Work on a successor for the MGB had been undertaken as early as 1964 with the EX234, but due to the excellent sales of the MGB and Midget, BMC cancelled it in 1966. In 1968 a second proposed replacement was developed, the ADO76, but British Leyland had ceased work on that project by the end of 1970; the ADO76 would ultimately become the rubber-bumper version of the MGB in 1974. When the Abingdon factory finally closed in late 1980, British Leyland did not replace it, with the EX234 prototype finally being sold at auction in 2016.