MGB for fix and flip?

I went to take a quick look at this 1976 MGB (12/75 build date) today since the seller is literally a 5 minute bike ride from my house. And the front cross member and some of the front-end stuff might be helpful for my miata engine swap in my GT. Seller works until after dark so his wife was kind enough to show me the car today, but she didn't know much of the details.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/cto/d/1976-mg-mgb/6705650615.html

A teensy bit of rust in the doglegs (just in front of rear wheel), but overall incredibly solid and rust free (floors, rockers, trunk, front fenders, etc).

Looks mostly stock, and mostly well cared for, with the exception of some shaky electrical work and an aftermarket fuel pump. Tires looks serviceable for driver duty, top is functional with one small hole. This is a 2 owner car and the current owner has owned it for 30+ years. There was a MGB register tag on the dash so at least this is enthusiast-owned. Repainted from orange to red at some point in its life.

Based just on looks - I'll try to tease more out of the seller - it looks like it wouldn't be hard to coax back into life. I think it has the OD trans.

My thinking is that one could grab this, get it running well, shine it up, take good pictures, and sell in the spring for $3k. It wouldn't be worth trying to make super nice, but as a fun driver this would deliver if it were running well. I don't need the project, but I think someone could score this thing quite cheap. I might make some sort of "if you can't sell it otherwise call me" offer.

Soooooo - who is going to buy this so I can stop thinking about it?

Just me but rubbery black bumper mgb's don't seem to be a big Market.

Ovid_and_Flem said:

Just me but rubbery black bumper mgb's don't seem to be a big Market.

They're not, especially compared to the chrome bumper cars. 

If it weren't so far away, I'd seriously consider it. I've been to look at five MGBs in the last couple of months, and have yet to actually drive one that operates correctly-ish.

Regarding your ability to flip it, I have two contradictory pieces of info based on my local market:

1. Local CL is pretty well-supplied with MGBs, and they don't seem to be flying off the shelves; the same ads are staying up quite a while.
2. It appears to be hard to find a functioning MGB under $5k around here. Not like "no issues"... Just "I can test drive it and it will take throttle and stop and turn functionally enough that I can decide I like this kind of car enough to buy it."

So I think there's not much demand, but you can probably beat a lot of competitors for the sale if a prospect can actually take a test drive.

In reply to Ransom :

I strongly agree with you. and i've been staring at MGB and MGB stuff on craigslist for over 10 years. I see these cars posted at $7k or something stupid and I just don't understand if the cars ever sell or if the owners just take forever to come down to market value.

A sub 5k MGB that is driveable by a normal human is a rare beast.

Counterpoint: I bought a running, driving, rust free, unmolested, sub-100k mile, NA Miata for just a few hundred more than that here in Florida a few months ago.

Man that is cheap for something that looks that nice.

Here are real CL examples of the ridiculousness of the MGB market:

1. Absolute crack-pipe:

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/d/1975-mg-mgb-convertible1/6712034292.html

2. Honest driver car that would is a bit much for a toy going into winter:

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/d/1977-mgb-great-runner-driver/6700327069.html

n8 said:

Counterpoint: I bought a running, driving, rust free, unmolested, sub-100k mile, NA Miata for just a few hundred more than that here in Florida a few months ago.

I know. I have a miata. It runs and drives. The top doesn't leak. It (very unfortunately) doesn't look like an MGB.

In reply to Robbie :

These things aren't always rational. I totally get it.

Robbie said:

A sub 5k MGB that is driveable by a normal human is a rare beast.

That's what I thought too, but I tried several times to sell my autocross-prep'ed '74 'BGT here for $2500 and couldn't find a buyer.

I'd offer $1000 for the RB MGB and would be happy if I could sell it for $2000.

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

I looked longingly at your bgt ad many times. You still have it?

Yes, still in an airplane hanger 2 hours away - out of sight, out of mind.  When I die, hopefully my grandkids can trade it for a new hoverboard or something.

When I read the tittle, I figured NOPE!

However, 3k for that car is not out of the question if you can find a buyer that wants an MGB for cheap and the car is in good enough shape to drive home. As a toy car driven in fair weather, it has 5 years left before it becomes unsightly and a lot longer before it becomes a problem.

Pete

Buy it now, sell it in spring when tax refunds are influencing people to spend unwisely. You probably won't lose money.

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

If that car was only two hours from me, I'm pretty sure I'd own it by now, even with Photobucket having eaten the photos. The $400 flight I can do; the several-day return drive, not so much...

Robbie said:

In reply to Apis Mellifera :

I looked longingly at your bgt ad many times. 

So have I.  

The plot thickens. I went to go talk to the owner to get more details on the engine and stuff. A bit sad, this guy has clearly loved the car a long time. 

His dad bought it for him in 1988 or so, and he flew to St Louis to pick it up and drive home. He's had it out at Road America. He said he used to wake up at 4am on Saturdays and drive it to get coffee and then go rip around on backroads for a couple hours and get home when the rest of his family was just waking up.

He's never been able to get his kids to enjoy it with him. When they were little he couldn't take both boys because there was only one other seat. When they got to high school, a cousin or family friend rolled a different convertible and almost died, so mom put the kabosh on kids driving the convertible mg. Now he'd like to give it to one of his boys, but neither really wants it.

He paid a shop last summer to tune it up and get it out of hibernation (it had been sitting for 3 years) and then he parked it. I really don't think it would take more than a fresh battery and maybe some cleaning on the points to get it fired up. He indicated that he may be willing to let me tinker with it and see if I could fire it up before I buy, which is a really nice offer. I was thinking I would get it running for him so it'd be easier for him to sell, maybe he would be interested, maybe not.

He also has a supercharged mini (BMW mini) with a pulley and stuff and does some track days and autocrosses. 

Anyway, I had a good time chatting with him and hope to see him around the neighborhood more. I'm less inclined to try to fix and flip this one, just because I want to see this guy find the right new owner for his car. We will see.

That sounds like a cautionary tale for me...  I have a BGT and three boys.

Well, you have one MG and two kids... clearly, you need a second MG so you can solve the problem that he had. 

My only word of caution is how many projects do you want to have? Your MG has ran once in the past umpteen years. I’d focus on one thing at a time—UNLESS this is the challenge car for next year. 

MGBs dont get a lot of love in the classic car world. Not that they are not good cars to drive, just a bit too plebeian for the "collector" game.

No takers on my  67 GT that I have owned for 40 years. Brand new front suspension, 4 link coil-over rear,alloy knock-off wheels, Overdrive Gearbox no rust and new interior.

I guess the problem is that it was "Done" and with no idea on what to do next I started the Molvo.

NOHOME said:

MGBs dont get a lot of love in the classic car world. Not that they are not good cars to drive, just a bit too plebeian for the "collector" game.

 

 

 

 

Did you see the one on BAT that went for $29k? Maybe things are starting to look up for the B-GT?

In reply to JamesMcD :

Yeah, looks like someone who wanted just that result and kew what it would cost to build and sort scooped it for much less than it would cost to replicate.

I am surprised that it sold for that much with no significant  pictures of the underside. The one that was shown was not flattering or up to the standards of the topside

Yeah, I really don't think I'm into a fix and flip on this one anymore, especially after talking to the guy last night. I don't have time or space (or most importantly, a use case) to own a car like this myself, so that is also a hard no.

Now that said, I would like to help find an owner for this (dunno how much I can do though). If I found a high school kid who wanted to put some effort in, I'd gladly help them get it running again and do a once over before sending them along. And I think the owner would let it go for cheap to someone who showed some love too.