red MG Maestros found in another warehouse.

For the life of me I can’t find the articles online. They were in Land Rover and MG magazines a few years ago. 

someassemblyrequired > Svend 12/19/2018 at 10:39

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Ha yeah the cosmetic choices of 1980 were a bit... suspect. But the last MGB to come off the line was in the same color and upholstery, meaning that this was likely one of the last 421 roadsters (they were all bronze metallic with either wire wheels or 5 spoke alloys)

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I suspect most of this car’s value is tied to originality and late build date. There’s lots of clean 80's left at a fraction of that price at least here in the states . A clean ‘80 LE is selling here for $6K US. They had the five spoke GKN wheels , black paint and a different front spoiler .

I had heard about the cache of Maestro CKD kits , it looks like this one was a dealer demo for a long time. It doesn’t mean the cache of MGB’s isn’t true though, BL/AR was a total mess at the time. I can’t find a mention of it in MG by McComb, which is pretty exhaustive. A bunch of body shells would not surprise me in the least though. I seem to recall that was tied into the genesis of the BMIHT , as you could still purchase NOS body shells up to the late 80s that weren’t reproductions .

Svend > someassemblyrequired 12/19/2018 at 10:53

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These weren’t CKD kits but fully built red, five door MG Maestros.

I’ve seen the pictures in Land Rover and MG magazines (I used to have every Land Rover Owner International, Land Rover World, Land Rover Magazine and Land Rover Enthusiast magazine and flick through the MG magazines at the newsagent at the bottom of my street while I talked to Bill, one of the staff. If I liked something or something caught my eye, I’d buy it).

Yep, I was quite the Landrophile when I was younger. 

someassemblyrequired > Svend 12/19/2018 at 10:59

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Oh yeah. They had a paint problem with the color-keyed bumpers on the Maestro that took a while to resolve. They built something like 3500 without bumpers that they stored until they sorted the problem out.

Nothing wrong with liking Land Rovers, probably way more sensible than liking MGs or Triumphs.

Svend > someassemblyrequired 12/19/2018 at 11:38

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I almost all the British marques.

Riley, Wolseley, Triumph, Rover, Austin, Morris, Morgan, Jaguar, Rolls Ro yce, Bentley, Vauxhall, Bristol, Ariel, Arash, Bowler, McLaren, MG, Radical, TVR, Lister, Caterham, Grinall, Ginetta, Prodrive, Westfield, Midas, Trident, Triking, Alvis, Armstrong, etc... (so many more).

I even still like the final cars.

MG ZS 180

MG ZT-T V8

MG RV8

MG RV8 GT coupe

someassemblyrequired > Svend 12/19/2018 at 12:12

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I would be quite happy should any pre-’05 MG turn up in my driveway. The ZT 260 is such an awesome sleeper. No one expects a Mustang powered MG.

And the RV8s are the business. I was so hoping they’d come to North America when they came out , but it wasn’t to be.

Tristan > someassemblyrequired 12/19/2018 at 12:14

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I’ll give you that. I think the second generation Camaro is about the best looking car ever designed, right up until the park benches ruined it.

facw > Svend 12/20/2018 at 00:52

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This was my mom’s ‘73:

Obviously not garaged, but a gorgeous car, she probably should have shipped it back to the states when she moved. As you’d expect there were a number of issues (most amusingly, the rear view mirror melted off while we were driving on warm day; she begged a letter carrier for some rubber bands to hold it on.) I also wonder if she could have sold it for a small premium to some bitcoin enthusiast on account of the number plate.

Svend > facw 12/20/2018 at 01:15

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She’s a great looking motor.