V8 Column for September 2006
published in Safety Fast!, the award winning monthly magazine of the MG Car Club

BRG 5008 appeared on the V8 classified ads webpage in August. (Photo: Gary Finch)

Costello V8 Roadsters are relatively rare and particularly so in good condition. BRG 5008 (GHN5202408) is a 1970 model converted by Ken Costello in 1971. The British Racing Green finish with a full chrome grille and black leather interior make it one of the most attractive V8 Roadsters seen for a while. The car had been owned for the last nine years by Gary Finch's late father who had been a very active V8 enthusiast in the Epsom area. With only four owners from new the car, he had maintained this fine example regardless of cost. It had undergone a bare metal rebuild around 1991 and according to Gary "drives and sounds superb"! It also came with a comprehensive lever-arch folder of history including the original bill of sale from BMC and receipt for the Costello conversion. The car was featured in BBC2's "The Cars the Star" in the late 1990s and by of course it has the useful additional feature of tax exempt status - something many Factory V8 owners are sad to have missed by less than a year until a miserly Chancellor of the Exchequer halted the annual rolling feature of that concession in 1997!

REFURBISHING A WEBASTO SUNSHINE ROOF

A V8BB posting in August asked if any member had experience of refurbishing a Webasto Folding Sunroof or dealing with R&S Coachbuilts in Blackheath in Southeast London who are believed to have taken over the supply and distribution of this classic roof from Tudor Webasto?

Bob Owen responded promptly saying he had a Webasto fitted to his MGBGTV8 by Coachbuilts at Blackheath four years ago. His car did not have a sunshine roof previously and Coachbuilts did a very good job, fitting an ash frame inside the roof and renewing all the headlining. After some initial stiffness, which they warned Bob about (if easy to start with it will be no good later after a few days in the hot sun), he found it has been easy to operate and has had no leaks. Bob commented "Their service was excellent" and recommended their inclusion in the V8LIFELINE of recommended specialist V8 suppliers and traders. They can be contacted on 0208 858 4312 or at www.tudorwebasto.com which is neat website.

Where a sunroof has been fitted to the car from new, it will have been on the car for about 20 years so the vinyl outer cover can become brittle and start to split near the edges, and the stitching which held the tensioning wires in place can start to disintegrate.