Tag Archives: MG-B

Double Trouble – MG-B

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In April 2009 I had the good fortune to win a pair of tickets to the Aarons 499 run at Talladega Superspeedway a mere 12,000 mile round trip from Bristol, UK, but a race fan has to do what a race fan has to do, after all everything else is just waiting and I had been waiting 20 years since my last visit to a touring car race at Brands Hatch !

My tickets came courtesy of the much missed Rowdy.com where I had made many friends who helped me out with details like a tent in which to stay, a pair of headphones to listen into the pit crew radio and all important lifts from Atlanta to the track a couple of hours to the East. Rowdy friend Sweetdreams picked my up in her Durango and with in half an hour it was raining cats ‘n’ dogs and getting dark.

MG-B, Aarons 499, Talladega Superspeedway

After stopping at a Wallmart the size of a small English village somewhere outside Birmingham, AL we got into the campsite and followed a long route round to a spot where, if I remember correctly, there was no camping charge. As Sweetdreams headlights swept through the campsite I thought I espied what looked like a #88 Mountain Dew MG B which for some reason took away any anxieties I had about the trip.

MG-B, Aarons 499, Talladega Superspeedway

A couple of day’s later I borrowed Sweetdreams partner John’s moped and retraced our steps into the campsite to get some digital verification of what I thought I had seen a couple of days before and indeed there it was a #88 Mountain Dew MG B complete with Car of Tomorrow splitter and spoiler called Double Trouble. After making enquiries about the car I met the owner and was invited to some Alabama hospitality in the form of a beer and a chat during which we had a good laugh about the fact I had traveled quarter way round the globe to see an MG built less than an hours drive away from where I lived.

My thanks to Sweetdreams and John Spartan who did so much to make me feel at home on the wrong side of the Daryl Waltrip Way fence.

Thanks for joining me on this “Double Trouble” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll start a five week celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Italian Manufacturer ISO Rivolta. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Everything Is Fresh – MG-B Roadster

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In 1962 MG replaced the MG-A with the MG-B roadster which featured unitary monocoque body construction.

MG-B

Despite being three inches shorter than the A series cars the MG-B had more interior space for the occupants and their luggage.

MG-B

Mk 1 models initially came with a 95 hp motor with a 3 bearing crankshaft which in 1965 was replaced by a 5 bearing crankshaft for improved reliability with no gain in power.

MG-B

The 95 horsepower motor coupled with softer suspension gave the car a higher, 100 mph, top speed and smoother than the MG-A which it replaced. The brakes of early MG-B’s are notoriously heavy to use because servo assistance was not added until 1975.

MG-B

MG-B’s of the ’67 – ’68 period seen here had 12 volt electrics courtesy of a pair of 6 volt batteries wired in series that were to be found behind the seats, making access difficult but aiding the handling. Windows that could be wound up and down was a novelty for the MG-B when it was launched.

MG-B

The only way of telling if this model is a MK1 or MK2 would be too look under the Tonneau to see if it has the flat topped transmission tunnel of the fully synchronized four speed Mk2 gearbox.

Everything was not quite as fresh about the MG-B as the brochure would have had us believe but the MG-B did prove to be another export success and competition success with a class win in the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally, 1966 Targa Florio and Spa 1000 kms and outright wins in the 1965 Guards 1000 miles and at Brands Hatch and 1966 84-hour Marathon de la Route at the Nurburgring.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Everything Is Fresh’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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