1969 MG B

Finished in British Racing Green with a silver hardtop, this 1969 MGB comes with a pukka racing pedigree and a very well-documented past in the hands of two luminaries of the MGB and racing worlds.

Fresh from a lengthy restoration and recently recommissioned and MoT’d, this is a fine example of the breed and would be equally suited to either fast road use or competition use subject to some further work.

While many racing cars wear their patina with pride, this MGB is fresh from a multiyear restoration of such a quality that every single hour invested and pound spent is evident.

The panels, for a start, align uncommonly well and boast shutlines that are almost certainly better than anything the MG factory achieved when it was built.

Being freshly built there are no racing dents, dinks, or scrapes either, just slick panels and one of the nicest British Racing Green topcoats we’ve seen for a very long time.

The hardtop is painted silver, which might not be the first colour that springs to mind to complement BRG coachwork but it works very well, picking up the silver of the Safety Devices roll cage in addition to the external chromework.

The deep front spoiler is the "Special Tuning" style front spoiler correct for period.

A pair of clear Perspex headlamp covers have been neatly fitted with a pair of brackets and two clips holding each side on, which makes them easy to remove but still holds them securely enough that you won’t have to worry about them coming adrift at the sort of high speeds the car’s designed for. 

Side windows and hard top windows have been replaced with Perspex for safety and weight saving, originals are included as spares. 

It’s a very neat way of doing things and goes to the heart of how well this MGB has been engineered. 

In the same vein a thick leather strap holds the aluminium bonnet down too, with another fulfilling the same role on the boot lid. Again, these are works style correct for period

Racing features include external switches to shut the power from the battery and trigger the fire suppression system. There are front and rear towing points too, the door locks have been removed, and an LED rain light has been fitted next to the rear numberplate. Door locks are included with the box of spares.

The brakes have also received attention, sporting braided hoses throughout, colour coded front calipers with Hawk race pads,  and uprated brake shoes on the rear with smaller cylinders.

Plus, of course the white roundels on the doors and bonnet that add a minimum of 50bhp.

And can we mention the stance? 

Perfectly judged, it gives just enough space for the 14-inch, Minilite-style Minator alloy wheels and the 185/60R14 Dunlop SP Sport Formula-R tyres they are fitted with. 

Obviously, the former are unmarked, and the latter have oodles of tread left on them, even if they are date-stamped 2015.

As for faults, we can see the offside wiper blade overhangs the A-pillar, there’s a short crack in the rear valence near the exhaust pipe, and there’s a chip in the paint on both the nearside and offside sills. 

An FIA-approved Safety Devices rollcage is fitted, along with two door bars, an installation that adds significantly to the MGB’s passive safety while probably doing nothing but good for the car’s torsional rigidity at the same time. 

The door cards which remain intact are the originals. 

Demon Tweeks supplied the Cobra Monaco Pro seats, the Schruth Racing Clubman harnesses, the shift light, and the two senders that monitor the car’s oil pressure and coolant temperature in a single Smiths gauge.

A tiny Mota-Lita steering wheel is fitted and the space behind is dominated by a HUGE oil pressure warning light in addition to the Stack rev counter and OE speedometer. It is the original, genuine M-L period replacement wheel. The OE rev counter has been refurbished and is included with the box of spares. The gearknob is an alloy jobbie with a switch built in for the overdrive. 

This is a very tactile car.

A safe one too because other fittings include a Lifeline fire suppression system plus a Longacre control panel containing a cut-off switch for the electrical system in addition to the ignition, fuel pump, cooling fan, and starter button. The battery is stored securely in a Powervamp Racing metal box in the passenger footwell.

Braided lines for the braking and fuel system snake through the cabin, and these are highly visible (heh, that’s a Good Thing) as the MGB lacks both carpets and sound deadening. It has retained its door cards though, and these are in a good condition.

The result is a workmanlike cockpit that looks good and is very comfortable. 

Of course, the Cobra Monaco Pro seats give massive support, and they are aided and abetted by the full-spec Schroth Racing harnesses. 

As for the boot, it is bare bar the Facet fuel pump and the associated braided fuel lines which has been repositioned in the boot as is common on race cars for access (it's usually mounted ahead of the rear axle) and also to avoid damage if the car visits the gravel trap.

As for faults, the rev counter doesn’t work, and the safety harnesses and fire suppression system are out of date, which will only be a problem if you intend to compete in it.

The rebuild has been done to a very high standard and the car features “significantly uprated suspension”, at the front: Uprated and lowered front springs, uprated lever arm dampers, negative camber A-arm links, uprated front roll bar with solid mounts. Rear: Reverse eye leaf springs, uprated lever dampers, as well as the rerouted brake and fuel lines and full suite of safety equipment we’ve already talked about. 

The history file contains an invoice from P&T Repairs for more than £12,000 and it’s worth going through it to see what work was carried out. As you’d expect given the cost, it was a lot.

