Some facelifts have been widely praised because a car significantly improved, but something tells us that the facelift of the MG B is not placed in that list by most. That doesn’t make it any less fun to think about it.
Due to the success of the MG A, the MG B, which appeared in 1962, had quite large shoes to fill. Thanks in part to a strong contemporary design, however, there was confidence from the start that the MG B would also win many hearts. That was not a vain hope, as it turned out in the no less than 18 years (!) in which MG sold the successful sportsman. No less than half a million would be sold, including all different versions and body shapes. The focus of sales was in the 1960s and early 1970s. Not entirely surprising, after all, the car was still a bit fresher than towards the end in 1980. What, however, also undoubtedly played a role in the decline in sales, was the facelift that was implemented in 1974.
The MG has been refined in many ways over the years, with the arrival of a slightly different grille in 1970 as the first most notable change. However, any minor changes in model year updates are overshadowed by what happened in 1974. Then MG screwed bumpers of plastic and rubber on the MG B. At the back it was not too bad how much the car changed because of it, but the nose got a quite different look. There was not only the bumper but also the grille from now on one black plastic party.
MG didn’t just do this to give the B a more modern look. After all, in the United States, black rubber elements on the chromed bumpers of the MG B had already been delivered that same year, because new regulations concerning bumpers had been introduced. So there should be a very limited group of MG Bs that have been delivered in the US in this interim period, because in the same year the facelifted B appeared with the bumpers made entirely of rubber and plastic. Incidentally, the MG B for the American market was also placed a bit higher (2.5 cm) on its wheels, because the lighting of cars had to be higher according to new regulations than was the case with the MG B.
Was it one of the least successful facelifts ever? We leave that to you. In any case, there seems to be a consensus that the MG B is not broken, because complete conversion kits are even offered. This makes it possible to transform a facelifted MG B into a copy with the old chrome bumpers and grille.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl