Costello MGB

[chevronb37]

Chaps,

My father is toying with purchasing a classic to get some oil under his fingernails after years of driving modern BMWs. Have any of you guys ever had a Costello car? Seems to be a better solution that the factory BV8. Are there many still knocking around? Would it offer a reasonable alternative to a TR5 or TR6?

Many thanks,

Swifty

[lowdrag]

Had one back in the 1970's when they were something special. A great roadster with the "soup plate" fibre glass bonnet. If he can find one then go for one but I reckon they are like hen's teeth these days. One of the magazines did an article on them recently but for the life of me I can't think which one but probably C & S C or Octane.

[BlueCello]

There was one in C&SC not too long ago, and IIRC the article said that the number of Roadsters left was in single digits, not sure about the GT's though.

Edited by BlueCello on Friday 31st October 21:17

[RichB]

As has been said the Costello BV8 is held in higher regard than the MGBGT V8. I nearly bought one once but even back then they were priced higher then the MG cars, in the end I bought an MGCGT, which I didn't regret, indeed I loved it, despite the criticism from the motoring press at the time. If my memory serves me right the Costello was slightly faster but of course these days performance of either would be down to how good the engine is and anyway could be addressed if it was an issue with modern ignition, cams and induction kits. Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it being a Costello unless absolute exclusivity is your Dad's particular thing, and go more on overall condition of the car and improve it from there. Finally the Costello could be had in either Roadster or Gt whilst of course the BL version only came as a GT. Oh and IMO they are totally different beasts to TR5s and 6's...

[Hooli]

i believe the reason the costellos were quicker is they used the high comp V8 & the offical V8 car was the low comp LR version of the V8.

[Pigeon]

Hooli said:

i believe the reason the costellos were quicker is they used the high comp V8 & the offical V8 car was the low comp LR version of the V8.

That rings a bell with me too...

[AJAX50]

I notice you're interested in the Deltic engine, the father of an old school friend of mine designed it.

Pigeon said:

Hooli said:

i believe the reason the costellos were quicker is they used the high comp V8 & the offical V8 car was the low comp LR version of the V8.

That rings a bell with me too...

[chevronb37]

Cheers for the info, chaps. There was a recent article in Classic Cars about the Costello cars, but you can't beat the advice of people who own or run these cars. I don't know how much the exclusivity bothers him, I think he just wants a nice burbling engine and RWD. I keep trying to persuade him to buy an Elan, but that's another story...