Not that that was the end of the firm’s involvement because 2016 saw another invoice, this time for £7,800.

Unfortunately, the original engine “ran a big end while running in”, which delayed the restoration until a replacement engine could be found and the car recommissioned. 

Once sourced, Kennington Motors rebuilt the engine, which potential bidders should find reassuring. It also fitted a High-Torque starter motor, a lightweight racing alternator, and a Stage III exhaust manifold as part of the work, which cost £4,338 in total. They rebuilt the replacement 18V engine. The original matching numbers engine block is included with spares. The whole exhaust system is from Maniflow.

The ignition system is uprated with a Lucas Sport coil, Aldon distributor, and Magnecor HT leads. The twin SU carbuettors running foam filters also have a Maniflow intake manifold, fed from a Filter King fuel pressure regulator and filter fitted in the engine bay, with braided lines throughout. Other goodies include an oil cooler and braided lines,  an electric cooling fan, and an OBP Motorsport oil catch tank.

As you can see, it starts on the button (literally!), builds oil pressure very quickly, and idles and revs as it should. Of course, the induction rasp and fruity exhaust note are present and correct, which might explain why no one’s seen fit to install a radio.

As for the cosmetics, while the bodywork of racing cars can sometimes be a bit hit ‘n’ miss, the engine bay is almost always ridiculously clean and, in this regard, the MGB conforms to type.

The engine is clean, and the ancillaries and wiring are neat and logical. Working under the bonnet would be a treat, which is important when you’re working under pressure to get the driver back out…

As for the underside, we’ve spotted an uprated front anti-roll bar, reinforcing plates for the roll cage, good and strong jacking points, new brake lines, and a nice coat of underseal.

Originally finished in Dark British Racing Green according to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate that accompanies it, ‘AMF 45H’ was a bog-standard RHD, UK-market car, albeit one that was uncommonly well specified with an overdrive, heater, Packaway hood and tonneau cover, and a set of Dunlop SP tyres when it left the Abingdon factory in July 1969.

And it stayed that way until John Targett, a longtime MGB Club member and MG racer, purchased it in November 1972. He first campaigned his new car in a new series, the BRSCC Production Sports championship, which was a new racing series, sponsored by STP and run on the same day as other series such as Formula style vehicles and European F5000.

Podium places followed, and the car started to evolve to become more competitive, with steel wheels replacing the factory wires, and an earlier type Banjo axle being fitted. John also entered MG Car club events, and was both a race winner and lap record holder.

John ended up emigrating to the United States and lent the car to Gerry Brown, of Brown and Gammons Ltd., the MG specialists who painted it blue with a yellow hardtop to match his other race car, an MG T-type. The blue and yellow colours were from Oliver Rix sponsorship. The MGB ended up being featured in MGB The Racing Story by John Baggott, at some later point paperwork was mislaid, so it was also raced under 359 EHR.

He stopped competing in the 1980s and put it back into roadworthy condition before lending it out to Alan and John, two of John Targett’s friends from his university days. John Targett then repurchased it, and those four names are the previous four you can see on the current V5 registration document. 

He commenced restoring it in 2004, rebuilding the gearbox and original engine in addition to treating his faithful companion to a bare metal respray. Progress was slow, not least because he was still living in the USA and only able to work on the car when he was back in the UK.

Sadly, he died in 2014 before the car had been finished. The MGB then passed to his nephew, who decided to honour its racing heritage by returning it to a competitive specification. We’ve covered the details in an earlier section but suffice to say, it is a Proper Job.

The history file that accompanies the car is replete with period articles and photographs of it, as well as racing programmes from events it competed in, a delightful handwritten letter, a typed summary of its history, a buff log book, a BMIHT certificate, a bunch of expired MoT certificates, a photographic record of its restoration, and invoices for the parts and work involved in bringing it to the condition you see here.

As a racing car you wouldn’t expect the MGB to have an MoT, not least because it doesn’t require one because of its age.

What a lovely surprise then to see it not only has one but that it runs out in February 2025. 

NB: It does not have FIA papers at the moment.

If you want a full-blown, race-spec/fast road MGB then there are plenty of companies out there who can build one for you. 

Hell, the MGB is so simple and the path so well trodden, that doing it yourself would be pretty straightforward, too.

But, you must be prepared to pay for the privilege; while every hobby has its cost, preparing and engineering a car to this specification will be a hugely costly exercise and, as ever, it’s better to let someone else do the heavy lifting.

Tame enough for fast road use, the preparation and work that’s gone into this well-proven racing car means you can take it to whatever level your talent and wallet can afford, safe in the knowledge that the basics have been sorted: that you’ll be reveling in the car’s history wherever you go is an added bonus.

And the price for all this loveliness? We estimate the virtual hammer will fall somewhere between £18,000 and £24,000, which is considerably less than has been spent on bringing it to this condition…

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment.  To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.