This is the story of how BVM151T returned after 37 years.
Back in 1983 my brother Chris owned a nearly new Mini but hankered after a MGB after he saw them at the Leyland dealership. He’d always loved the shape and the sound they made so he bit the bullet, sold the Mini and bought BVM151T, a 1978 GT in vermillion that was being sold in the West Yorkshire Motor Trader paper (remember that!) by the wife of a local coach firm’s owner, due to her having recently had a child, and so needing something a little more practical.
I was a car mad 13 year old and thought this car was the ‘bees knees’, I travelled far in it, washed it with him and laid under it with him, attending to worn kingpins, brakes and servicing. It what got me really into MGs and interested in a job in the motor trade which I still do to this day.
Chris had an 18 month love/hate affair with it. He loved driving it and covered around 12000 miles, only breaking down once whilst on holiday in the Norfolk Broads but corrosion had already set in and it swallowed up cash needing two resprays. With hindsight, this should have been dealt with properly but they were different times back then when ‘blow overs’ were commonplace. It was a quick temporary fix to get it looking smart again.
Chris on holiday in the Norfolk Broads in 1984
Financial constraints led to it being sold, very regrettably in the late summer of 1984 to a car sales lot in Leeds, never to be seen again, or so we thought.
As the years past I became an MG owner myself, owning and restoring both Midgets, MGBs and later MGFs but that first vermilion GT that started it all was never far from our thoughts. Was it still around? Adverts were placed in MG car and owners club mags requesting information as to its whereabouts but nothing came and we kept a close eye on the classifieds but it never appeared. In 2010 Chris bought another vermilion GT and I continued the search, by this time now using social media and various online MG groups. Still nothing.
In June 2021 I was browsing a group’s selling site and caught site of a vermilion GT. It looked familiar with it having chrome wheel embellishers and a glass sunroof but thought no more about it until I saw the part of the registration that was visible on the photo… BV. Surely it couldn’t be? A message was sent and the seller confirmed it was indeed BVM151T. I didn’t have to consider my next move, within the day I’d bought it and arranged transport back to Halifax.
The reunion with Chris was a surprisingly emotional one, after 37 years we were all back together! It needed a few jobs doing in order to use, these I did and I used it for the remainder of the summer. It’s been stored for approximately the last ten years so the paintwork isn’t great but it is very solid. My plan is to further improve it and enjoy it this year and we’ve booked both cars into the MGB 60 celebrations at Gaydon this September. I’d love to fill in the gaps in its history if anyone out there has any information!
Cheers Ady
