So, what was happening in 1966
The average price of a house was £3,620 - the equivalent today of £60,848
A gallon of leaded petrol was 5 shillings or 25 new pence
The average new car cost £950 – in today’s money that’s £15,968
The average annual wage was £891 – that would earn you £14,976 today
A pint of beer would have set you back an average of 2 shillings, or 10p, which is the equivalent today to around £1.75
And over in Abingdon production of the world’s best-selling sports-car, the MGB was in full swing.
In 1966 we watched the first episode of the science-fiction television series Star Trek and at the cinema the films Thunderball and Dr. Zhivago were released.
Miniskirts are all the rage
A great song and a hit in 1966
We listened to The Beatles, The Mamas and the Papas, The Monkees - I'm a Believer, The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations, The Rolling Stones and Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence. The Mindbenders – Groovy Kind of Love – which reached No. 2 in the UK in January 1966.
It has been argued by Ray Connolly of the Daily Mail that 1966 was “the most glorious year to be a Brit, with Twiggy, the best Beatles album, a World Cup win - and a nation bathed in optimism”.
However the big event in 1966 had to be that the MGB with chassis number G-HN3/87255 was built.
The Abingdon factory-log records that Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 March 1966 were the build dates for the MGB with Chassis No. G-HN3/87255; Engine No. 18GB-U-H/39011; and Body No. 80813. During these two days of cool unsettled weather a star was born.
Records show that the car was built for the Home market, and finished in Old English White with red upholstery. Destination: an MG Ltd. dealer.
Despatched from the factory on the 6 April 1966 and delivered on the same cold, foggy day to Bletchley Motors Ltd., Aylesbury Street, Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire.
© Bletchley Heritage Trust
© Francis Frith Collection
The car was first registered on Friday 15 April 1966, acquiring the Buckinghamshire registration number OPP 199D.
Which means that the MGB was christened on the same day that Time Magazine first used the phrase Swinging London. Significant or what?
A Bermuda hardtop in Old English White had been fitted by David Dunn proprietor of Bletchley Motors Ltd and the MGB became their demonstrator model, and was also occasionally seen around the area being used for shopping trips by Mrs Dunn.
Advert for the Bermuda Hardtop, love it or hate it, no-one is left indifferent.
