Weekend Edition: MGB Noses Over The Years

LongRoofian

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After reading UDMan’s post about his experience back in January and his subsequent recovery, pretty much anything posted up will be anti-climatic but the Hooniverse Weekend Edition must carry on. So here goes.

As has been previously shared with my fellow Hoons, a few weeks ago, this olelongrooffan stumbled upon a British Car Show a couple towns north of TheStuccoBox which I now call home. It was a great show and there were clouds of Lucas smoke filling the air. One of the things that struck my eye was the gathering of MGBs, MGB GTs, Spitfires, and Bug Eye Sprites in attendance. So of course, this olelongrooffan had to gather an image of each of the former’s front ends to share with my fellow Hoons. However, making the jump is required at this point.

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I captured an image of merely the noses on these British Leyland beauties and based my information on the information placard under the windscreen wiper on each of them. I do stand to be corrected by any of my more knowledgeable fellow Hoons, however.

According to that placard, the one in the above image is a 1969 model year.

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This one, also a 1969, sports the optional chrome bumper guards available for that year. Note also the difference in the turn signal lenses between these two ragtops.

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By 1971, the grille had been redesigned and the bumper guards included rubber inserts. Note also, the “reversing” of the turn signal lenses from the previous two “Bees.”

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By 1974 those chrome bumper guards were a thing of the past and the new generation of bumper guards were all rubber, presumably to attempt to comply with the then new bumper requirements established by our good ole federal government.

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And by 1979, those much desired chrome bumpers had been relegated to the wayside and the entire front bumper, and rear as well, was constructed of impact resistant rubber.

And that makes this olelongrooffan so sad.

But thinking about UDMan and his optimism about his life allows this olelongrooffan to continue to Celebrate Life.

Image Copyright Hooniverse 2013/longrooffan

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LongRoofian

LongRoofian

No biography of the LongRoofian would be complete without [edited for length and adherence to subject matter] and your continued enjoyment of these ramblings is certainly welcome.

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12 responses to “Weekend Edition: MGB Noses Over The Years”

  1. julkinen Avatar
    julkinen

    I have to say the last, all-rubber nose is a lot better looking than the fourth chrome one with the punch rubbers.

    Reply
  2. Dean Bigglesworth Avatar
    Dean Bigglesworth

    This makes me want the slightly blasphemous MG LE50 even more.
    The Spitfire(?) in the first picture ain't bad either.

    Reply
  3. JayP2112 Avatar
    JayP2112

    The rubberbumper 'B was raised an inch or so to help meed the bumper requirement. But the engine was lowered in the bay- I was told to lower the CG but was probably a leftover from the BGTV8.
    Gerry McGovern said he designed the MGF as a continuation of the MGB bumper theme.
    <img src="http://www.thehamperblog.co.uk/mgf/MGF3.JPG&quot; width="600">

    Reply
  4. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    The rubber bumper might have looked good if it was painted. I submit the following as evidence:
    <img src="http://autocade.net/images/a/a4/MG_RV8.jpg"&gt;
    It could do with a bit of chrome on the top edge but is otherwise rather nice.

    Reply
    1. JayP2112 Avatar
      JayP2112

      I don't know… the painted bumper smacks of the 80's monochrome look.
      <img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/f3ggg0.jpg&quot; width="600">
      <img src="http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/file.php?1,file=94237,filename=IMG_2783.jpg&quot; width="600">
      Inverted- and looks like the Aston Martin prototype:
      <img src="http://www.mgcars.org.uk/pics/am01.jpg&quot; width="600">
      What was the question?
      <img src="http://www.prewarcar.com/images/rutger_images/1962-mgb-50-years-3.jpg&quot; width="600">

      Reply
      1. Devin Avatar
        Devin

        I kind of like the '80s monochrome look. Now I want a late-period MGB in cocaine white with white wheels and bumpers.

        Reply
  5. Rover 1 Avatar
    Rover 1

    Isn't the second one down, (the black one with the wire wheels), the six cylinder,but closely related MGC with it's evolution of the Austin(Healey) 3 litre six?

    Reply
    1. anonymic Avatar
      anonymic

      Good eye, outwardly the only difference are the hood bubbles. Underneath it has a different torsion bar suspension to support the extra weight. The B has coils

      Reply
  6. anonymic Avatar
    anonymic

    The rubber inserted overriders on the 71 were new for the 1970 model year. The white turn signal lenses are UK spec, and the one with the turn signals backwards from the rest are merely incorrectly installed. Overriders were stock in the US from the car's inception, and were optional only up to 1966 in the UK. All GT's had them. Only one or two roadsters are known to have been produced without them.

    Reply
  7. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    The rubber-inserted overriders were sold with the traditional-style chrome grill between 1972-1974.
    <img src="http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff68/kayaktn/1973%20MG%20B/1973MGB20.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
  8. Felis_Concolor Avatar
    Felis_Concolor

    Is that an MSD 6A box beside the brake and clutch cylinders in the Spitfire engine bay in that first photograph? After experiencing secondhand the joys of starting up 70s British convertibles in high school (yes, it would have taken less time for me to walk from 480 Olinda Rd to 300 Kealaloa Ave than it would to accept a ride home from one of my misguided friends who adored his or her MG or Triumph) I would consider that sort of addition in the "stock" category.

    Reply
  9. Scott McGrath Avatar
    Scott McGrath

    Cool post, Longrooffan! (I was up at Wheels for that one too!.. and am also a LongRoofFan). I just thought I’d pop in to clarify a couple of the little points. The over-riders were on all of the B’s from new, so the 2nd bumper (which is standard for a ’69’ is the same as you’d find on a ’63. Car 1 is actually much newer (a 2012 if I recall) Frontline LE50 (http://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-le50/). Like the ’96 Classic Mini Coopers, you title them as a classic to bring it in, but in this case the car is pretty epic… though not a great reference for body and trim bits. The hood is later (69’s didn’t have the cutouts for the badge yet) and the turn signals/parking lights are UK-spec. (We got the all-orange ones you see below). The wheels are VERY-cool knock-off replicas of the D-type racing Dunlops that Frontline had made up and the valance is another Fronline specific bit which replicates the MGC GTS racing valance but adds an “anti-lift lip”. Love pretty much everything about that car. The black one below it is a US-Spec ’69 and everything outside of the engine bay is 1969 As delivered from the showroom MGB. Very nicely done. (It’s actually an MGC. You can spot the inline 6 lurking inside and the C’s slam-panel is much further forward than the B’s to accomodate the lump of an engine. There is also an Oil Cooler behind the C’s grill that you can see the line for, snaking up over the slam. This particular C is *not* stock in that it has a VERY nicely done A/C system installed. They used a later model’s dashboard (which had integral vents) and you can see where they have moved the radiator back a smidge to squeeze the cooler in front. Very classy work, which looks factory and a nice addition to a C in Florida. The reversed Turn signals on the 71 B are just upside down. I could care less but a lot of folks notice such things. The saddest thing about the ’79 and newer cars wasn’t the rubber bumper, but the raised ride height. US lawmakers figured they’d make things safe by uniforming the height of the bumpers on all cars and the MGB was just too small a car to look good riding as high as Cordoba or an F150 🙁

    Reply