MGB Register Forum

Jim from Illogan Cornwall here .... having joined the club thought it appropriate to introduce myself and the car.

I recently acquired UDL228K , a '71 Roadster with the 'infamous' recessed grill . Have always hankered after a 60s/70s roadster and being retired now , decided to tick another item off my 'Bucket List'

The car , originally registered back in September 1971 on the Isle of Wight, eventually found it’s way down to Cornwall , where, over a period between April 1999 and may 2000 it underwent a full body / interior / mechanical rebuild by Tim Kelly and his team at Tim Kelly MG Specialists of St. Agnes . UDL was already on Register , number 7643.

During this restoration it was also repainted in Old English White and retrimmed in Red – a colour combination seen on the Mk2 roadsters in 1967/8. Prior to restoration, it was finished in Flame Red with Black Interior although it actually left the factory in Bedouin with Autumn Leaf Interior.

I intend to compile a 'History File' in due course inc. details of all previous owners etc when I shall hopefully establish when it entered this 'Intermediate Colour' period.

Since acquisition 'UDL' has had a remote Servo , Electronic Ignition and a Revotec Fan fitted and is now ready for enjoying a long hot summer on the country lanes of Cornwall.

Welcome to the MGB Forum Jim.
It's good to see a recessed grill MGB, so many have had their original grills replaced by the all chrome version, which I think is a pity. Even rarer is its original colour of Bedouin, although I must say it looks splendid in Old English White. My mark one BGT was purchased from Nigel Kendall in Truro, who is an active member of the MGCC with a Midget. Maybe your paths will cross someday. Happy Summer motoring. Regards, Graham

So nice to see an original recessed grille surviving, your car must have been built very close to mine, a bedouin beige roadster, registered in August 1971, might have even travelled down the assembly line pretty close together, it looks very nice in old english white but bedouin beige is such a rare colour it's a pity it was changed long before your ownership. You'll have a lot of fun, they're great cars to drive.
Happy MGB motoring............[attachment=0]IMGP4624.JPG[/attachment]

Thanks Graham / David. I too am a fan of the recessed grill , in fact just had the one on the car refurbished as per previous photo and have a couple of 'tlc required' spare ones !

I may well meet Nigel in due course Graham - I'm attending a few of the Cornish Shows over the summer.

Yes David , our cars may well have met each other at Abingdon sometime during their build process . UDL's Vin is 222973 and car was built between 9-14 October 1970 before being despatched to Wadhams Ltd in Southsea on 19 October 1970. Eventually registered across the water on IOW some 10 months later - I'll find out a lot more in due course when DVLA details of all previous owners etc are received at which point I'll commence a full History File. Your roadster does look superb in it's Bedouin finish.

Hi Jim,

our "young" lady was assembled 13-14th July 1971 and was despatched to the dealer 19th July
registered about a month later. HUK's vin is 254242.. You'll have great fun finding out the history. HUK was only owned by a father and son before we bougt her in 2008, 49500 genuine miles then, hardly used for 20 years before we bought her, parked in a carpeted heated garage, 700 miles in those 20 years, all original, resprayed in original colour in 1982 after a minor road accident..

Lets hope we have some pleasant summer weather to enjoy our MG.s... Thanks for the compliment she's pretty good, there's only around 12 or so Bedouin beige cars on the register, so pretty rare.

Hello Jim,
I have only just (yesterday) found your comments from about a year ago about UDL228K, so I hope you are still active on here!
I have attached a photo which I hope is of interest to you. I took it in 1974 or 1975 and it shows UDL228K parked in my parents' front garden in Ryde on the Isle of Wight; at that time the car was owned by a friend of my brother.
Its good to know its still on the road and I hope it is giving you much pleasure.
Regards
Philip