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MGB Berlinette - "Haute Counure"

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Created on September 12, 2024

Text:

Paul Krüger

Photos:

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The GT before the GT: only 56 examples of the MGB Berlinette Coune were built

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From the rear, the Coune-MG looks almost more like a Volksferrari than the Asa 1000 GT

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While the later factory GT is clearly a hatchback, the Berlinette still hints at a notchback with a slight kink

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Only a normal GT at first glance: headlight covers and windshield contours reveal the special bodywork

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Let's get rid of the trademark for a moment: who would suspect a Belgian body on an English chassis given this rear end?

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Although the later GT is by no means lacking in elegance, the Berlinette was a touch more delicate

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High loading sill, small opening: the later GT is much more practical as an estate coupé with a large tailgate

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The more streamlined shape compensates for the additional weight of 60 kg. Over 170 km/h should be feasible

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The lack of bumper horns contributes at least as much to the smoothed appearance as the disguised headlights

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Elaborate detail work: Jacques Coune didn't just screw a hood over it, but also moved the headlights back about 10 cm

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Unchanged MGB detail: octagon in a crest-shaped frame, the contour of which is continued in the hood

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Small details make the difference: slightly flared wheel arch and side trim strip on the sill instead of on the body kink at half height

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Classic: 15-inch wire wheels with central wing nut

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Change sides: the left-hand wing nuts are loosened counterclockwise, the right-hand wing nuts clockwise

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Committed to style: The spoked wheels are of course from Borrani and not Dunlop

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Jacques Coune founded his body store in 1962 as part of his car repair business

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In contrast to the front triangular windows, the rear side windows can be opened

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Misused: the rear window was originally the windshield of a Renault 8

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Bent, curved and kinked: The reflections in the paint reveal an intricate interplay of shapes

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Italian in appearance, French in make: the rear lights come from the Simca 1000

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Jacques Coune was an Abarth importer for Belgium - it goes without saying that he also installed a corresponding exhaust system on his Coupé

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Makes identification easier: the octagonal MG emblem on the new trunk lid manufactured by Jacques Coune

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Unless otherwise requested by the customer, the interior remained unchanged. Apparently, a somewhat more luxurious leather interior was chosen here

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Unless otherwise requested by the customer, the interior remained unchanged. Apparently, a somewhat more luxurious leather interior was chosen here

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Regardless of other equipment requests, Jacques Coune installed a wooden steering wheel from Les Leston in each of his coupés

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The instrumentation corresponds to the standard MGB. On the far right is the instrument cluster for oil pressure and water temperature

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Don't always be so negative: rev counter with an indication of the polarity of the on-board electrics

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With the exception of the BMC test car, all of the Coune coupés are likely to have been equipped with kilometer speedometers. Most of them remained in Belgium or went to the Netherlands

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Instead of a radio, there is only a panel. The loudspeaker - octagonal, of course - also looks so decorative

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Heating control dial with English lettering instead of pictograms

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The five-speed gearbox has been retrofitted. There were only four gears ex works, optionally with overdrive

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Instead of the original 1800cc, a two-liter engine with cross-flow head and Weber carburetors is used here

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The output of the retrofitted two-liter engine is not known. The original 1800 engine produced 95 hp at 5400 rpm

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Apart from an Abarth exhaust, Jacques Coune's technology remained untouched. The engine pictured here only found its way into the car at a later date

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MG B Gemini (1966) - Coupé de Ville built by Coune on the basis of the MG B - seen at the Brussels Motor Show

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Summary

The most Italian MGB was not built in Turin, but in the south-east of Brussels. There, Jacques Coune did not simply put a roof on the roadster, but transformed it into a filigree Gran Turismo. This short article introduces the MGB Berlinette and shows it in many pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Italian line with French ingredients
Hardtop and Gemini

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Jacques Coune was one of those unfortunate visionaries who always had good ideas a little too early for them to be successful. Peugeot built its own 404 Break from September 1962; Daimler-Benz finally turned to another Belgian company in 1965 to assemble the tail fin station wagons, and MG preferred to commission the renowned house of Pininfarina for its B-Coupé. The manufacturers whose vehicles Coune used for his special bodies seemed to be happy to take up his ideas and then implement them themselves without the involvement of the originator. At the beginning of 1962, former racing driver Jacques Coune had expanded his car workshop in Brussels to include a small body shop and converted a Peugeot 404 into a station wagon as his first creation. He then presented his Mercedes-Benz 220 SE "Shooting Estate" and a convertible based on the Volvo 122 S at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1963. While the two five-door models remained one-offs for the reasons mentioned above, the Amazon convertible almost became a bestseller with four units built.

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