Bodo Aden - Germany. 3500cc Mk I GT.
In Bodo's own words: "In 1998 I heard from a friend of mine that there was someone living in my neighbourhood who had an MGB GT for sale. At first I was not really interested, but then I was told that the car had a V8 engine, and was likely to go around corners rather quicker than my Frogeye Sprite. When I bought the car it came with an original Costello sales brochure, but at this stage I didn't know anything about Ken Costello or his conversion work, or about the history of Buick/Rover engines and their importance and linkage to MG.
According to the papers that came with the car it was built on May 17th 1972 and it was delivered to Kennings Car Mart in Ealing, London. I have not found out yet when the engine transplant was done, but maybe one of my fellow Costello owners can help here. From 1972 to 1983 the car had 8 owners one of them being Clive Donald Chapman in Brighton and another, Klaus Herr in nearby Hove. In 1986 the car was exported to Germany, possibly by Klaus.
The asking price was very low and after having bought the car I saw why; the car must have been left outside for the last few decades and at one stage had endured a spectacular hail storm which had left dents in the body as big as a two pound coin (see picture above). So what I had bought was a rotten body with a drive train and chassis components worth saving.
So it had to be a complete re-shelling job which I performed using an inexpensive lhd rubber bumper donor car on which someone had attempted to graft 'Sebring' wing conversions which apparently came off a Ford Transit! So the job wasn't as easy as I had hoped. A lot of details had to be taken from the old body; radiator location bracket, engine mounts, front part of the frame, the complete spring hanger area, bumper fixings, etc.
I also had to deal with converting the car from a rhd to a lhd, sourcing an lhd steering column that needed to be shortened and adjusted, changing some things around in the engine bay, using two wiring looms to create one new one, and so on. Of course there were also some of the expected tasks like welding the sills, lower wings and repairing the Costello water pot (the lower pipe going into the pot was a socket at one time as you can see on the picture).
After four years of work the car is almost ready to hit the road for the first time. There are still some things that need to be done like fitting the windscreen, fettling in the engine bay and the installation of a Webasto sliding roof.
I think the car will be back on the road by the end of 2011 - fingers crossed." We hope so too :) (LW).
Michael Morris - Northamptonshire, UK. 3500cc Mk II GT.
Michael's green GT has been in dry storage since the mid 1980's and a full restoration is planned. Today it is more or less in one piece - in a loft, and as you can see, under rather a lot of dust!
Some 20 years ago, Michael and his friends all lived near Silverstone and were car fanatics to a man - spending a good number of weekends racing and marshalling in the 'good old days', as Michael calls them. His youthful ambition was to own a high performance car.
Eventually, he was faced with the choice of buying either a Ferrari or a Costello, both second-hand in about 1976, but his father 'requested' that he buy the MG because he didn't think he could afford the maintenance on the Ferrari! This example of Maranello's best then needed a new clutch and some suspension components. However, as he was friendly with the people who made Ferrari clutches, Michael later argued (fruitlessly and unconvincingly) that he could have afforded to run the Ferrari anyway.
So the Costello it was, and it was regularly used both as a road and race car until the mid 80s. In this dual role, it undoubtedly coped better than the Ferrari would have done.
Thanks to Michael's son Jonathan for providing the details. He is keen to see the car return to its former glory and to have a chance to drive to drive his Dad's Costello!
Richard White - Wimbledon, UK. 3500cc Mk I GT.
At present Richard White's car is under wraps in the drive, as the photograph shows. He says that this is for the summer only as it is normally in the garage. At the moment he is otherwise occupied re-spraying his rather more prosaic everyday transport - a VW Type 2 Camper. The Costello should hopefully be back on the road later this year. It will soon wear a new coat of paint and will have had new sills and doors. The bonnet is now a standard MGB-type item, but the rest of the car appears more or less original.
As the black and white photo above shows, this was one of the very early cars on which Ken experimented with various bonnet designs. It is even earlier than Paula Summers' car. The air scoop bonnet was another one-off, fabricated in metal before Ken finally decided on the more familiar single bulge in glass fibre. Kelvin Brodie's archive photo, taken from 'A Tiger in MG's Clothing' (Sunday Times, July 25th 1971) clearly shows the additional projections added to clear the dashpots of the twin SUs on the original P6 inlet manifold.
Of the approximately 225 cars built by Ken and his team, more than 60 have been identified and their owners contacted. How many others remain to be discovered we simply don't know. Browse the collection of GT and Roadster restoration projects below to learn more about the various projects being undertaken. In time, all of them will eventually be up and running and back on the road where they belong.
Owners are encouraged to submit updates and photographs to the site, detailing progress on their projects. Contributors may then learn from each other and can also participate in technical discussions on the Forum.
Stefan Wagner - Frankfurt, Germany. 3500cc Mk I GT.
