YB 0251 — the first YB 

by Ted Gardner

It had been thought that the very first YB built following on from the earlier Y had been lost many years ago. However with the assistance of the DVLA we were able to find and make contact with the present owner of YB 0251, Gilbert Vickers who lives in Kent, UK.

Arrangements were made to pay a visit and view the car so accordingly in mid-January Peter Arnell and Ted Gardner drove to Kent to meet Mr. Vickers who had owned the car for about 37 years. When purchased all that time ago the previous owners had said it had undergone a rebuild, however even on the way home with it "problems" were encountered.

Clearly an MG person, Mr. Vickers also has two TFs and an MGB although the YB hasn't been on the road for a while. Apart from the wheels all other components including the engine seem to be the originals and there was a nice touch on the dashboard where there is the suppliers plate.

The engine compartment looked very clean and the car was fitted with the earlier voltage regulator. We were not sure about the white colour as being original because Peter detected signs of either possibly Silver Streak Grey or Sun Bronze in some corners, but as the light was not too good we could not be positive.

The car had the later front brakes and also an YB hypoid rear axle and an anti-roll bar on the front.

We left Mr. Vickers after a pleasant chat and tea having had an interesting afternoon and hoping we may have stirred an enthusiasm to get the car back on the road and enjoy it, although there are quite a few weekends work lurking there. An invitation was extended to attend the 60th Anniversary Spring Run in May 2007 so hopefully if you see a red TF turn up or an MGB it may be the owner of the first YB.

YB 0251
Car number YB / 0251	Left side of engine	Right side of engine
Right hand side	Original dash board ...	... complete with original dealer plate!
The last ever MG YB is also featured in period photographs.