Registry: 1973 MG MGB

I purchased this car after it was brought to New England in late 1989. It as in need of much overhaul but the body was solid with little rust and it was a low mileage car with a little over 47700 miles on the odometer. I also immediately did a history on the car and contacted all the prior owners except the first. The car came out of the Pan Handle of Texas, a rather dry area of the US.

I have modified it by putting in an overhauled 1974 18v /673Z-L5626 Engine and a 1977 overdrive transmission with a date stamp of September 10, '76. The bell housing of the used transmission was stamped with J5328 LH Ser. No 22/62005/023175. Other than that it is in original condition and color with original engine and transmission stored at our Korean home.

I have owned the car since January of 1990 and of those years I did not drive the car for various reasons during 8 years. The history of the car is very interesting. After manufacture it was shipped to the US on 27 December 1972 and finally arrived at the zone distributer Continental Cars in St. Louis, MO in the spring of 1973 where it stayed in the lot until at least September 15th of 1974. I know this because that was the date the radio was installed by Contintntal Cars. It was later shipped to the dealer, Royal Imports of Amarillo, TX. I do not know how long it was there before sale but when it was sold, the new owner was given a MGB 1974 Car owners manual printed in September of '73. So this 1974 B owners manual originally came with the car and it was sold sometime after October of 1974 (date of the installation of the radio at the zone Distributer in St Louis, MO). By then the car was almost two years old. The manual contained the notation of Royal Imports, 2701 S Georgia with the phone number of 353 -7441. I did not know where this was until early 2015 when I determined that this location is in Amarillo, TX . I found this by putting the address, minus the city, into Google Earth and a KIA Dealer came up at that address. This was also a logical location as the car spent all of its life centered around this pan handle location.

So I do not know who purchased the car originally or when it was purchased post the fall of 1974. I do know that the next owner was Dan Bell of Borger, TX who purchased the car off the Marshall Ford used car lot in1978. Without his help I could not have traced the early history of the car. When I contacted him, he said that he had the original radio, grease gun and owners manual. I purchased them from him for $20 and postage. The owners manual and radio confirmed the earliest date of the first purchase of the car. He purchased the car in 1978 and owned the car till 1980. During this time he drove it to the top of Pikes Peak during the summer of 1980 (earliest photo of car included take on return from the mountain). He sold it to Ted Jeffers of Guymon, TX later that year. He was elderly gentleman and only put about 400 miles on the car over the next year going out with wife and poodle dog and watching the sun set. Ted sold or gave the car to his son Bill Jeffers in 1981. He owned an oil field equipment business. The car was in a fender bender on November of 1985 and then sat in the yard unused for two years. The Texas oil business went bust in the mid 80s so there was an auction of his oil field equipment in December 1987 and the car was in the auction announcement (picture included). The photo did not show the bent fender. Russell Call of Liberal, Kansas bought it as a fixer up car. He only had it for six months and sold it in May of 1988 to Roland Wilson. Roland offered the car to his sister but she thought that she would 'get in trouble driving the car' so she declined the offer and he sold it to Eliza Souza in May '89 who shipped it up to Rhode Island at the back of a trailer loaded with tractors and other oil field equipment. Mr. Souza said he only bought is because he had a little room left in his trailer so it would fit in. Otherwise he would not have purchased it. The car sat around for the next 6 months then he listed the car in a car and equipment magazine with pictures of each item for sale ( picture included). I saw it there in January 1990 and purchased it from him. Therefor I am the 8th and last owner.

In 2003 my wife and I moved to South Korea where we had the car shipped as part of our household goods. I paid an import fee of 20 percent of original price, $600. I drove it to our home on Daejeon where I spent another $500 to have it prepared to pass vehicle inspection. I continued to restore the car including putting in a new interior and scraping off all the Texas mud and dust from the underside of the frame. I also replaced the tired original engine and non overdrive transmission in May of 2008 with a 1974 engine listed on eBay out of Oregon which I imported. I also installed a 1978 overdrive that I had rescued from a 1978 B in a junk yard in 1996 as the original transmission was very tired with a third speed synchro not working most of the time.

So far I have put a total of about 15,000 miles on the car since purchase and have spent around $18,000 on the restoration not including the original $3500 spent for the car.

A list of the major work I have done on the car is, new hubs and chrome wheels (1993), stripped and repainted the original Teal Blue color (1992), replaced the interior with a Moss tan interior kit (2008), replaced the broken windshield (1992), replaced the engine and transmissions (2008), rebuilt the front end with new bushings 1992), replaced the rear springs (1992), installed relays on the major electricals (2019), installed an electric fan and removed the mechanical fan (2018), replaced the front rotors, brake calipers, and bearings 2016), rebuilt the rear brakes and installed new bearings(2018), purchased a snug top (2008), installed a stainless steel exhaust system and had the engine bay stripped and painted Teal Blue (2008). I am sure I overpaid for the car but it is rust free and that in itself is a bonus. For the first 10 years it was not dependable as there were many problems related to PO fixes and the car was teaching me how to care for it. Now it is very dependable and I drive it all year around.

Would I purchase it again. Absolutely yes. It is fun to work on and I appreciate its handling and beauty. The MGB was voted as a candidate of the hundred best cars of the last century as voted by 135 world- wide professional automotive journalists and public in December of 1999. I feel that I am driving a beautiful piece of sculpture as well as a fun car to travel into the Korean mountains. I gave up my 1961 diamond jubilee 220Sb Mercedes show car ( won first place in class in New England Car Show) when I moved here and even though that car was much more valuable and mechanically finely engineered, I would never trade it for this car.

As for the future, I turned 80 in 2022 and must think about this. So far I will continue to drive the car and do the mechanical work on it. A Korean cousin in his later twenties wished to purchase the car from me now (2023) but I am not ready to sell. I am planning to pass in on this family member as I like the idea of passing it on to family (I never had children), and he really appreciates the car and even has had his 4 year old in the drivers seat!

The car always receives allot of attention when I drive it. Since it is the only MGB in South Korea, most have never seen one. Even the car museums do not have one on display. So I am training the next generation on how to maintain the now 50 year old car that I have owned since 1990. It is one of the most beautiful cars on the road anywhere in the world and I try to keep it in tip top condition.