Yesterday @JohnBloom saw that I had an interest in MG cars and shared a neat video of an MGB he used to own. That reminded me of a unique video we have of our 1966 MGB roadster. This is a car that I found for my father-in-law in a Sacramento Bee classififieds ad in 1990. The car was in a junkyard but rightly considered by the yard to be too good and compete to scrap. He purchased the car and brought it home to Southern California where it sat as he had switched his focus to completly restore the 1934 MG PA I previously posted a video of. The PA got restored and enjoyed while the 'B' sat in the driveway. Then his brain tumor returned in mass and car projects were no longer an option. After he passed in 2006 the car was bequeathed to my wife and I.
Our goal was to restore it as her dad would have wanted it to be. Make a it fun driver and a car you will be proud to drive. The engine was hopped up as might have been done in period and the rest of the car was brought back to showroom standards.By 2009 we were done and enjoying the car regularly.
A good friend and fellow MG owner was contacted by an agent looking for a green MGB for a music video. Luckliy he did not have one but knew a guy who did. A few phone calls and we had an agreement to rent out the car for a music video of some kind.
The deal was that they would send a flatbed to pick up the car and deliver it to the the set at the Getty Vila in Malibu CA. We were welcome to come to the shoot and watch the action. They only planned to use the car for the morning as it was only scheduled to be in one scene. I kept my Jr High Shool son home for the day so he could join me for the fun. We parked in the lot for the flim shoot and took the shuttle up to the Getty Vila. After identifing ourselves as the guys with the car we were told that our cell phones could not on us while were were on set. Hmmm what did we get ourselves into?
After we secured the phones in our truck we were told that the music video was for an upcoming Beyonce album. In fact this was part of a historic event. No artist had ever released all of the music videos all at once for an albumn on one day before. At the time this was a big deal but I was none the wiser. I even remember asking my teenage son who Beyonce was.
The day started out out with the car being brought in front of the villa so Beyonce's body double could drive up in the car. This wasn't part of our agreement but they were willing to compensate me for the trouble. I also needed to teach her stand in how to drive a stick and she and the car did great. Opening scene done as we watched closely from behind the camera. The director quickly realized that the car would be needed in the afternoon for a scene with Beyonce , would we stay? You bet!
I remember the tribal dancers you see in the video were in line ahead of us in full dress at lunch and boy were they intimidating, that was until they spoke with their English accent 😎.
And now the video- enjoy!
Here’s what we started with
That is just a great story! The car looks fabulous. I love series 1 MGB's. Because the MGA is so sexy, the B gets overlooked, but a nice series 1 is a fabulous car. If they didn't make so many and they weren't so affordable back in the day, they'd all be priced more like a late 60's Duetto.
Good dad for taking your son along to experience it. I hope you kept him away from those girls.
Impressive restoration on that car! Makes me want to buy mine back or get another one.
Wow. Fantastic Chris! I came very close to buying my friends MGB around 1983. He was a big dude and couldn't really fit. His car had the chrome bumpers too but I don't remember the year. Had not run in some years. We just never struck a deal. A real nice alternative to the much more expensive and complicated Jaguars.
These are fantastic little cars if you maintain them. If you don't, well...
Great story. Thanks for posting!!!
Love the video and the car.
When I was in college I dated a girl with a 69/70 ish MGB. We used it to go off campus one night in a rain storm. Got about a mile away and the entire car just went dead. Walked back to campus in the rain. Next day I went with some buddies and it started right up. Lucas Prince of Darkness? I don't even know if the car had Lucas electronics but that was a fun experience.