Editor’s Choice: MGB GT

By Craig Fitzgerald
Editor, Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car

I’m not sure what it is about the MGB GT that gets me flipping through Hemmings trying to find a clean example. Sports cars are roadsters, right? I mean, what’s the point if the top won’t go down? But ever since I was a kid, every time I see an MGB GT my mind rolls the same film starring me, headed to the Alps with a spotlight on the roof, a leggy brunette by my side, the hatch filled with a weekend’s worth of laundry and a bottle of good wine.

Leaving aside for a moment the vast aftermarket available for these cars, now that I’m a parent of a three-year-old, the lure of an MGB GT is even greater. What looks like an afterthought at first glance is actually a perfectly sized back seat for a limber child, even with the behemoth car seat the State Police mandate you put the kid in. I’ve been searching around a bit online, and with a proper three-point seat belt in place, a lot of small families have enjoyed spirited drives in the countryside with a GT.

Sure, you have to sacrifice the top. Or do you? A lot of these cars were sold originally with Webasto cloth top conversions, meaning that you can reap the benefits of a car that will swallow not only a kid and some luggage, but you can also let the sun shine in. Just wear a hat if you happen to have my hairline.

The sky’s the limit in terms of performance, too. Cheapskates like me love the thrifty four-cylinders. The MGC GT got a lot of grief because it didn’t handle as well as the B, but trust me: drive one first before you make a decision. With an overdrive, you could easily drive an MGC GT across the country in comfort. And the MGB GT V8, while the priciest of all the GTs, may be what the GT should’ve been all along: A wheel-smoking barn-burner that’ll put 356s, Alfa Romeos and even a few early 911s in their place.

The GT’s perfect blend of sport and utilitarianism has inspired modern car choices for me, too. Daily drivers like the BMW 318ti draw a perfectly straight line to the MGB GT, and the one we used to own even featured a California top that took its cues directly from the Webasto roof.

Oddly enough, when the MGB GT was first introduced in 1965, BMC saw fit to charge a premium for it. These days, the MGB GT is the stepsister of the much more popular roadster, and you can find one for 10 percent less than the soft-top. To me, it’s a baby Jaguar E-type, and it’s the best of all possible worlds for the sports car fan with a family.