Luggage rack - early '70s

I understand this is the luggage rack that was standard for early '70s mgb. What I don't understand is why I have never seen one of these for sale. I have seen lots of cars that have them, so I know they exist. If anyone knows of a good used one I'd like to buy it.

another pic

Brad,
There's no such thing as a "standard" luggage rack. Dealers used several providers, such as MG Mitten, Wilco, B&B, Haan, Auto World and others.

Dealers bought them in quantity based on (a) price, and (b) how few stock numbers we needed to cover a varied car inventory.

The rack you show appears to be a deluxe rack, where the chrome plated base is mounted to the trunk. The rack clamps onto the base, and can be taken on and off as needed. This was great for owners who didnt want to "spoil" their car's looks with a permanent rack. These were considerably more expensive though.

A basic rack is made of thin tubular steel with a single layer of chrome plating. The four "feet" of the rack slide over a plastic base. One hole is drilled in the trunk lid per "foot", so that a bolt from the inside of the trunk would thread into an expanding nut inside the leg of the foot to hold the rack. Some of them whistle in the wind pretty badly, others dont.

You dont often see these for sale used because (1) they've mostly all rusted away, and (2) when you take off the race, your trunk lid is left with the bolt holes.

They are rarely seen for sale new since our LBC's are no longer daily drivers or "only" cars, so there is little demand for racks. Also, soft-sided luggage has made it much easier to pack our stuff into an LBC without a rack.

The one in the Moss Catalog (Item # 244-715) looks to be real close. However, it is GULP! $445!

IMHO the basic dealar unit of the time looks super. The Midget version had only 4 bars, it did not cover the "MG" emblem, and was a bit smaller than the 5 bar MGB unit. Here is the one on my car...

I saw the in the Moss catalog. GULP is right $500 by the time its in my hands. It's funny, I've seen lots of them on cars but never for sale on there own whereas the ones from the late '70's(rectangle bars) seem to be quite plentiful.
Maybe standard wasn't the right word, it was "one of " the styles used at that time, from what I understand.

When I got my car it had plugs in the trunk to hide the holes for the rack. I thought it looked terrible!! So I when shopping on Ebay. Looked at many racks, but I had to have one that fit the holes, and I finally found one. Around a $100 if I recall. So keep looking for what youi want.

There was a classic one the dealers put on which is pictured in your post as long as it was in several pieces. I bought the Moss one which is a poor reproduction and returned it. I ended up rechroming mine which will need to be rechromed again unfortuantely.

They do come up on eBay from time to time.

Dealer installed and on window sticker, January, 1972. Looks like the one in your photos.

Thanks

Mike