Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Wide body MGB

Intriguing amount of work , I am sure a trevor might have been cheaper and quicker, and I would question its handling compared to an early B V8 with Rover power and good suspension as this must weigh 60% more.

I find it quite amazing. Why anyone would spend years re-designing and building a sports car that already has great design and style, only to produce an ugly duckling. The years would of been better spent owning and driving Mog- more smiles per miles than any other sports car.

It's interesting as you can get an LS motor in an MGB without modifying the bodywork......

http://www.mantellmotorsport.com/mgb-ls-v8-install-kit

I am tempted by a sebring style wide arch kit at some point with mine. Probably de-bumper mine this summer.

Thanks for the link, TBM. Very interesting I thought was this info:
„The stock B series MGB engine weighs in at 360lbs. A stock LS with aluminum block & heads weighs in close to 415lbs. So only an increase of 55lbs.“….. But who knows what the various add-on parts all weigh...something like the fitting alternator etc.

This reminds me a bit that when I recall it right that the TR3 engine in the old Plus4 was even heavier than the Rover V8 in the first Plus 8s?

I had recently seen a youtube video about exactly this wide body MGB posted here because it was suggested to me. The builder was interviewed by a young lady. I noticed that there wasn't a single shot from the front, only from the side or at an angle. I thought how unbelievably ugly this car must be straight from the front, where all the misery of the wrong proportions can no longer be drowned out. On the other hand, yes, it's a free country and the guy can do what he wants and what he likes. But I find it grotesque when I see how much work and skill went into realizing this result….The (also restored) MGB for the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

You have to admire the years of dedication in building the car, if not necessarily the end product.

It is very reminiscent of a Jensen Healey from certain angles, it certainly lost the beautiful lines of the MGB.

I suspect we may be a tad harsh in our criticism of this chaps drive ambition and craftsmanship....? It seems logical his influences would probably be relative to the car culture he grew up with...? Given it seems there has been perhaps more disposable income over a longer period in the US than here in the UK, creating a much wider spread of interests in their automotive culture, and given the dimensions of the road networks in the US it seems large and powerful machines were ever the priority...?

The customisation of machines in the US was way ahead of anything here in the UK, in so many areas, to the extent it even became an art form. I remember seeing images of a high heel shoe that could be driven on the road... I guess we are fortunate not to live in a black and white world where the population can express themselves in so many ways..?

Over the time I have been messing around with old m/cycles and cars, I have, no doubt like many here, witnessed a cultural evolution as ever following on from the US with a mix of local culture holding on in there, which I may be as guilty of as any here..(-: I remember well being amazed by some US TV shows when they first became available here, such as American Hot Rod and the craftsmanship of Boyd Coddington and his team given some of the processes they developed to create some mind blowing machinery..... For sure on some of these TV shows there did seem to be a fair bit of filler in places that could easily be frowned upon by artisans of the English wheel, hammer and dolly, but there are such craftsmen to be found all around the world beating wonderful shapes out of metal...?

I have a long term pal who has seemingly been smitten by US truck culture, his skills far exceed my own miserable efforts. As a home self-build nutter, I have run a truck as a daily for years on a purely practical basis, whereas my friend has for some time now been customising a 50`s Ford F100 (?) not enough to convert it from LH to RH drive or fit a Corvette 6litre engine and much modified suspension and drive train/brakes wheels tyres. he then changed his mind on the old cast iron V8, and went for an LS3, and before he had completed that conversion, he again decided on an engine upgrade to a Coyote engine, which it seems he wished to improve further and now has bought a supercharger to fit to it...! This vehicle has been a work in progress on and off for a number of years, and he has had open heart surgery, but still getting on with it as and when in the mood to do so.....

Me...? The whole idea of a truck with that degree of power, time effort and money ploughed into it seems absolutely nuts, when to my mind his skills could be put to far better use, but then my priorities and his differ and as such confirms to some degree that a bit of colour in setting our personal priorities seems an improvement over black and white..?

That does seem like an answer hunting a question but fair enough if you want to do something then the only person that needs to be happy is you in the end. It does look like someone has had a crack at using photoshop and not quite got it right. I have seen worse, anyone remember Custom Car magazine in the 80's a few of them needed corrective goggles, the makers and the cars.

If this had made it into Custom Car magazine in the 70's or 80's I would have stopped my subscription. It ruins the lines of a classic design, a bit like stretching a good old movie to fit on a wide screen TV; it just doesn't work for me.

I don't think it looks like the Jensen Healey (chassis by Vauxhall, engine by Lotus, development by customers), I had a Jensen Healey and a Lotus Elan Sprint in the 80's; both very different cars, but both were good to drive and good to look at. This one fails the looks test and (more than likely) would fail the drive test as well on our roads, though it seems to drive well on the US Freeway, at least with Nicole in the driver's seat. But only lap belts used?

Thank goodness tastes are different

"One-of-a-kind" - thank goodness. A very talented fabricator but not such a good designer IMHO.