Photo: Mattel
The MGB may not be one of the most globally famous cars out there, but if the owner of one of these babies has it his way, the British-made sports car might become commonplace in households around the world as… a Hot Wheel.
The MGC is a moniker that was all the craze in Europe when it was produced by the British Motor Corporation in the 1960s, and over the following decades (until 1995) by British Leyland and the Rover Group.
About half a million of them rolled off the assembly lines during all these years. Many exist to this day, but none of them is as insane as the one called in some circles B-EAST.
The car is an MGB of the GT variety. It was produced in 1979 by British Leyland, and packs under the hood a 3.0-litre Jaguar engine. It's quite a nimble beast, being capable of reaching a top speed of 148 mph (238 kph), and its acceleration time from standstill to 60 mph is noted at 4.2 seconds.
It's not the above that makes this MGB special, but the way it was customized over the past eight years by a guy named Michael Wallhead. The name might sound familiar, and that's probably because Wallhead is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the fastest… wheelie bin.
What does that mean? Well, back in May 2022 this guy climbed inside a motorized trash bin and sped across some tarmac at speeds of up to 88.344 kph (54.894 mph).
Back to our story, the same individual is responsible for the way the MGB GT presents itself today, with all sorts of parts cannibalized from wherever chance arose: the drive shaft comes from a Range Rover, the axle from a Reliant Scimitar, the throttle bodies from a Triumph motorcycle, and the brakes from a Nissan Silvia. Inside, the sports car comes with jeans for upholstery.
Weird as it sounds the MGB was part of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour UK last weekend, fighting a small army of 274 competitors (including from famous brands like Jaguar, Ford, Volkswagen, and Skoda) to have a shot at becoming a 1:64 scale die-cast model. And it won, moving one step closer to be forever immortalized as a toy car.
Before it gets to do that, though, the car will have to face more competitors in early November in the Legends Tour Semi-Final, and later the same month the Global Finale. If it manages to place ahead of the entire competition, the car will enter the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends collection and be made as a scale model.
We'll keep an eye out on the adventures MGB is facing in the near future and report back if it managed or not to fulfill its dream.
About half a million of them rolled off the assembly lines during all these years. Many exist to this day, but none of them is as insane as the one called in some circles B-EAST.
The car is an MGB of the GT variety. It was produced in 1979 by British Leyland, and packs under the hood a 3.0-litre Jaguar engine. It's quite a nimble beast, being capable of reaching a top speed of 148 mph (238 kph), and its acceleration time from standstill to 60 mph is noted at 4.2 seconds.
It's not the above that makes this MGB special, but the way it was customized over the past eight years by a guy named Michael Wallhead. The name might sound familiar, and that's probably because Wallhead is the holder of the Guinness World Record for the fastest… wheelie bin.
What does that mean? Well, back in May 2022 this guy climbed inside a motorized trash bin and sped across some tarmac at speeds of up to 88.344 kph (54.894 mph).
Back to our story, the same individual is responsible for the way the MGB GT presents itself today, with all sorts of parts cannibalized from wherever chance arose: the drive shaft comes from a Range Rover, the axle from a Reliant Scimitar, the throttle bodies from a Triumph motorcycle, and the brakes from a Nissan Silvia. Inside, the sports car comes with jeans for upholstery.
Weird as it sounds the MGB was part of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour UK last weekend, fighting a small army of 274 competitors (including from famous brands like Jaguar, Ford, Volkswagen, and Skoda) to have a shot at becoming a 1:64 scale die-cast model. And it won, moving one step closer to be forever immortalized as a toy car.
Before it gets to do that, though, the car will have to face more competitors in early November in the Legends Tour Semi-Final, and later the same month the Global Finale. If it manages to place ahead of the entire competition, the car will enter the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends collection and be made as a scale model.
We'll keep an eye out on the adventures MGB is facing in the near future and report back if it managed or not to fulfill its dream.
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