Mark I (1962-1967):

In 1963 overdrive became an option and the following year BMC introduced a smoother running five bearing engine to replace the original three bearing unit, which if slightly less powerful had the benefit of being longer lasting, but these modifications weren’t of much significance compared to the introduction of the MGB GT in 1965. The GT was a concept dear to MG’s managing director John Thornley. He wanted to build a ‘poor man’s Aston Martin’. The team at MG had some difficulty in designing the coupé shape, so they commissioned Pininfarina to do the job. The design that came back was beautiful. Autocar magazine wrote ‘Perhaps one of the prettiest sports coupes ever to leave the BMC drawing boards’ .Unlike the design team at MG, Pininfarina had discarded the B’s windscreen for a taller one. The end result was a car that does not look like an afterthought like the MGA coupé. The only major mechanical difference was the fitting of a Salisbury type rear axle instead of a Banjo type one, thus reducing noise in the cockpit.