Tag Archives: MGB

More old cars

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GR8_BGTThis has been quite the year for spotting old cars – First the new casino opens a couple miles up the road with advertising featuring an old MGB, then I spot a pristine TR-4 at a busy, downtown intersection, and now a shiny MG BGT crosses my path.

The BGT was manufactured the same time as the MGB (up until 1980), but none were imported into the US after 1974. 1974 was also the year US safety mandates ended the chrome bumpers and replaced them with rubber bumpers. This car had chrome bumpers so it probably was a legitimately imported, pre-1974 model.

And in pretty good shape although the particular color wasn’t an MG option – It had been repainted somewhere along the line. The license plate is illegible in the attached picture but it says GR8 BGT.

It’s great (pun intended) to see one of these 30+ year old cars still on the road!

64 TR-4

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tr-4As I wound my way through multiple MGBs in the 80s and 90s – A friend once referred to my passion as “disposable.” She may have been right – I always lusted after the slightly larger, more powerful, and hugely more expensive, Triumph TR-4 Roadster.

The TR-4 had sharper lines, was a bit higher and just looked sexier. If I could have had a choice of color, it would have been Racing Green. But in a time when disposable (?) MGBs were going for $2,000 and TR-4s of the same vintage were going for $12,000, I just couldn’t afford one.

The last MGB was built in 1980, the last TR-4 or TR-4A (independent rear suspension) in 1968, so both are getting rarer, with the TR-4 being a very rare sight indeed.

So you can imagine my surprise (and glee) at the sight of a pristine TR4 at a busy intersection today. My cell camera doesn’t take the best of pictures, but at least I got one shot off.

I wonder – If TR-4s were going for $12,000 back in the 90s, what are they worth today?