Can any MGB on Earth go above 55 mph?
Discussion
It's that time of year when the MGBs are out and about once more. Has anyone, honestly, ever seen one on a motorway or dual carriageway going faster than 55 mph in the inside lane? I even had one wave at me as I went past at [what was that you said, Officer?] mph in me Lancia the other day, the cheeky get. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of watching two Central Casting BBC lesbians in a Morris Minor convertible overtaking a standard issue MGB bloke. Oh well, diff'rent strokes and all that. Happy summer, classic car nerdz!
chad valley said:
Breadvan72 said:
It's that time of year when the MGBs are out and about once more. Has anyone, honestly, ever seen one on a motorway or dual carriageway going faster than 55 mph in the inside lane? I even had one wave at me as I went past at [what was that you said, Officer?] mph in me Lancia the other day, the cheeky get. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of watching two Central Casting BBC lesbians in a Morris Minor convertible overtaking a standard issue MGB bloke. Oh well, diff'rent strokes and all that. Happy summer, classic car nerdz!
Are you 14 years old?
williredale said:
I've had mine (GT) at 0.9 leptons which was very noisy and slightly scary. I also overtake in it and try to surprise people in the traffic light grand prix.
I'm not doing this right am I?
Tut! The chap from the Club will be around later to collect your hat, badge, and novelty mug. I'm not doing this right am I?
Economists have recently been re examining traditional theories of market behaviour, which are arguably flawed because they posit that humans make rational choices, but, of course they don't, and hoorah for that. After all, classic car ownership is arguably not strictly rational, unless the car is a sure fire investment winner, and relatively few are, but classic cars press other buttons.
There are understandable reasons why the MGB became the UR-classic car of the 80s and beyond (they look pretty, they can be made to sound good, they can be modified fairly easily, there are lots of them, an industry developed to match, and you can show your edgy individuality by having the same classic car as all the other edgy individualists have*); but one of the odd things about the phenomenon is that the cars were, as made (not as modified), not very good to drive even by the standards of the time.
I suppose that when looking to buy new you had little choice, as the (much better) TRs and GT6s and Sunbeams were more expensive, the (much better) Midgets and Spitfires were too small, Vitesses had too many seats, and the (much, much better) European small sports cars and Lotuses were a lot more expensive and regarded as exotic and fallible.
The marketing and sales teams of the time did well, and in pure business terms a product that lasted so long with so few changes and such little development expenditure (ending its life not much better and possibly worse than when it began) was a winner; and the success has continued beyond the grave by supporting an industry.
The point about the inside lane types is that most well looked after cars of the 60s to late 70/early 80s should be able to operate fairly normally in modern traffic, but I get the impression that many a boggo MGB is driven as though it was a precious heirloom, the last one in all the world, and that's just silly.
* See also the modern and modern ish VW scene
There are understandable reasons why the MGB became the UR-classic car of the 80s and beyond (they look pretty, they can be made to sound good, they can be modified fairly easily, there are lots of them, an industry developed to match, and you can show your edgy individuality by having the same classic car as all the other edgy individualists have*); but one of the odd things about the phenomenon is that the cars were, as made (not as modified), not very good to drive even by the standards of the time.
I suppose that when looking to buy new you had little choice, as the (much better) TRs and GT6s and Sunbeams were more expensive, the (much better) Midgets and Spitfires were too small, Vitesses had too many seats, and the (much, much better) European small sports cars and Lotuses were a lot more expensive and regarded as exotic and fallible.
The marketing and sales teams of the time did well, and in pure business terms a product that lasted so long with so few changes and such little development expenditure (ending its life not much better and possibly worse than when it began) was a winner; and the success has continued beyond the grave by supporting an industry.
The point about the inside lane types is that most well looked after cars of the 60s to late 70/early 80s should be able to operate fairly normally in modern traffic, but I get the impression that many a boggo MGB is driven as though it was a precious heirloom, the last one in all the world, and that's just silly.
* See also the modern and modern ish VW scene
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 7th April 09:36
I have driven three standard MGBs, and a V8 one, and also loads of other classic cars from the same era, earlier eras, and later eras, and I have to say that my opinion of MGBs in standard spec is that.... those marketing guys did well. Midgets, by contrast, I think are the dogs danglies. As I said, diff'rent strokes.
v8250 said:
Breadvan72 said:
Hpw much U want 4 RMZ M8? Coleck L8R chrze.
Are you already lashed at this time of a Monday morning...?Midgets are all fab, and it is well known that an after market seatbelt rig or sporty steering wheel add at least 5 BHP to any car.
Dbest92 said:
...it's worth noting that they are popular and owned by a big cross section of people, if they were rubbish they wouldn't be....
I think that you may perhaps be failing to understand how markets work. The Daily Mail is popular and has a large circulation.It's also the worst newspaper in the World. Unlike the Mail, MGBs are not evil (they are the opposite of evil and quite benign and cuddly really). MGBs do not spread fear and hatred or subvert basic human decency, but the point is that selling well is not an indication of something being good. See also: Starbucks, McDonalds, Macbooks, and other triumphs of marketing (and human herd mentality) over quality.
