MG: Morris Garages I’m certain I’m not the only one on this forum who owned an MG or two. They were the epitome of “English sports ” – good looking but understated, with a wonderful exhaust note. They were fun to drive, and so very, very English. Maybe they were a bit narrower than some , but that just meant she had to sit closer to you. I set out to write this discussion thinking I pretty much knew the history of the company and the cars that it built. I didn’t know that by half – the pre-WWII half, which is arguably the most fun. What a fascinating story!!!! So in two parts –today and next week – a really cool story . .

To many Americans “MG” was synonymous with “sports car.” They were cars that MG’s founder described as “cheap and cheerful,” but many of them were quite fast, and in the 1930s, MG had a nearly unrivaled competition racing record. © Lee Willis 2016 A Murky Beginning I haven’t found any two sources of information that completely agree on how MG got its start. All agree on the big points, and so I’ve pieced together the story as it likely happened. MG was founded around 1923-1924, in Oxford, England, by an employee of William Morris, later Sir William Morris, and later still Viscount Nuffield. Morris owned two companies, , which made cars, and Morris Garages, a chain of automobile dealership-repair garages with its central store in Oxford. Cecil Kimber, an engineer who had a penchant for marketing and sales, worked for Morris and ran Morris Garages. Morris Motors made solid cars with very good mechanical design and motors, but they were, well, ugly. Kimber ordered a number of bare but complete chassis and had custom-make, sleek (for the time) bodies put on them. He sold them only through his Morris Garage dealerships at a premium, and was soon producing more. selling several hundred a year. Soon he was putting an “MG” emblem on (left) and them (left). Apparently the letters stood for Morris Garages, although he never confirmed or denied that. Officially it did not matter. The company was registered in 1924 as two-letters –“MG” – that was its legal name. The 1920s: Big Fast Cars MG cars in the early ‘20s were large, but despite their size rather fast for their time. The company had two models. The 14/40 was a mid-upper range 1.8 liter four-cylinder car. It had around 40 and could go perhaps 60-65 mph. The 18/80 was a much more powerful 2.5 liter six-cylinder car which had about 60 HP. It could accelerate from a standing start to 60 mph in a bit over half a minute, which was outstanding in an era when many cars could not reach 60 mph no matter how much time they were given. And the 18/80 was guaranteed to go 80 miles per hour. Further, for a few extra pounds any new-car buyer could even have a race car driver run his 18/80 at speed around a race track before it was delivered, and receive a notarized certificate attesting to its actual top speed when he picked up the car. These MGs were expensive and were not sold in large MG 18/80 4-seat roadster. numbers. Only about 150 to The hood and fenders were metal, 200 of each model were made but the body was wood covered with stretched and painted canvas, each year, but people who like some airplanes made at the time. bought them loved them.

By initialdave (167 - MG 18-80 Six) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The that Made MG FamousOld Fashioning 101 In 1927 Morris Motors bought . Wolseley had been part of , which This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I arguably had the best engineering resources in England (it made, among other things, large used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that battleships – about the most complicated things built at that time). Wolseley had been the matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional largest auto manufacturer in England only a decade earlier, but had fallen on hard times since headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older the deaths of the Vickers brothers. Morris Motors continued the Wolseley brand but cross- looking, and then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. pollinated , patents and designs between the Wolseley and its own Morris brand. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Morris_Minor_OHC_Engine_1932_%2814108998472%29.jpg Perhaps the most intriguing thing Morris acquired with Wolseley was a brand new four-cylinder 847 cc overhead cam engine: at the time a super-advanced design only used in pure racing cars. Overhead valves were considered advanced: an overhead cam in addition was unheard of in a road car. With just a fourth the displacement of Ford’s contemporary Model A engine, the new Wolseley engine could nonetheless

By Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden (Own work) - via Wikimedia Commons. reliably produce 27 HP - 2/3 as much. Morris Motors de-tuned it to 20 HP before The Wolseley/Morris 847 cc overhead cam engine in a 1928 . The cam is run off a geared vertical shaft from the crankshaft, that also putting it in the Morris Minor (left) its best- spins the magneto (other side, to the right). Eventually, MG’s version of this selling model, because it was “far too engine was fitted with a nice, cast-iron “long tube header” type exhaust manifold not included here, and tuned to make 27 – 30 HP @ 4,500 RPM. powerful” for a small family . Midgets, Midgets Everywhere Old Fashioning 101 ThisEven one before is deliberately he could get the his quickest hands onmodification a new Morris I could Minor figure with out this might small work OHC out. engine, Here, Cecil I usedKimber red was paint planning and only an ten MG minutes model based(I had onto threeit. Within different a year, reds MG I had was before buying I foundbare Morris one that matchesMinor chassis well enough). and had itsI painted 847 cc overoverhead the headlight cam “M -areastype Midget” leaving onlyon the a round, market. traditional headlight,The Midget and was over a tiny the twolower-seat eight car inches with a ofsparse the windshield, metal and canvasmaking-over it smaller-wood and boat older-tailed looking,body mounted and then on I painteda lowered the Morris balck Minorscrew headchassis. in the The front first bumpermodels usedred, too.the detuned (20 HP) stock version of the Morris Minor OHC engine and three speed transmission. But they had a sporty long-hood/short tail look, cycle fenders, a stylish split and angled windscreen, and a a deep and loud exhaust note. What’s more, the Midget weighed only 1,100 lbs., so it was a very good performer by the standards of the time, and with a low center of gravity, it handled well. It was a blast to drive. It was faster than most of the cars on English roads. And it was cheap: in the 7-HP taxable category (as low as it got), capable of 40 mpg, and with a price not even a third more than a bottom An early (it has a fabric and wood rear body) MG Midget. MGs were rung Morris Minor or Austin Seven. done in a two-tone paint scheme with the body one color (the fabric and metal here have the same color but a different patina) and the MG sold eight times as many Midgets fenders another, as is this car which is dark blue with black fenders. as all its other cars put together. Photo by Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden (Own work) - via Wikimedia Commons. 1928 MG M-Type Midget

Drawing by Lee Willis Specifications Drivetrain 70 2-passenger roadster Engine: four-cylinder overhead cam, cast iron block and head S.S. ¼ mile 25 sec @ 52 60 Model years: 1928 & – 2.24 x 3.27 in mph Displacement: 51.6 cubic inches Made in: Abingdon, Berkshire, 50 England Compression ratio: 5.6:1 Carburetor – one SU side-draft Chassis – steel tube and 40 channel ladder frame Rated horsepower – 27 @ 4,500 rpm st Body – steel, wood, canvas Transmission: Three-speed : 1 17:1, 30

Wheelbase – 78 in. 2nd 9:1, 3rd 1:1

Miles Per Hour Per Miles Track – 45 in. Final drive ratio: 4.89:1 20 Length – 9 ft 2 in Suspension: semi-elliptic leaf springs Width – 4 ft 2 inch with friction dampers 10 Weight 1,120 lbs without Brakes; four-wheel, 8 inch drum fluids 0 List price: £ 185 Tires: Dunlop 20x3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Number made: 3,235 Braking: 60 – 0 mph: 220 feet Seconds

“Cheap and Cheerful” Old Fashioning 101 MG had found its niche. Midgets were, as Cecil Kimber dubbed them, “Cheap and Cheerful,” This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I and by providing a good mixture of both qualities, sales were very good. Keep in mind that used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that “very good sales” for a mostly hand-built sport cars (below left) meant only about fifteen or matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional twenty per week – never much more than eight hundred to a thousand per year. headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older looking,The Midget and would then I remainpainted on the the balck market screw for head nine inyears, the frontbut Kimber bumper and red, his too. team began improving the car from day two , making changes as they went along rather than introducing new models every year. The brakes – a weakness at first – were upgraded. The fabric and metal body was superseded by all-metal. Dozens of other small changes were made on a running basis, so it is only a slight exaggeration to say no two were alike. And within six months the engine was “un- detuned” and returned to its designed 27 HP, with a few cars hot-rodded beyond that. That additional standard 7 HP may seem small, but it was a 35% increase. Top I found this fuzzy photo of the MG production line on the internet speed and acceleration were outstanding several times, on more than one occasion mirror-imaged left to right, so I don’t know if I have it correct here - but the steering is for the time, particularly considering the on the correct English side as I show it here. I also don’t know car’s cost. The MG Midget began getting a exactly when it was taken, although probably in the mid ‘30s and clearly after the move to the bigger “new” factory at Abingdon. lot of attention in the press.

