Reliability of 1970s MG

I'm a broke college student who knows nothing about cars
I barely have enough for insurance and gas,
if i bought a 1970s MG would it constantly break down on me?
I want a 1970s or late 60s car that I wouldn't have to sink to much money in, do they exist?

Old British vehicles are utter, utter, utter shit.

Only buy reliable boring cars until you become a mechanic.
Then own at least one reliable car because he who makes his DD a project will often be a pedestrian.

Those cute little cars helped destroy the British auto industry. Just don't. Nothing you can do will make them not junk, though I did see a Harley Evo big twin engine transplanted into one at AMCA Denton.

Those cars broke down constantly when they were new. I was alive then. Have worked on many. Not stupid enough to buy one. Am stupid enough to collect old British motorcycles but none of those are daily drivers.

>I want a 1970s or late 60s car that I wouldn't have to sink to much money in, do they exist?

Not any more. Become a mechanic then go play with them. The vehicle pool is worn the fuck out or quite expensive for desirable cars. "Broke college student" material they are not. They were many decades ago. Anything fun is a fuel hog. Old aircooled VWs are easy to learn to work on but horrible death traps and slow as fuck.

All small cars of the era were shit no matter who made them.

Old trucks from the era were tanks and quite reliable, but you don't want to buy gas for them and anything you can afford will probably need work you can't afford.

If you can take auto shop, do it. It will change your life no matter what you drive.

A car that old that doesn't have at least a few problems will not be cheap or affordable at all.

I recommend you get a 2010 Honda Fit if you're a broke college student.

if you want an older car which won't be a money pit all i can think about is a calssic beetle...

they're about as easy to work on as they come and parts are cheap and plentyful

I second this, a Beetle will still give you problems but they're legendarily cheap and easy to fix. Plus they have a strong community around them who would be willing to help you out. Get one with a Freeway Flyer transmission if you want it to be more highway useable.

Thing is though, MG's still are cheap as hell to own and fix. There's a classic car dealership nearby that constantly has at least 5 different ones of varying condition, so you feasibly could buy a couple as parts cars.

Hey OP. I have a 1973 MGB.

They are not reliable.

You will have to futz with something almost every time you take it out for a drive longer than 30 minutes. The electronics are going to fail. The carburetors will require rebuilding or maintenance very very frequently.

Don't do it. I had my MG in college and thank fuck I didn't HAVE to drive anywhere except maybe once a month.

Basically it's not worth it, if you absolutely NEED a car, get some cheap econobox that is modern. Seriously. A DECENT shape MG will cost you maybe 7k. You can get 2 cars that are 3x as reliable for that much money.

Wait until you graduate and buy one. They are amazing for learning basic mechanics and wiring. Until then, make sure you can get where you need to go.

sames as the marriage fidelity of a gold digger

Not op but I want to get a car to make into a project. I was thinking about a mg bgt
My dad owned one and I see one driving about and I love it. I'd love to have one.

I'd be learning how to do everything on the car as I go too. Eventually I'd like to daily it if possible but I only drive like 10 miles a day.
Thoughts? I'm not broke ether. I'd have a few hundred quid a month to sink into its if need be.

I think I'm gonna go with a 2006 mustang if I have to buy new
Thanks man
I'll check it out, thanks

Looks like MG's are off the table then, thanks for the information

What would a old beetle be like to restore? I saw earlier replies saying they're simple as fuck but a bit of a death trap? What else is there that's ideally cheap and simple to restore, Maybe resto mod

well if it's safety you're concerned about you shouldn't be looking at such old cars altogether

Buy a miata

Sorry bud , I meant it as a question as in why are they a death trap? I'm not Conerved about lack of airbags/ abs ect ect

Go for it as long as you have something else to drive while you complete it.
I would try find one as near finished and rust free as possible though. You dont really want to spend forever fixing things like rust.and buying small parts.

No crash protection. Very lightly built. Shit brakes, High CG.

The MGB is one of the first cars with crumple zones.

They are not 'reliable', but they are very simple designs and as easy to repair as they come.
Basically the same as LADA.

>muh airbags
All old cars are death traps

My dd is a project, and it only fucked up once on me. Maybe your definition of a project car is a bit different.

>tfw bought an MGB for 100$
has issues tho, mostly interior/body

If you want a sports car from that era, get a Datsun 240Z. You don't want to DD an old British Sports car because most of them were from British Leyland, which also means they used Lucas Electrics.

>getting THE fedora weeblord classic

What if you pulled the dizzy and carbs, threw them in the canal, then fitted a modern EFI system?
Then pulled all the electrics for lights etc and replaced them with modern relays and new wires?

My dad drove a 60's MGB during the 70s, in australia.
He was a mechanic so he knew what he was doing.
He has often said they were cheap to run, mechanically simple and he loved it.
There were downsides, even back then. He is slim, 6foot tall and when it rained the roof would leak onto his knee. He had a hardtop for it but rarely used it because unlike a miata, putting it on and off would cause enough flex to break the glass in it.
It had some problem/quirk that made it impossible to start unless you were its owner, which is why when it got stolen he thinks it must have been loaded onto a truck.

are you me?

unfortunately this user pretty much sums it all up. imo they're beautiful but i just have to get over it.