Stefan owns a 1972 Costello GT which is now based in Frankfurt. It was his dream to own one since shortly after buying first his car, an MGB Roadster. Motivated by this, he ordered some back issues of old motoring magazines, one featuring a story about four different MGBs - including a Costello. That's where he first really learned about Costello V8s and came to appreciate their rarity and desirability.
Some time later, he attended an exhibition for V8 cars in a local town. The show was devoted mainly to American metal, but there was this British racing green GT coupe standing there with a strange bulge on the bonnet - an MGB GT V8 Costello! Stefan enquired after the asking price (then 35,000 German Marks) but in those days this was far too much for him. Subsequently, the same car was seen driving around locally, having been re-sprayed 'cream orange' and fitted with Wolfrace alloy wheels, lowered suspension and Sebring front and back wings. Stefan was captivated by the sound of the big V8, and doubly determined to fulfil that dream.
Some 10 years later, whilst travelling to Hamburg on business, he saw an advert for an MGBGT Costello for sale in the classifieds of a classic car magazine. Amazingly, this turned out to be the same car he'd coveted ten years before, though by then it had been re-sprayed blue. Stefan was later successful in purchasing the car, for which he then paid 10k Euros, before putting it back on the road. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the tuned engine (producing some 200 bhp) had damaged the original MGB 4-speed gearbox. As it was then undriveable, the previous owner had already modified the transmission tunnel to create space for a 5-speed Triumph TR 7 (LT77) gearbox and put the engine with the 'new' gearbox back in place.
Stefan has now concentrated on refining the gearbox installation and ensuring all the running gear is working correctly. It has been quite a task. Welding has also been required on two wings and new doors and a boot lid are required. The Costello badge is still present, but now attached to the dashboard, and the bonnet bulge and the egg box grille identify the car as a Mk I.
Steve Wright - Solihull, UK. 3500cc Mk I GT.
Steve was aware of this 1972 GT lying unused in a neighbour's garage for some 10 years before actually seeing it. The neighbour was moving to live in France and Steve only realised that the car was a V8 some 3 days before France beckoned. Only on the odd occasion when his garage door was open was the GT partially revealed, covered by a sheet with only a chrome bumper visible. The neighbour had originally intended to take the car to France with him, but knowing of Steve's interest in cars, sold it to him as a non-runner the day before he moved, having been deterred by the high cost of transporting it across the Chanel. He had long since stopped using the car due to a running problem he couldn't cure, and then just lost interest. It was last on the road in 1990, though he had owned the car since 1982 up until Steve took it on in 2005.
A colleague told Steve that he thought this was a rare car, and recommended that he investigate its history. After obtaining a copy of the original log book from the DVLA, Steve discovered the Rover V8 engine installation was stamped as a Costello, as shown in amendments dated November 1973. The original owner of the car was a Mr. Eric Reynolds of Sutton Coldfield and it was under his ownership that it had become a Costello Mk I.
Hopefully the car will be on the road in late 2009. Steve has already rebuilt the engine and gearbox and has commenced work on the body, having purchased a replica eggbox grille. The car has the original P5/P6 Rover V8 engine, with fabricated exhaust manifolds and slightly modified block to clear a standard MGB starter motor. The photo shows the engine is now up and running on Steve's own test bench. More pictures are in the Gallery, and we look forward to hearing this old stager fire up again soon.
Oliver Marchant - Hampshire, UK. 3500cc Mk I GT.
Oliver's generous father bought him a disassembled Costello GT for his 12th birthday so that he could 'learn about cars'. Oliver has been slowly rebuilding it over the last 5 years and hopes to have it ready in 2010 after he has turned 17. Rees Brothers carried out the body shell restoration very nicely - and their website now carries some photos of the work in progress.
Oliver has rebuilt the engine himself, though he is unsure if it is the original Buick Special 215 V8, fitted with Powermax flat-top Pistons, as one of the original Costello Engineering invoices says. The engine was also fitted with a Mallory Distributor, Crane Cam and a Holley Carburettor, though Oliver has now changed this to a Weber 500 Carburettor, having kept the old unit. He has also had the original radiator header tank copied in stainless steel.
As the car had been stripped down when he got it, he had a bit of a struggle fitting the new wiring loom because there was nothing for him to follow. Another problem was that the original exhaust manifolds were missing and so he bought a pair of Leyland MGB V8 manifolds, but the right hand one fouls the steering column. If anyone has any advice to offer on this, Oliver would be pleased to hear it. The rear Costello badge is also missing and he'd like to know if anyone has managed to have replicas made? **
The car was registered in April 1972 as LLP 265K and was later raced under the number 96 in the MG BCV8 Championships in 1983, fitted with a roll bar, front and rear spoilers and rear crash bar. In May 1977 it had already covered 53,000 miles when it was sold to a Mr. C. Wooldridge of Southampton.
