MGB & GT Forum

My owners , I've just purchased my first mg a 1980 roadster, 2000.00 a no rust car 67000 miles , and will buy all I can find for that price these cars in ten years will bring 7 to 8 the way it sits .Drove it home unreal mg owners do understand the value you own let me spell it out for you . 1. 35 and older sports roadster. 2 . A car the likes will never see again. 3.. The value easy to restore parts easy to get . 4 look what is happening in the true sports car market the mg is the last one left and still under valued. Hold on to them lady's and gents , Me collected restored 9 roadsters from mid fifty jags to American muscle all are now over priced and to much money per investment to restore ,,,,,,,,,,,but not the mg !!!!!!!!!!! Have one to sell careful think about it !,,,,,,,,,,,,,I'll own 6 or more within 3 months , just sayin

If you really wanna make bank buy the smog year cars out of California. They are generally rust free but being completely wasted up here due to the Nazi style enforcement of CA smog laws.

I own mine because it's fun. So far very few if any MG owners have made any money off of these cars. That may be one of the reasons I tend to like MG people.

I hate to say this but Jay is probably right. I bought my A in 1968 because I couldn't afford what I really wanted. It turned out to be a fun car and was inexpensive to run and maintain. I still own it and drive it but couldn't afford to buy one like it now.

A nice original MGB will someday be worth a fair chunk of change for many reasons. They are fun and reliable in original condition. But so many of them are being modified that it's getting more difficult to find a stock one every day. And as someone else said, the B is becoming the 32 Ford of this decade. They are fun cars either stock or modified and they have a style that is timeless. It all adds up to an ever increasing value. Which is sad in a way because that increase takes away some of the fun factor.

Bill

---

Si Vis pacem, para bellum

I've often wondered about this. The status quo on this site, which is pretty hard to miss after reading through the threads pertaining to the issue, is the view that these cars aren't worth much and that they therefore will never be worth that much. It was quite the shock to me to hear that this was exactly the situation of A's some time ago as Bill pointed out.

I'm curious to see what becomes of the pricing on them.

But: Did pricing on TD's follow the same trend? Did they languish in the doldrums of pricing, then see an increase as they became rarer? Just asking. I don't know the answer to that question.

MGBs will increase in value over the years as more of them are removed from the road due to corrosion, age or neglect.

But I have trouble imagining that they will ever become really valuable. BMC and British Leyland made more than half a million of them. They're just too common and likely to remain so.

In the collector world, scarcity + desirability = $$$monetary value. The MGB has one part of that equation covered, no question. The other part? Not so much.

I'm perfectly OK with this scenario, BTW. One of the things I like best about the MGB is its day-to-day usability in the modern world. I don't worry about getting a small dent or having a part fail - - I'll just fix it and carry on. It would be different if the car were worth a lot of money - I'd treat it much more gently than I do now, and I don't want to do that. I love to drive the **** out my MG from time to time, give it a good flog on a back road. Would I do that with a much more valuable machine? Maybe, but the temptation to "baby" it to avoid devaluing it with a stone chip or a coating of mud from a dirt road would be compelling.

I really hope that the investor types never catch on to the virtues of the MGB so that future folks can continue to drive & enjoy them.

Mg owners the topic of keeping the car as original as possible is very important ,v8 conversions a no no color changes a no no , restoration on mine will gear all towards original . Increasing the value of thease cars will all ride on original appearance and equipment , but those who go the other way have at it in the start of increasing values of the car fewer originals are a must . Always keep this in mind

Yes. In 1968 when I bought my MGA I wanted a nice black TF. The guy wanted $1100.00. My dad wouldn't float me a loan for the difference between what I had and that $1100.00.

A nice TF now days is $30-35K car. I still can't afford one.

Bill

---

Si Vis pacem, para bellum

What Tim C said in #6:

"I really hope that the investor types never catch on to the virtues of the MGB so that future folks can continue to drive & enjoy them."

A passion for me, not an investment.

---

Jim K is a grease-stained wretch

Dave your right you've hit the nail on the head , but consider this the 555 to 65 year old man or women who sees the cars of there youth going for 40k to 50k just to much but the car like the mg that can be restored with a moderate paint job and left original for 11k to 15k now that's realistic for mr and mrs jones who want a Sunday driver in Scottsdale ,Santa Barbra key west mertyle beach it's perfect easy to keep up and fun to drive can't get much better

Also, consider the demand side. What a happens to demand when those of us with an interest/passion for these cars and capability/skill to own/maintain them aren't around any longer.

I think the value of the MGB will follow the fate of the Ford Model T. There were many of them. They are repairable. But the "desirability" will start to fall off as the older folks who grew up with them die off. They used to be desirable when older folks could relate to driving in them in their youth. As they died off the T became a curiosity to the younger person but nothing they were emotionally attached to. My dad's 1927 four door was worth restoring and storing to him because he learned to drive in one. Although I still have it and cherish it because it was my dad's, it is worth less now than when he drove it in the '70's.

I believe the MGB, TR3, and similar cars will follow the same value pattern. Their value will remain low, and even decline, as their support group dies off, and only concourse quality examples will appreciate much.

I've begun asking strangers during a discussion what they think the value of my car is. They don't know B roadsters, numbers made, so what they say is just going by the looks.

Twice now (+ just yesterday by an intelligent educated woman) I've heard $70 K (Cdn.) used. I could have kissed her but her husband was there.

With my OD, Schlemmerized, everything working, a number of small extras, halogens and relays, nice sounding 6 speaker sound system (though not expensive), seat belt extenders, extra fused circuits, + more, if I were to sell I'd think $12 K (Cdn.) a fair price, but I'm keeping it 'till the end.

Box stock factory original will be collectible. Maybe another 30 years for RBB. Like all collectibles matching numbers attention to factory detail/methods will be key.

Well modified "unique" conversions will also be worth money - think hot rods.

Daily driver PO modded cars will disappear through lack of interest by inheritors.

---

The goal - Reliable summer driver interspersed with mechanical tinkering...
Motto - "Driving fifty in the twisties..."
On Mods - It's your damn car - Do what you want. Haters gonna hate...
On SUVs - Drive your B like a soccer mom is texting her friends about how she wants to kill you...
Red Betty - http://www.mgexp.com/registry/GHN5UH418165
Bart - http://www.mgexp.com/registry/GHD4U146898G

I do think the value varies depending on where you have your B. In the states or in England they are not rare but in some countries in the world they are very rare. I have been offered at least twice what my car would be worth in the states just because in this country it is very very rare. This does not mean that I have advertised it for sale. No this is people who admire it and wish to place it in their night club as a center piece or wish to use it for special events. I do not plan to sell it as I could not replace the car and after 25 years of ownership it is a part of me.

I have already turned down offers of $25K and above for my car. I know that I would never receive over $8 for it in New England where I used to live. At the same time it is only when the money is in your account that you know the true value and that has not happened. But I am sure that the car is worth a great deal more here in Korea than in many countries of the world because of its rarity.