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First question -- terminology

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MadRiver

MadRiver

Jedi Knight
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Ok, as promised, let my questions begin. The first one is a soft-ball. I've always seen open Bs and Cs referred to as "tourers." Having grown up around LBCs, I do know that none of them are proper roadsters, given that they have roll-up windows. But I'm curious as to why they are referred to as "tourers" instead of the other terms I've often seen floating around, such as "open top sports" or simply "convertibles."

Any wisdom from the minions of the Sacred Octagon is much appreciated.
 
tourers, roadsters, convertibles, B's or C's....we all understand that until the 'GT' is added to a car, they're all open roadsters.
 
I believe MG referred to the later soft-top cars (the rubber bumpers?)as "Tourers". It would probably take an analysis of MG literature to see when that happened. I know the MGB brochure I have dtd 6/62 does not use the term.
 
Doesn't that time difference match removable vs fold-away tops? I believe that figures in the nomenclature.

Peter C
 
Peter

I believe removable tops comes from the early cars, mine actually does have a removable top. It does not fold down, because it completely snaps into place.

Pat
 
The early scissors-type folding top appears to have been available from the start of production. The MGB brochure I mentioned earlier dtd 6/62 notes a "folding hood" as an available option. The standard top was the "pack-away" top with the bundle-of-sticks frame and the separate vinyl cover.
The "Tourer" designation is harder to pin down.
In the Bentley early B shop manual, the Driver's Manual refers to all of the soft-top B's starting in '62 as "Tourer". That page is dtd something like 8/69 in my copy. I also have a British Leyland parts manual for '76 and later cars that says "Tourer and GT" on the cover. The Bentley shop manual for the later cars, on the other hand, calls them "Convertible and GT".
Bottom line, the Tourer name started pretty early in the production (at least '69), but maybe not in the first years, and was used inconsistently throughout the life of the B.
 
I suspect the real "origin" if it may be so called is the marketing department !

The original designations have become so distorted over the years they are virtually meaningless these days.

Pete.
 
V6MGB said:
I suspect the real "origin" if it may be so called is the marketing department !

The original designations have become so distorted over the years they are virtually meaningless these days.

Pete.
Click to expand...

And with so few of the factory workers still with us, most likely impossible to ascertain.
 
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