1967-69 MGC Roadster

by Gary Anderson

The introduction of the MGC is a tribute to how royally confused British Motor Holdings had become by the mid-’60s. The Austin-Healey, introduced in 1952, was getting long in the tooth by 1964, even with its new convertible top and roll-up side windows. Marketing managers also recognized that there was a slot in the market for a car that would be faster than the MGB, but with the same comforts. In typical fashion, the company ended up with the worst of all worlds. BMH designed a new six-cylinder engine from scratch to replace the “three-litre”—actually 2,912cc—straight six in the Healey, to be installed in an upgraded MGB, which was also to badged as the “Austin-Healey MkIV.” (Ironically, Triumph—which would be merged into BMH in 1968 to create British Leyland—was at the same time designing its own completely separate six-cylinder engine for the GT6.) However, when Donald and Geoffrey Healey learned that the new car would be cosmetically identical to the MGB,...