Description:

1964 FIA MG MGB

CEV205B was built in January 1964, a little over a year after the model was launched at the London Motor Show in late 1962. It is a 1964 model year car with a 3 bearing B series engine and pull door handles (both changed in 1965).

The first owner’s identity is not known however the car was bought by amateur racer Rob Shellard from Potters Bar. The car was converted for racing by Bill Nicholson, probably the pre-eminent private preparer of MGBs at the time. A red glassfibre hard top was added but otherwise the car was outwardly fairly standard and retained its factory BRG colour scheme and wire wheels. It was however a strong performer and Shellard was generally amongst the fastest MGBs.

Shellard raced the car prolifically between 1965 and early 1970 in a variety of club and national races around the country. His most popular events were BARC, BRSCC and MGCC organised events at Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Snetterton, Crystal Palace and Thruxton. From the copies of his original annotated race programmes in the history file we know he entered at least 14 different events in 1968 and 11 in 1969. His exploits in the earlier years are harder to establish due to the lack of publicly accessible records however there are newspaper clippings and photographs from 1967. His own handwritten notes on an entry form evidence that he raced the car as early as 1965. This is corroborated in the reference work “MGB, The Racing Story” written by John Baggott. 

It can therefore be asserted that CEV205B has a period racing history commensurate with its categorisation in FIA Period F (pre-66). 

Shellard sold CEV205B in 1970 when he acquired an ex-works MGB. The buyer was John Cotton, an ex- Mini racer. Cotton was a front running driver on the club scene but had an ignominious beginning with the car at the 1970 Snetterton 3 Hours. Lying 3rd after the first lap he was punted from behind by a Mini that had lost its brakes and which then proceeded to bounce off the bank upside down onto his bonnet. The car was repaired and Cotton raced it for the following two seasons. His highlight was winning the Modsports race at Cadwell Park in 1972.

In 1972 Cotton sold the car to “someone who used it to take his girlfriends to the pub and apparently wrecked it before his first race” (quote taken from an interview that Baggott conducted with Cotton for his book). What happened to CEV205B over the next ten years is not known, however it reappeared in October 1981 when it was MOT’d for the purpose of re-registration with DVLA. It was road registered in January 1982 with the same registration number and chassis number but a different engine number. The new engine number seems to relate to an Austin 1800 rather than an MGB.

The car changed hands in May 1982 and was bought by Graham Spite from Reading. However in April 1984 the car was re-discovered by Rob Shellard and he bought his old car back with the intention of restoring it as a racer. There are bills on file showing that Shellard got quite a long way into this project between 1985 and 1988. Interestingly he chose to restore it in works colours of red and white. However he never finished the car and there are some sales particulars for it in its “90% complete” form written by Shellard in 1992. We can’t be sure but it appears that Shellard died before the car was sold and that it sat dormant in a lock up for the next 10 years. 

The car was bought in December 2002 by David Harding of Stockbridge. There are photographs of the car at this time looking somewhat tired after its long hibernation. Harding appears to have completed Shellard’s restoration to quite a high standard, sticking with the works colour scheme, however there are no bills on file to evidence what was done by whom. The car doesn’t seem to have been active during Harding’s ownership and when it was next sold by Hall & Hall in 2015 they described it as “unused for 20 years”. 

The next owner was Kelvin Jones of Liverpool who commissioned considerable further work on the car including putting it back into its original BRG colour scheme (albeit it with a green rather than red hardtop). There is an invoice for a new race gearbox and paperwork suggesting a new MG Motorsport race engine was fitted. Jones entered the car in Equipe GTS and CSCC Swinging Sixties events in 2016. His 18 year old son Declan, a talented driver, drove the car at Oulton Park and managed a qualifying lap of 2.27 – by far the quickest MGB.

In 2022 the car was purchased by the current vendor by means of an introduction into historic motorsport. Prior to entry in the Equipe Racing 'GTS' and Libre grids, the gearbox was rebuilt by historic racing professionals, Pursuit Racing. Significant sums were spent ensuring that the car was ready to race and a strong performer on the GTS grid in the right hands. 

In the interests of improved reliability and enhanced performance, it was decided early on in the season to have the current engine rebuilt by marque experts, MG Motorsport. The car has been continuously improved and developed over the season with many changes made within the boundaries of the Equipe regulations to the point where it achieved a class podium at Snetterton amongst a competitive field in hands of the owner in their first season of motorsport! Having not ran since 2017, this example completed the 2022 testing and 2023 race season without any collisions or accidents. With an eye to racing in 2024, the gearbox has once again been refreshed over the winter break and the car thoroughly checked over by Pursuit Racing. 

A feature car within John Baggot's work on racing MGB's 'MGB, The Racing Story', the period history of this car only adds to the fascination on what it a well prepared car that has been ran with little expense spared by the very best professionals. The MGB is often recommended as the perfect introductory car to historic motorsport or for experienced racers looking for more 'wheel to wheel' action on the wonderful Equipe or Masters Historic grids. Furthermore, this example could, with little additional work, be converted for time-trial, hill climb or road rally use as it is accompanied by its UK V5C. The car can be viewed at pursuit racing by prior appointment, please contact me for more information on this. 

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