Based on some prior knowledge, I thought that there might still be an MGB in a garage in Hamilton Square, NJ. I  drafted a letter to the resident who promptly responded that he still had it and to come and take a look at the car.  The car was a 1977 MGB Roadster that was rust-free and had 23,274 well documented miles on the odometer. He attached pictures of the car and said it ran, rolled, and drove.

Upon arrival, I could not get it to do any of those things. The transmission felt weird and would not go into gear easily. The owner stated he had to skip third gear when driving but it felt worse than a blown synchro.  It felt like mud.  Additionally, the steering cowl was half off, the headlight switch broken, the ignition switch wiring was dangling, there was no top or top frame attached (although he had them - the top was in awful shape) and the car was very dirty with cat footprints on the windshield and body. The air cleaner was off and some of the wiring to the coil had been unwrapped. He stated someone had been there in the fall and had gotten the car to run. Even so, I was seeing a lot of work and dollar signs. 

It did have beautiful rims, on new 20 year old tires. The paint was okay except for one spot on the hood. There was no unibody rot like on my other 2 MGBs.

I felt bad as I knew from looking at the paperwork that the owner had paid about $8,000 in 2003 for the vehicle but it needed a lot of work and parts. I made an offer of $800 dollars.  He responded that he wanted a new $829  lawn mower instead.  TJ, my son, told me to shake his hand and I did so.

That evening the owner contacted me and stated he was interested in a different cheaper ($549) mower which I greatly appreciated. The owner also took some time to wipe down the exterior of the car so that we could get the car cover on it later for transport.

We arranged to come back after school on 4/7. My good friend Rob helped deliver the Lawn Mower in his little Hyundai (it would not fit in my Camry). TJ and I then jacked the MGB up and removed the rear brake drums. The driver side adjuster was seized and ended up twisting as I tried to back it off. The drums eventually broke free. The owner commented that the brake shoes, now visible but destroyed, probably had less than a 1000 miles on them. 

We reattached the rear wheels and with some effort the front discs broke free of the calipers and pads and rolled forward. We made arrangements for a following day pickup and Title transfer.

Check out the Pre-Sale/Purchase Photo Album.