Back in April 1978, according to the paperwork that came with the car, Ken Costello charged £56 to rebuild the gearbox and to disable the overdrive in 3rd gear. By 1983 it was owned by a Mr. S. D. Meech, and then in 1989 by Mr D. Mitchell.
Oliver attended the Costello Gathering in September 2009, but the car wasn't quite ready and so arrived on a trailer. However, there's no rush as he needs to learn to drive and get his licence first!
** Answers to Oliver's queries can be found on the Technical page.
Judith Goertz - Fontainebleau, France. 3500cc Mk I GT.
Judith purchased this car from Dave Fitzpatrick in early 2009, subsequently taking it with her to her home near Fontainebleau in France. The car is Harvest Gold, and was supplied in 1971 and registered on November 2nd of that year. The delivery papers are with the car as it was supplied from Abingdon. The first owner was believed to be a director of Patrick Motors in Birmingham, with a second keeper in 1975, and Dave as the third owner.
Piranha contactless ignition was fitted in place of the normal points in the distributor, a glass fibre front spoiler had been fitted, and door mounted mirrors replaced the original wing mounted ones, but other than that, the car is original (to the best of Dave's knowledge).
Dave bought the car in 1978 with around 16k miles, and used it regularly until 1985, when it was taken off the road at 35k miles and garaged in favour of a motorbike and a larger family car. The engine had a full strip and rebuild, and a couple of body panels were replaced. It had been garaged since then, and was road legal, running, and driven into the garage when it was laid up.
When Judith acquired it, the car was cosmetically challenged, but otherwise in remarkably good condition considering its lack of use. She has now begun a full restoration having reallocated funds that had been split between two factory MGB V8s, a Triumph Spitfire, an old Mercedes and an even older BMW, an American Ford V8 van, an old jaguar XJ Coupe and some London Taxis!
The engine and gearbox are now in the process of being removed and the interior stripped down. Judith has her fingers crossed that the engine, having done very few miles since a rebuild, is not now seized, since it will not turn over. Putting the car on a ramp revealed a lot of rust which happily turned out to be superficial but that the exhaust system was completely rusted out. The braking system is going to require work too. In fact work is the key word in this project, before the car gets a full re-spray.
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Paula Summers - Torquay, UK. 3500cc Mk I GT.
Paula's story goes back a few years, to the time when she used the services of the late Trevor Taylor at his garages in Mitcham, Surrey (UK) to repair her '76 MGB roadster. Paula then purchased a second ('74) roadster as someone nearby wanted rid of it. She obviously had the bug.
Trevor had a red Costello V8 in his garage that was a nut and bolt rebuild - possibly a US shell import - and he used to tell visitors to take a long hard look at this car, because 'it will be a long time before you see another one like it!' It had been in his garage for many years and for some reason the owner never came back for it, but Trevor carried on and had it 95% finished it before, sadly, he died. The owner of the garage (next door) took the V8 in part payment of rent owed on the garage. It was then left in a nearby undertakers' yard for a year or so in the open air.
Paula took her red roadster back to Mitcham for an MOT and the new occupant of Trevor's garage asked if she was interested in buying the Costello. She said yes on the spot and having speedily sold one of her two roadsters, bought the Costello. That was in November 2001, and it has been in dry storage ever since. The car needs a little work to get it on the road, but is in otherwise mint condition, believed to have only done 1.8 miles (yes, just under 2 miles!) since Trevor test drove it.
The double-bubble bonnet (seen in the picture, left) was actually a one-off whilst Ken and his colleagues experimented with different clearances for the carburettors, before finally settling on the distinctive single bulge of the Mk I, twin SU version. Paula's car could well be the finest example of an original Costello remaining anywhere - apart from the non-original Cosmic wheels. She has replaced the missing eggbox grill with one of our approved replicas.
Peter Roscoe - Dorset, UK. 3500cc Mk I Roadster.
Information is expected soon on Peter's roadster; meanwhile more pictures of this lovely car can be seen in the Gallery.
Richard Read - Adelaide, Australia. 3500cc 1972 Mk I Roadster.
This car is the second Costello in Australia of which we are aware, though a third may yet exist somewhere else nearby. Richard is the proud possessor of this roadster, having owned it since 1983. It is currently off the road, though re-commissioning is now underway. As the car is still in pieces, the pictures above are from Richard's Motor Sport log book.
Not much of the car's history is known, though Richard does still have the original service book which only lists the V8 engine number. It is therefore assumed the car was modified from new. Stamps in the book also show that some of the servicing was done by Costello Engineering Ltd. The original owner was a Mr. Osborn with an address in Birmingham, UK, with the supplying dealer shown as Patrick Motors. The original British registration was COB 257K.
