Text submitted by Victor Van Tress.
In August 1970, I bought, for $1,150, a five-year-old MGB. It was a 1965 Olde English white Tourer with matching factory hardtop, red leather with white piping interior, and red wool carpet. Other factory options were chrome wires, ashtray, heater, front sway bar and gray pack-away top with a red tonneau. The build date is December 17th, 1964. So, while it has pull-style door handles, it was built with a 5-main-bearing engine (18GB).
It is with this car that I drove across Mulholland Drive, atop the Santa Monica Mountains, nightly for the next four years. Good torque and stable handling made us famous among the “regulars” who frequented Mulholland Drive in those days (before cellphones and police helicopters). Even that long ago, the original paint was so good that I made a promise to myself that I’d never crash it.
That promise and the car made me a better driver. So much so that when I did go racing with the Sports Car Club of America and the International Motor Sports Association, the adage “To Finish First You Must First Finish” was firmly ingrained in my mind. I actually drove my race cars to the race track and back, including Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen. Two SCCA National Championships and ten years of competition racing, and I’ve still yet to crash a car.
In 1989, I decided the car should be returned to its original condition. Not that it was bad, but the paint was thin and the leather was shot. All the suspension and underbody was done in my garage, including a freshened engine and transmission. There was never any rust, and all the original trim was used. However, it was not registered on the road again until 2005. The car still has its original 1963 to 1973 style California black plates, and the title is quite literally a pink slip (unlike the rainbow colored titles they issue today).
Sorry, I don’t have any “Lucas Jokes” to tell, as I’ve never had any problems with the car. Still has a generator, regulator, two 6-volt batteries and positive ground. Well, I have had three speedometers. I guess the mileage to be about 148,000 in total.
I drove it up to Reno in June of 2011 and entered it in early chromed MGB concours. It earned an honorable mention (or so I hear, anyway). Strictly speaking, “concours” is as it left the factory, but mine had period accessories from MG Mitten like front badge bar, inside door scuff plates, and sill plates, as well as a positive ground AM/FM radio.
I guess it will never be concours, as I’m not going to remove the mirrors, radio, and such. But the car is just as I got it 55 years ago, and I plan to wear it out again.
Reno MG gathering in 2014. The red one on the left is the longest single owner, and the right one the oldest surviving VIN.
Related CC Reading
Curbside Classic: 1967 MGB – To B Or Not To B
Auto-Biography: 1968 MGB GT – No Dream Car
Curbside Classic: 1972 MGB – Early Adopter
Vintage R&T Road Test: 1968 MGB – Fully Synchronized, At Last
Great tale, and you clearly have that special connection with your car. You must be close to the longest single owner?
I like the colour combination too – not that common (at least over here) but it works and looks great in the CA sunshine.
Like you, I’m not clear on concours. Yes, seeing a car as new is interesting but is it more interesting than the stories a car, like yours, can tell?
And welcome Victor to the Curbivore Team!
This is the first time I knew they had two six-volt batteries.
I had not thought of MG Mitten in years! Their ads used to be ubiquitous in Road & Track.
Here’s a Mitten for ya.
MG Mitten, Moss Motors, and Victoria British for spares!
The event that changed everything was when I went back to the dealership after a month or so, and the guy in the service drive asked “When you’re gonna get that Pontiac out of here?” That was the car that I traded in to get the. M. G, They gave me $250 for it. I said you want me to get it out of here? He said yes, it’s taking up room. So I found the car in the back. Key in the Ignition and signed title in the glove box. Pulled it out and parked it across the street. I called my friend said I just got the Pontiac back. And that made it so that the MG only had to do M.G things rather than going to school every day or work. or fighting traffic or whatever. It just stayed up in the mountains..
The Pontiac. 1962 Grand Prix 4sp. Wish I hadn’t sold this but oh well.
Lovely B, and a great backstory. I’ve always had a soft spot for Bs, especially white ones like yours. Undoubtedly it’s because my brother had a college friend with one, probably about the same vintage. Its engine had been breathed over some and it sported a rather loud Abarth (or such) dual outlet exhaust. I got to ride with him once and he was a bit of a show-off and he did manage to impress me. It was a rocket compared to my brother’s stock and weary MGA.
