MG MGB Buyer's Guide
Thirteen tracked roadster sales, £2,640 to £17,719, median £6,469: the MGB market is the most predictable in the classic world, and that predictability is its greatest asset. Half a million were built between 1962 and 1980, everything is remanufactured down to the complete bodyshell, and the price ladder rarely surprises anyone.
Know your versions
The dividing line is 1974: chrome bumpers before, rubber (properly, polyurethane) bumpers and a raised ride height after, fitted for American regulations. Our range's top half is chrome-bumper territory, and the premium is permanent. Within the chrome cars, earlier is dearer; pull-handle cars from the sixties lead. The MGB GT coupé trades on its own ledger (see the marque guide); the V8-engined GTs and the later RV8 sit above everything.
What to pay
£2,500 to £4,500 buys running rubber-bumper roadsters, the honest entry to open-top classic ownership. £6,000 to £10,000, around our median, buys tidy chrome-bumper cars and the best rubber-bumper examples. £12,000 to £18,000 buys restored, correct chrome cars, in line with our £17,719 top result. Projects price on structure alone.
What goes wrong
Sills, castle rails and spring hangers are the car: the sill structure is the MGB's chassis, and cosmetic cover sills over rot are the market's oldest trick. Floors, rear arches and front wings follow. The B-series engine, gearbox and rear axle are rebuildable farm machinery, and every mechanical part is available by post at sensible prices. British Motor Heritage builds complete new shells, which caps restoration logic: no MGB is beyond saving, but plenty are beyond saving economically at optimistic purchase prices.
Our view
Buy a chrome-bumper roadster on sill condition at £6,000 to £10,000 and you own the definitive British classic experience with the hobby's best safety net: total parts supply, a club in every county, and liquidity whenever life changes. Rubber-bumper cars are the value conversion candidates for those who care more about driving than concours class rules. Either way, inspect the structure with a magnet and buy the boring colour with the good sills over the pretty one without.
