The slow motion death of MG in the late seventies is well documented in books and online. Most MG enthusiasts know the story of how BL poured what resources that were available for sports cars into projects for Triumph. With the Leyland faction in charge of the shotgun-married consortium, they were able to finance such Triumph models as the Stag, TR7, TR8 and various engineering dead ends while MG made do on a relative pittance.
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| The "Aston" MGB at its unveiling |
When the word come down from on high in 1979 that the MG marque would be retired and the Abingdon assembly plant would be closed, the management of
Aston Martin saw an opportunity to both save the marque and create a sports car that would slot below the current Aston offerings. When Aston chairman Alan Curtis found enough big name investors to demonstrate both expertise and solvency feelers were put out to BL. They expressed interest in hearing what the Aston group had to present.
A Russet Brown MGB roadster was dispatched to Aston Martin where famed designer
William Towns created a facelifted version of the venerable sports car that was to replace the MGB in 1981, according to the plan. This stopgap measure would allow Aston enough time to develop a true successor to bring to market in 3 to 4 years time. As predictable (for the 1980s) it had a "wedgy" look.
The most obvious changes to the standard MGB was the addition of the taller MGB GT windscreen and vent windows. This solved the problem of the standard windscreen being so short that it interfered with a taller driver's vision. The front bumper of the production MGB was cut down and a small grille returned to the scene. In the rear, extra taillights were added and the fuel filler was located behind a door. It was given a lovely metallic gold over black paint job and white Wolfrace wheels were added.
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| The "Aston" MGB today (Courtesy Nutley Sports & Prestige Centre) |
The car was finished in a matter of days and the presentation to BL went forth. Aston's offer was for the ownership of the MG name, the Abingdon plant and the rights to the MGB. BL countered that they were only interested in licensing the use of the MG name. As negotiations dragged on, Aston developed one of its many cash flow problems, the exchange rate for the Pound Sterling made it difficult to sell British products overseas and a number of the financial backers pulled out. BL closed Abingdon, put the MG name on ice and focused their energies on their own failure.
The prototype, however, lived on and it is now for sale in the UK.
I am delighted to see that our friends at Hemmings Motor News announced that they are now offering a completely new service where you can sell your auto parts via a special corner of the Hemmings web site. The Hemmings staff apparently saw that sellers of parts were often lost in the sea of cars offered on their site and in print. They also likely heard the collector car hobby's complaints of high fees and abuse of sellers by eBay Motors. 
My intrepid brother, Alan, got word that there was an MGB in a local scrapyard willing to give its' all for possibly your car. He dropped by Barry's U-Pull-It in beautiful downtown Theodore, Alabama to give the old car the once over and report back if there was anything of value to us MGB drivers.
It turns out that it is a '71 model - the same year as Alan's first MG. As expected, the boot and cabin floors have pretty well returned to the Earth from whence they came, but there are a number of useful bits left under the bonnet and in the interior. Some of the body panels could be salvaged, too. There may even be a few no longer made items - small as they may be - still on the old girl. 
Last year I posted an image from the original chick flick, Love Story to observe Valentine's Day in a gear head sort of way. This year, we'll let an image from the Alfred Hitchcock romantic thriller To Catch A Thief take the role.
William Everett Preston was the '60s leading session keyboardist backing up such superstars as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke before gaining fame in his own right by being given an artist's credit on the Beatles smash hit "Get Back". He also appears in the iconic Apple Records rooftop Beatles concert film. Billy went on to a successful solo career in the '70s with his best-known hit "Will It Go Round In Circles". 
We like anniversaries here at Positive Earth and we've got a good one to observe this year. The stunning Jaguar XJ200 has been on the market for 20 years. 
