>My opinion on the question has always been that the MGB was smack in the
>middle of the price/performance/features curve in its prime (it kind of
fell
>off the curve by the mid 70s).
I grew up in the UK in the '60s and '70s and quite definitely the MGB was
considered
a sports car in Europe. you have to have the a different perspective about
Europe
Vs USA. In the UK, it was quite rare to see a car with more than 1300cc.
Most of
the cars were in the 850-1300 cc range (Mini, Austin 1100, Vauxhall, Fiat,
Renault etc).
Most of these manufactures reserved their bigger engines for the top-of-the
line models,
the bread and butter cars always had small engines. So the expectation was
that 0-60 of
16 seconds was considered quite the norm and a true 100mph car was quite
rare.
Handling of these econoboxes was "entertaining"
at best. Then comes along the MGB, 0-60 in ~11 sec, great handling and a
true 100mph
top speed. So yes, the MGB was considered a real sports car.
I remember seeing my first BMW 2002 - it was like seeing a new Lambo "bat"
today.
What is really surprising is that the MGB (at least mine), can still keep up
with modern
day traffic on the freeway and in town and given a good winding road can
still dust
most cars away (more of function of the driver - but the capabilities are
there).
For a 40 year design, I think the MGB has stood the test of time quite
remarkably.
I wonder how a Civic DX will be able to tackle the mean streets in 40 years
time 1!!
gerry
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