Driving A Ford V8-Swapped Safari MGB Will Have You Thinking Outside The Pavement

The license plate on this jacked-up MGB says everything you might need it to, because FIVEOMG is both a portmanteau of the five-liter engine swapped into this car and the fact that it’s an MG. Meanwhile, the driving experience will definitely have you saying “Oh my god!” at least five times between starting and getting to your destination. With a Ford 302 under the hood, sourced from a 1997 Ford Explorer SUV, this MG makes use of 215 all-American horsepower, and it travels through a Tremec T5 manual transmission. That five-liter heater has more than double the 95 ponies this Morris Garages chrome-bumper B would have had brand new from its 1.8-liter inline-four. 

Safari everything is the mood of the automotive enthusiasm world right now, with seemingly everyone lusting for the freedom and accessibility provided by an overlanding sports car. There’s only one problem, they’re all pretty crap to drive. If you want to spin this much tire on a steel wheel, and still have the ability to crawl around in the desert, however, you’re going to need as much power and torque as you can muster. I would be genuinely surprised if this monster truck MG is all that much quicker from 0 to 60 than the 11 seconds it would have run in stock form. It probably sounds better, though!

Bring A Trailer

The seller of this MG apparently acquired a basket case example in 2018 and set about getting it jacked up off the ground with front subframe spacers and flipping the axle underneath the rear leaf springs. The rear axle has been replaced with a Toyota truck unit, narrowed to fit between the MGB quarter panels. The front hubs are Mustang-sourced. The giant 7.0-15″ Power King Extra Traction tires rub the fenders, so if you want to do something with this car that isn’t just sitting around looking cool, you’ll have to either cut the fenders or install shorter tires.

I don’t know why, but every junky old British car I have ever driven came with a whole bunch of wires hanging out from under the dashboard. What do they operate? Where do they go? I’m not sure anyone will ever know the answers to these questions. Either way, this doesn’t look like a particularly nice interior to sit in, and the amount of rust in the car’s rear quarters kind of scares me, but maybe with a little bit of work, it could be passable. 

Bring A Trailer

This MGB is arguably more reliable than a stock MGB, but really its four-cylinder engine was rarely the source of B’s downfall. Frequently these machines were sidelined by abysmal English electrics and tin worm. This one appears to have thus far avoided burning to the ground with a faulty ground, but the latter source of frustration has fully set into the car’s metalwork, and once the rot arrives, it takes a whole lot to get it to go away. 

As of this writing the car is selling on Bring A Trailer at no reserve with a single $1 bid. I doubt the Price-Is-Right-style “One Dollar, Bob” bid will hold, but it looks likely to me that this 5-liter V8 MGB will trade hands for very little money, and the seller will be glad to have gotten rid of it. Time will tell how this car will affect its new owner.