MGB MGB "Specials"

[Sherlock]

MGB "Specials"

Anyone familiar with a 1967 MGB S (Special), described here in an E-Bay auction I just looked at:

"For sale is a 1967 MGB-GT S (Special)... Special Edition MGs were the company's response to low sales in the Northwestern part of America. The company built a few Specials, and a few dealerships were sent Special Edition parts, which their mechanics installed. The strategy worked, and MGs became extremely popular. To date, there are only a little over 100 of these Special Editions left."

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2451847100&category=31857

 

[Guest]

Re: MGB "Specials"

may have been some kind of dealer add on package, but I'm leery

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Re: MGB "Specials"

I looked at a so-called special edition MGBGT, all it had extra that I remember was an add-on wood steering wheel with MGB logo in the horn button and a small chrome "special edition" badge on the lower right of hatch. There might have been a couple of other small details as such but there wasn't anything else special about the car.

Marv

 

[William]

Re: MGB "Specials"

The 1967 MGB GT Limited Edition was a special "Anniversary" edition cooked up by Hambro, I believe, to help shift some of the GTs which were piling up, and was limited to 1000 cars nationwide. The LE was a bit of an international affair, too: the car, obviously, was English, the woodrim steering wheel and wood gear knob were sourced from Australia, and the racing mirrors from a California supplier. Heck, the little "Limited Edition" plates were sourced in New York, near Hambro's main office!
-William

 

[Guest]

Re: MGB "Specials"

Quoted from "Original MGB" by Anders Ditlev Clausager.

"The first limited edition of the MGB will be virtually unknown to most UK readers as it was marketed only in the USA. This was the first anniversary MGB GT Special, an edition of 1000 cars which appeared in 1967 a year after the American introduction of the GT. The special equipment fitted to these cars was added by the US dealers at the point of sale. A plaque was mounted on each from wing just in front of the door bearing an octagonal Union Jack and the words "MGB GT Special." There was a 16 inch wood-rimmed steering wheel, a matching Australian coach wood gear lever knob, and a vibration-free non-glare racing wing mirror on the driver's side. Wire wheels were standard, and so probably were whitewall tyres. The advertising did not mention whether the overdrive was available. Efforts at identifiying these cars in the Abingdon production records have proved fruitless."

 

[tony barnhill]

Re: MGB "Specials"

Don't toss in any extra money for a "Special" - they're nothing special!

 

[William]

Re: MGB "Specials"

I don't know if I'd spend a whole lot of extra money on the "Special Edition" '67 GT, but I'd kinda like to have one nonetheless. At this point, with so many Bs having been restored and repainted in colors the restorers like, rather than the original color (nothing wrong with that, BTW), the "SE" badges and whatnot would probably go missing first. I'd imagine that one of these would be pretty rare, if not worth a whole lot. A nice curio, I suppose.
-William

 

[Rick Brown]

Re: MGB "Specials"

Check on the NAMGBR website for a description of the Special and a pic of the original ad for the GT Specials
https://www.mgcars.org.uk/namgbr/67gt-spec.htm

Rick

 

[Kim de B]

Re: MGB "Specials"

Hey, Rick, never saw you here before! Howdy!