It still has the domed fibreglass bonnet, the eggbox grille, and its original SU carburettors. The engine is currently being rebuilt, uprated with a mild cam and a four-barrel Weber carburettor (Yikes! - LW). The suspension has already been rebuilt to standard specification. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the rear badge has been stolen at some stage. The car is currently equipped with a locally sourced hard top and is painted bright yellow, but Richard intends to return it to its original Old English White. This Costello is located in Adelaide, and coincidentally, Richard has seen John Kemp hill-climbing his Costello GT there of late. He hopes to join him for a drive soon.
Ben Tovey - Wiltshire, UK. 3900cc Mk I GT.
Ben's 1972 GT has had its share of 'improvements' over its life (some of them not very good and due to be deleted, like the bungee rubber accelerator return spring shown above) but it is otherwise fairly intact, with its bulging bonnet, eggbox grille, and modified 4-speed gearbox.
Unfortunately, the last owner de-chromed and de-badged the car and the grille is much the worse for wear. Ben is about to begin the process of a careful restoration - installing a new replica grille, replacing floor pans, rear wings, valance and a few other bits and pieces and generally returning it to its former glory. It will be re-sprayed in its original colour, Teal Blue.
As for the mechanics, and because the engine isn't original anyway, he is currently building a 3.9 litre Rover-based V8 with stage 2 heads, a fast-road camshaft and a 4-barrel Weber 500cfm on an Edelbrock inlet manifold. The car already has telescopic dampers all round, but Ben will be having the springs re-rated and will fit polyurethane suspension bushes. Front brake callipers will be changed to SD1, which he has already sourced.
As you'll see in the technical section, Ben will also be replacing the car's (very tired) standard MGB gearbox with something more robust, and after a good deal of research, he has become a mine of information on the subject. At the moment, balancing efficacy with economy, he will probably use his second choice, the Rover R380.
Phil Rule - Surrey, UK. 3900cc MkII GT.
Phil has owned his GT since 1985, having purchased it from John Trueman in Surbiton, Surrey. John had bought it new as an standard 1800cc MGB from HWM in Walton on Thames (now an Audi dealership) in October 1971. His very first drive in the car was from Walton to Ken Costello's workshop in Kent.
When Phil first saw the car, he was a local police officer in the Kingston / Surbiton area and as he drove past John's house one day happened to spot him washing the Costello on his driveway. Phil owned a regular BGT at the time, so stopped for a chat, telling John if he ever wanted to sell his Costello he would like first refusal. Three weeks later, John telephoned Phil offering him the car at an affordable price. Phil took up the offer that very afternoon.
He ran the car for 'four marvellous years', during which time he uprated the suspension and resprayed it red in preference to the original and rather lurid blaze orange colour. He drove to Le Mans for the 24hrs race and also over the Alps to Monza. Sadly, the engine blew most spectacularly whilst returning from the 1989 Willhire 24hrs race - though he was not racing himself - when a piston came out of the side of the block whilst he was tanking down the A11 at considerable speed. As a definite non-runner, the car was returned to his home and relegated to the garage - where, sadly, it has resided ever since.
Phil has been in contact in January 2012 to inform the community that at last - the Costello is to emerge from the garage and begin a two year programme of restoration work. The car has only covered 46000 miles from new, which is hardly surprising as it's not been used for 20 years.
We look forward to receiving pictures of this car as the restoration progresses.
Roger Barker - Midlands, UK. 3500cc 1972 Mk I GT.
This car is currently undergoing some light restoration so we look forward to hearing more about it once it returns to its rightful place on the road. The picture above is copyright Andrew Roberts and was part of a suite of professional photographs taken in the grounds of Goodwood House a few years ago.
Mark Dew, Forrest of Dean, UK. 3500cc Mk I GT
Mark Dew is the proud possessor of "several hundred" classic cars in various states of repair located in various barns around the country. He couldn't resist the Costello he found in someone else's barn; JBB 5K is a red GT and according to the documentation, it was first registered - with a P6 specification V8 already installed by Ken Costello - in 1972. The previous owner - one of five - had owned and driven the car every day for ten years up until 2002, when overheating problems caused her to lay it up in the barn where, another ten years on, Mark caught sight of it. At first he thought it was a standard 1800, but closer inspection gave the lie to that. He was delighted to discover something rather special.
The owner, Helen Russen, had bought the car as a Costello without knowing much about it, other than that it was "a quick MG", which is exactly what she had wanted. Mark braved her dogs to knock on her front door and eventually persuaded her to part with the car a couple of months ago.
JBB 5K checks out as an original Costello and is a very complete example, with all the usual Costello signifiers, right down to the Costello badge and the standard Dunlop alloy wheels. However, it is now in need of a good deal of TLC, which Mark says it will duly get. He considers it a very lucky purchase and promises us some pictures in the near future.
