My interest in originality begins with my 1977 MGB. At the time I bought it I knew nothing. But I followed the adage of buying the best car you can afford. After about a year of ownership, I decided to be brave and went to a meeting of the MG Club of St. Louis. We’ll not that brave, as I dragged my wife along with me! I expected a car club to be full of people that could rebuild an engine with a single spanner (wrench). Not a place I would fit in and enjoy. All I knew was how to drive. Well, totally not the case, and the rest is history as they say.
My Originality Background
The originality interest kicked in when I got to know Robert Rushing. He is a local club member. Additionally he is editor of The MG Driver magazine of the North American MGB Register (NAMGBR). Robert explained that I had a very original and unmolested car. As such he told me I had to keep it original. This was in response to me contemplating what most people do to an MGB with a single Zenith Stromberg carb. I was thinking about changing to twin SUs.
At the time, NAMGBR had Concours at the annual conventions. Actual judging of cars against a set of sheets for originality. I first started doing Concours at MG2008 in Valley Forge. I did it for several years. The last one being at MG2016. After this concours was retired for a variety of reasons. One of main ones was lack of participation. I won’t bore everyone with details . If you similarly interested you can read about my concours adventures elsewhere on this website and about originality efforts I made.
While at car shows I am look out for originality. Sometimes I stumble onto some really nice original examples. In 2024, there have been 3 that caught my attention.
UK Spec 1980 MGB GT
At a car show event in Townsend TN I saw a truly incredible MGB GT. This car has is an import from the UK. This car, full UK specification had just 2,700 original miles! Julian Dufour was the owner who had recently completed the import. The UK specification cars have a number of differences to USA cars, but this 1980 example was like looking at a brochure! There’s a whole back story on this car. It has been been featured in an MG magazine. Just enjoy these pictures of originality. One of my favorite elements is the spare key. As shown it is still screwed to the firewall!
Family Owned from New 1967 MGB GT
Brits in the Ozarks in Fayetteville AR I was attending with my 77B and this gave me two examples of originality treats. A 1967 MGB GT that has been in the Joyce family since new. This was being shown by Jon Joyce. The 67GT is a very high originality standard restoration. Sure, it currently sports alloy wheels and maybe there are a few stickers missing (hey, I told you I was into originality). There’s even the bill of sale for the car from Continental Cars of Florissant MO (a suburb of St. Louis). It shows the purchase for the princely sum of US$2,450!
1976 Factory MGB GT V8
Also, at this Fayetteville event was the 1976 factory V8 MGB GT. This are is currently owned by Nick Pollard. These cars were never sold in the North American market. So any factory produced MGB GT V8 is an import. However, I know that 3 LHD test cars were produced and came to the USA. I have seen one of them in person.
In total, 6 LHD models were produced. There’s something wonderful about the factory V8. All the conversions that people have done are works of art in their own right. But from an originality point of view, I could appreciate this car being a great example. It has spent quite a bit of time in New Zealand I understand before finding its way to the USA. Everyone should experience a V8 (or V6 for that matter) powered MGB. The smiles per mile value that they give is something to be savored.
The LHD MGB GT Factory V8
Well, I found my photos of this extremely rare car! This car was at the British V8 meet in Indianapolis IN in July 2015.
