MG in Springtime Blog And Classic and Sportscar April Issue.

Make sure you read the excellent article by Simon Hucknall on the Horstman Super Sports currently on display at The Great British Car Journey and its intrepid voyage round the banked Toyota test track.

We believe this car last raced on the legendary Brooklands track in the early 1920s, and thanks to the hard work of our master mechanics, who carefully freed its seized engine, it was able to drive under its own power once more.

Taking a 100-year-old car onto a high-speed test track isn’t something you get to do every day, and seeing the Horstman back on the banks was a truly special moment.

However my eye was also drawn to an excellent letter from a Mr Owen in praise of the MGB.

My father bought a virtually new B roadster in 1975 and enjoyed it as his daily drive for the next five years. This car sparked my love affair with two seater British Sports Cars, starting with a very tired Austin Healey Sprite, through a succession of fairly ghastly Jensen -Healeys including a GT until I bought my first Big Healey. Now that was a proper car!

However, memories of days out in Dad’s MGB never faded and in 2016 , I bought SMG 105M from a dealer in Birmingham. Owned by an air commodore from 1976 to 2015, this car had been loved and looked after and maintained regardless of cost but retained all its original body panels and running gear.

Over the last nine years, I have enjoyed every single journey and must agree with Mr Owen who says “Whatever day you have been experiencing, the MGB will take you to another plane and give nothing but pleasure… the MGB is the king of the road and yes, still the King of Sports Cars.”

In the lovely Spring Sunshine this weekend my MGB has delighted me with every mile. If the hood was not so fiddly and the heater so mysterious , it would be perfect, but with the hood down these minor annoyances don’t matter . I do find it slightly harder to get in

and out than I did nine years ago but that’s down to my joints not the car’s!!

If you are in the market for a classic I cannot recommend the MGB any more highly.

Great to see so many cars with hoods down this weekend and I am pleased to report that our latest Visit England assessment is our best yet so we are in good shape for a record Summer. Lets just hope the weather plays ball !

Drive safely and enjoy your Classics whilst you can!

Richard Usher March 9 2025.