Launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1962, the MGB brought MG’s sports car into the modern day, with an attractive slab-sided body, even featuring roll-up windows and a useful trunk, and the latest version of the company’s tried-and-true four-cylinder engine. The model would remain in production for a remarkable 18 years and during that time became the most successful British sports car ever built, with some 515,000 produced and sold all over the world.

Today the MGB remains as popular as when it was new, and survivors, particularly of the early Mark I and Mark II series, are considerably desirable among collectors for their usability and the easy access to replacement parts.

The early Mk II Roadster offered here was ordered new by Joyce Wernsman from the famous British Motor Car Distributors (BMCD) of San Francisco. Ms. Wernsman arranged to pick up the new MGB at the factory on 12 September 1967 and subsequently toured around Europe in it, racking up 900 miles by 20 September 1967. The first service was performed in Munich, Germany, as is stamped into the original owner’s handbook. The car was subsequently exported back to the United States and remained with Ms. Wernsman until her passing in 2004, when the current owner acquired it from her estate.

The car remained in solid original condition with about 73,000 actual miles when purchased. Its new owner, an award-winning restorer and factory-trained British Leyland mechanic, undertook a comprehensive restoration to the highest detail. It included the careful preservation of original components such as the chrome plating, windshield, and windshield frame finishes, testifying to the fine care given it by the original owner. A new black leather interior piped in blue was installed, and the original folding soft top was replaced with a new Robbins top. The all–matching-numbers original mechanical components were fully rebuilt, with no expense spared, and a file of photographs document that the body had never been hit or rusted prior to its bare-metal refinish in the correct color of Mineral Blue. Indeed, the car retains its original aluminum bonnet, as well as the correct silver-finished wire wheels, black vinyl tonneau cover, and optional Blaupunkt AM/FM radio, jack, knock-off hammer, and spare.

Restoration was completed in 2011, and the car has since been driven over 6,000 miles, bringing its total mileage to 79,706 miles at the time of cataloguing. The knowledgeable owner describes it as being fully sorted and the best-driving MGB that he has ever owned, with strong and smooth, dependable performance. It retains its original owner’s manual with metal Protect-O-Plate, the original keys on their factory British Leyland leather key fob, factory brochures, U.K. license plates (from the export delivery), California black license plates, California “pink-slip” title, and the original front bumper badge bar.

This is an exceptional MGB, one of the finest yet offered by RM Sotheby’s.