Racing Improves the Breed Old Fashioning 101 With sales of just two or three a day, many delivered at the factory, Cecil Kimber personally This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I met many of the buyers. Among them were George Easton and Ernest Eldridge. Easton was a used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that former artillery officer and engineer who held patents for a successful supercharger, the matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional Powerplus, and dabbled in automobile racing. Eldridge was a professional race driver who had headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older held the world land speed record a few years earlier. They asked Kimber if MG could prepare a looking, and then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. race-ready Midget with a motor downsized so it could compete in the 750 cc class. The result was called EX-120. MG’s engineers took a standard Midget engine and shrank its the bore and stroke to cut its displacement by 12%, to just 746 cc. That would have dropped horsepower to around 24, but a new cam and carburation brought it up to about 29. The Midget body was streamlined, lightened and lowered, and stripped of its fenders. For high- speed runs, streamlined but heavier disc wheels (below) were fitted to reduce wind resistance. Over the course of 1930, EX- 120 set 750 cc class records such as the flying kilometer, mile, and 100 kilometers, all at speeds well over 85 miles per hour. Only a few years earlier is was unthinkable that a 750 cc car could reach EX-120, MG’s first factory-prepared race car reminds me of the dry-lake racers that California hot-rodders like Mickey Thompson started out building twenty years later, even 80 mph. But soon it and in truth it was similar in spirit and approach. But it worked. It was a fast car. was even faster . . . Racing Also Improves Sales Old Fashioning 101 EX-120’s performance was extraordinary, but This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I Easton and Eldridge wanted more, and Cecil used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that Kimber and MG were more than inclined to matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional help. The car’s record-setting had not gone headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older unnoticed in the press or by the public. Sales looking, and then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. were up substantially. Working with Easton and Eldridge, MG fitted a special Powerplus supercharger to EX-120. In mid-February of 1931 it became the first 750 cc car to ever exceed 100 mph, setting at 750 cc class record over the flying mile of 103 mph. By the end of the year further work on the engine and transmission made the car durable at those speeds, and it set an endurance record of 100-miles around an oval track from a standing-start in less than an hour. Ironically, during a cool-down lap, the engine caught fire and the car was destroyed.

The Magic Midget EX-120’s loss was only a minorOld blow Fashioning to MG because a101 newer, faster car was already in Thisthe works. one EXis- 127deliberately had a much thenarrower quickest body tomodification reduce wind resistance I could tofigure a outminimum might (some work drivers out. wouldn’t Here, fit). I used Its engine red paintdesign andand tuning only started ten minutes with what had been learned with EX-120. It easily set a new class record at over 110 mph in its MAGI C first(I had outing. to three Over the different next five years,reds asI had MG workedbefore on I foundever more one powerful that versions matchesof its 750 cc well engine, enough). using ever Ihigher painted-pressure over supercharging the headlight and higher areas RPMs, leaving the onlycar progressively a round, pushedtraditional the speed headlight, record for and750 cc over cars tothe 115 lower mph, then eight 120, 128, 130, and finally, in 1936, to 140 mph. These nearly annual record runs gained the companyinches of great the publicity, windshield, and led tomaking still more it increasedsmaller salesand rates.older looking, and

then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. MIDGET

MAGI C

MIDGET Not a magic mushroom, but many owners of larger racing cars probably thought they were hallucinating when they heard EX-127 as it set the 750 cc land EX-127’s streamlining worked: in its first test it equaled EX-120’s top speed with a supercharger, using an unsupercharged speed record at over 125 mph, and they definitely engine. Nicknamed The Magic Midget, it was the most famous race car in the British Empire through the mid 1930s. were having “bad trips” when they saw road race versions of MG’s performance car, the “the C type” lap their bigger displacement entries at places like Brooklands and LeMans. A Variety of Midgets Meanwhile MG was selling about 800 to 1,000 road-going Midgets a year and steadily improving the car as it went along. A fourth speed was added to the transmission. A better clutch and better brakes were fitted. A third main bearing was added to the engine(it had had only two), and from time to time an additional horsepower or two was coaxed out of it with tuning changes. There were improvements to the chassis and suspension. In 1933, the Midget lost its boat-tail and the rear body was squared off in a “box style,” providing more interior space and better stowage for the spare tire. At the same time that stylish split windscreen was replaced by a more practical single- piece flat windshield. Owners could opt for sweeping front fenders rather than cycle fenders for only a little more. Along with the “box style” body, this completed The final version of the original, Wolseley OHC-engined Midget, the 939 cc 1935 the classic look that Americans knew so MG PB, looked very much like MG sports cars would for the next 20 years, with sweeping fenders, a flat windshield, and the “box look” at the rear, but it was a well after the war. far smaller, lighter car and shorter by about eight inches than postwar MGs. MG changed the model designation from time to time as it evolved the car, to the J1 Midget, the J2 Midget, the Midget PA, the Midget PB (939 cc - above). And MG also offered special limited production high-performance cars, including supercharged Midgets, full race-prepared ones with all-independent suspensions and lightweight bodywork, etc. Old Fashioning 101Six -Cylinder Cars MG began offering a six-cylinder This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I version of the Midget in 1931. used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that Called the Magnette, it had a six- matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional inch longer wheelbase and a six- headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older cylinder, 1271 cc engine: just the looking, and then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. standard 847 cc four with a cylinder added at each end. Just as It took a very practiced eye to tell a six-cylinder Magnette (above) from a four-cylinder Midget. The Magnette had a slightly longer hood to house the longer straight six important, the Magnette had larger engine and larger brakes, but was otherwise quite similar to the Midget. brakes. It could accelerate faster, stop quicker, and had a higher top speed. It did well in road racing: whereas the Midget would usually win in its class and maybe the 1-liter class, the Magnette would often win outright, too.