When I bought the B it had an Abarth exhaust on it. When we refreshed the entire car we replaced the exhaust system. However a few years ago that replaced exhaust system broke and I happened to noticed in a corner of the garage that the original Abarth system was still in one piece. That is the exhaust system that is on it right now. That would be about 60 years old and yes it’s fairly loud. But oh well.
$1,150 was a pretty good chunk of change for a five year old sports car back in 1970.
But I’d say the owner has gotten his money’s worth.
Yes it was.
I purchased a 1960 Triumph TR3 with the transmission in the passenger seat. It didn’t take much money or effort to get it going.
I paid $300 for it (or rather my dad did) in 1966.
Beautiful B, love all about it. Perfect combo… Color, chrome, factory topper.. Just perfect
$1150 then is $8500 now. A 5 year old Miata is $20, 000 today if I can make that comparrison.. And I got $250 for the Pontiac.
Nice car and wonderful to hear that you’ve kept it for so long. And it was fun to read about Mulholland Drive pre-YouTube. It was already famous outside LA when I first visited from the Bay Area in the mid-Seventies, and I did leave a bit of worn rubber on the pavement. Though I’m not sure it was any more fun than our Bay Area canyons.
Though the longest I’ve kept any of my cars is 9 years, (78 Spitfire 1500 from 2010-19 in Austin, TX covering 119k miles in that time) I’ve always had at least 1 usually British sports car. Memorable events: driving from Austin to Hilton Head with my dog in the Spitfire in 22 hours, covering 1254 miles, winning a number of autocross titles with it in VTR and other organizations, crazy winter adventures in Indianapolis with all kinds of Triumphs and MGs, Jags and Healeys, showing up for bike races with my road bike in the passenger compartment with the wheels off and with extra wheels as well. Plus the spectacle of a particular GF trying to get in or out of my E Types or Triumphs considering she wore the absolute tightest ankle length dress in humanity’s existence most of the time. I drive my 73 GT6 about 15k miles a year. Here it is a few weekends ago at the summit of Independence Pass at 11pm. That was a 400 mile day from Colorado springs to Carbondale and back.
I’m taking it to Cars & Coffee Los Angeles in Griffith Park Sunday in case anyone’s around here.
*Very* nice ! .
Does / did it have overdrive ? .
It looks like you went to the annual British car show in Woodly park .
I still have mostly fond memories of my 1967 MGB GB tourer factory black and wire wheel car .
-Nate
Welp ; I just read the comments, I didn’t know there’s a Cars & Coffe in Griffith Park, is it every Sunday ? .
TIA,
Thanks for a great story of long term ownership and enjoyment of a special car. I am always impressed when I talk to car owners at C&Cs and discover that they have owned their cars since high school, which was fifty years ago!
I have kept a few vehicles for what I considered to be a long period, but nothing approaching this. I think that what contributes to long ownership is first finding something that “clicks’ with you, and second, accepting and appreciating the machine for what it is. You can make small improvements and modifications but you accept the car for what it is, and it becomes a partner in your life experiences.
Too often we want more than the machine can give, and we want to move on to the next Big Thing.
Congrats to you on your well loved and well used MG.
Guest Writer’s MGB is beautiful. I especially appreciate the period correctness of the car. I remember British Leyland cars very well. I drove my friend’s Austin Healey Sprite all the time. I fondly remember the choke knob in front of the passenger seat. My dad had a ’68 Rover TC2000 which he drove all the way until 1986 when he “broke down” and bought a new Honda Accord. The Rover’s biggest problem was the starter Bendix. We put a lot of reverse miles on that car backing it out the driveway for a compression start.
If the Brits had fixed the Lucas problems, imagine what could’ve happened.
British and Italian cars always stood out to me as some of the best looking on the planet, especially in the 60’s and 70’s when I think especially the British designs peaked. Always loved the big Smiths gauges.
OK, in order of inquiry:
1) I changed it in 1974 to a 4syncro overdrive trans and 15″ wheels..
2) Yes
3) It’s called Cars and Coffee Los Angeles and it’s the last Sunday of the month, Get there early
Nice to see you used the correct term: Tourer. Had 11 Tourers and 3 GTs. Most fun for the buck ever. Simple, sturdy, cheap.
and such a gorgeous original-ish car, good on ya!