I don't actually hate MGBs at all, but seeing them out and about makes me laugh (gently) at the culture that surrounds them.
Those who say that MGBs are fab appear to be talking mainly about MGBs that have been tweaked. The basic platform was, arguably, not really suited for a sports car when the cars were new. Modify the hell out of it and you may get a sports car. Kudos to the marketing guys, as noted above, for the big sales, given that other manufacturers in the UK (leaving aside the Europeans) were able at the same time to produce what were by contemporary standards decent sports cars and sporty saloons that would out drive any standard MGB but which sold in lower numbers. The MGBs looks gave it a great leg up, and it's still a pretty car, but other factors to do with customer inertia identfied by others above, and great marketing, formed part of the story.
There is no need to thrash any old car, and pootling is fun, but the inside lane stereotype, like many stereotypes, has something in it, as that is where you see them from April/May to September. The rare ones seen between September and April are, surprise surprise, sometimes seen to be going at normal car in traffic speeds. If there were only ten MGBs left, then you could understand treating them as ancient monuments, but there are rather more than ten. Of course people are free to drive their cars just how they please (subject to the law and, preferably, not being selfish on the road), but by the same token others are free to chuckle at people conforming to a stereotype.
BTW, I saw someone not long ago in a fabulous 1960s Ferrari that must be worth a vast six figure sum. He was driving it like it was a Ferrari. If I had one, I would too.
There is no need to thrash any old car, and pootling is fun, but the inside lane stereotype, like many stereotypes, has something in it, as that is where you see them from April/May to September. The rare ones seen between September and April are, surprise surprise, sometimes seen to be going at normal car in traffic speeds. If there were only ten MGBs left, then you could understand treating them as ancient monuments, but there are rather more than ten. Of course people are free to drive their cars just how they please (subject to the law and, preferably, not being selfish on the road), but by the same token others are free to chuckle at people conforming to a stereotype.
BTW, I saw someone not long ago in a fabulous 1960s Ferrari that must be worth a vast six figure sum. He was driving it like it was a Ferrari. If I had one, I would too.
I agree. A good (standard) GT6 is altogether a better proposition than a good (standard) MGB, and can rightly be called the poor man's E Type (hey, not that E Types are all that good, really, but that's a whole different kettle of monkeys).
All of these cars are toast, driving wise, when placed alongside a 1960s/70s Lotus Elan, but Lotuses costs a lot back then (as now), and, even putting all the "loads of..." pub myths aside, can be a bit less robust than the cheaper cars.
All of these cars are toast, driving wise, when placed alongside a 1960s/70s Lotus Elan, but Lotuses costs a lot back then (as now), and, even putting all the "loads of..." pub myths aside, can be a bit less robust than the cheaper cars.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 8th April 16:49
Why is a sports car being small a bad thing? A good sports car should be like a (Supermarine) Spitfire - something that you don't so much get into as strap on (fnar) and wear. I loved my Lotus Europa because once in it you felt like you were part of the car. If you want room, get a big GT or a saloon!
I know, as I have sat in both (but sadly flown neither), but it was a metaphorical figure.
The BF 109 was a pilot killer, and the cramped cockpit was one of its many defects. The myth of German military design mastery (and the inability of the Nazis to run a total war economy) is exemplified by the 109 - a machine that was obsolete by 1941 but which carried on as a mainstay of the Luftwaffe until 1945. A Mark XXIV Spitfire, by contrast, represents the culmination of a sequence of continuous development (and an economy mobilised and directed for total war), and is miles different to a Mark I Spitfire.
The BF 109 was a pilot killer, and the cramped cockpit was one of its many defects. The myth of German military design mastery (and the inability of the Nazis to run a total war economy) is exemplified by the 109 - a machine that was obsolete by 1941 but which carried on as a mainstay of the Luftwaffe until 1945. A Mark XXIV Spitfire, by contrast, represents the culmination of a sequence of continuous development (and an economy mobilised and directed for total war), and is miles different to a Mark I Spitfire.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 9th April 11:56
Halmyre said:
Seems a bit unfair to be ragging on a 50 year old design for not conforming to modern standards. Back in the 60s were we ragging on Model T Fords for being crap?
No one on this thread has done that. The thread is not mainly about MGBs being crap or not crap (it's a joke thread about a stereotypical group of MGB drivers, as should be obvious to anyone, but seemingly isn't to some); but to the extent that it is about the cars themselves it's about MGBs being crap by the standards of their own era, not of later eras. Yertis said:
100% of the MGBs I've seen in the last two days have conformed to BV72s stereotype.
But at least they're out being driven, I've not seen any Triumphs at all
As a lover of all Triumphs (yes, even Acclaims*), I have to say: steady on! They will all be broken down. Ditto all the Lotuses. Still ace, though. But at least they're out being driven, I've not seen any Triumphs at all
To adopt a saying from Landy World (applied there to Jeeps): "I would rather be pushing my Triumph/Lotus/Alfa/whatever than driving an MG."
* Yes, I know.
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