10k: Morris Monster Garage: 1963 MGB with Ford V8
The MGB is a classic roadster from Morris Garage, built by cheerful British folks in a time when the United Kingdom was a significant worldwide exporter of automobiles. Carroll Shelby worked with AC Cars Limited when he created his legendary Cobra world beater, but imagine for a minute that he had worked instead with MG Cars; this is probably what the result would have looked like. Find this 1963 MGB with Ford 289 V8 for sale in Tarzana, CA currently bidding on ebay for $7,311 with 2 days to go.
This MGB was recently restored and repainted in its original baby blue color, but the transformation from putt-putt four banger to tire melting V8 started way back in 1969. The seller claims to have lots of documentation from the shop that did the conversion, and somehow the idea of a vintage swap seems all the more appealing versus a recent transplant.
The Ford 289 cubic inch (4.7 liter) V8 made anywhere from 195 to 270 horsepower back in the day, but with a decent cam, headers, intake and exhaust 300 horsepower is easily achievable. Just budget for some other parts as the transmission, rear end and tires may not be equipped to handle that much power/torque. Luckily all that stuff has been upgraded to beefier parts in this car already, and running that way for decades.
See a better AC Cobra/Sunbeam Tiger competitor painted in baby blue? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com
To the layman, not much to dislike about this one, especially given any post-conversion teething problems would have been handled before I was born. The purist may sneer at a few things, but I love the colour and pull-handle look. Too bad the seller doesn't indicate what the power available at the wheels is. It will be interesting to see where this ends, price-wise.
I'd like to see what the handling is like before committing, but this is a smoking deal already compared to a period Tiger or Cobra.
Yep, the period swap is so much more intriguing than "just another LS1."
Perfect. This is exactly the opposite of all of the interesting swaps we see where the seller says they just finished the swap 1,000 miles ago. Those always make me scratch my head, "Really? You put all that time and energy into the swap and now you want to sell it without really driving it?… It must not work well and you're too burned out on it to figure out all the details." Or like the house that has a whole new kitchen and bathroom before selling it… "What did they hide behind the drywall???"
A nice, time-tested swap. Perfect. If I were in the market, this would be very tempting, and I don't even really like MGBs (I can't explain why, they just never did it for me. I'd rather have a TR4 or 6 or a Bugeye Sprite. Although a MGB GT with serious fender flares, like the Sebring race cars, gets my attention).