The heavier engine and longer wheelbase meant the Magnette did not handle quite as well on tight curves and some drivers preferred the Midget, Midget, which outsold the Magnette three to one. Price Price probably had something to do with it, too, because the Magnette cost a good deal more. But MG sold a respectable number of six-cylinder sports cars. MG also offered that six-cylinder in a four-door car, which was heavier and more luxurious, and thus slower, than the Magnette, but still considered a fast car. The Interwar English Cobra: ThereOld is Fashioning an amazing similarity 101 between the MG Midget of this period and the AC 289 Cobra from thirty years later. Both of course, were English cars . . . This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I used• Both red usedpaint aand modified, only ten medium minutes-size (I had (for to the three time) different engine redsfrom I ahad contemporary before I found standard one that matchessedan well in a enough). low chassis I painted with a sparseover the and headlight as-light -areaspossible leaving body only built a aroundround, traditionalit. headlight,• Both could and overbe driven the lower to the eight track inches by their of theowners windshield, on public making roads itand smaller yet be and competitive older looking,once and there. then Street I painted versions the balckof both screw would head often in the win, front but bumpercould be red, beaten. too. But in both cases, the factory-prepped race cars couldn’t be – driven to the track, or for the most part, beaten in races. • Both soon gained a more powerful big brother (the Magnette, the 427 Cobra) with half again more displacement and power, that was faster still. • Finally, a race version of each, with special streamlining (the Magic Midget, CSX 2287, #10) set an even two-dozen class land-speed and endurance records. Big Changes in 1935 Because of his growing importance to the English economy, William Morris had been made a baronet in 1929, and was henceforth called Sir William Morris. In 1934, in recognition of his company now being one of the major industrial empires in England, he was further promoted to Baron, and took the name Lord Nuffield (his home town – taking their home town as their name was what Lords commonly did). Nuffield would be honored again in 1938 and promoted to Viscount (above a Baron but below an Earl in status). In 1935 Lord Nuffield sold MG to Morris Motors. This sale of one company he owned to another he owned made a big difference to MG. Morris Motors was a large company, arguably England’s biggest auto maker. MG became a subsidiary of Morris, another of its brands. Suddenly MG, an eleven-year- old start up with a free-wheeling way of operating that had had only casual oversight from Lord Morris, found itself a part, and small part at that, of a big Lord Nuffield bureaucracy with rules, processes and executives looking over its shoulder. And just like that, factory racing and factory racing teams were out. Morris executives did not see the financial payback. They put an end to all factory-sponsored racing and race teams and allowed MG to build race cars only for wealthy customers who paid the full cost. Don’t Be Too Hard on Lord Nuffield Some books and articles I read in researching MG’s history (including wikipedia) were written by MG enthusiasts whose love of its cars perhaps made them take a one-sided view of this sale, as if Nuffield sold MG to Morris just so he could end its racing program – not so!!!! There was a Depression: Cash Was Tight. In England, like the US, there had been a big economic downturn. Nuffield was a newly appointed Lord (1934) and found it a challenge to maintain the standard his peers, the public, and he thought he should. By selling MG, his personal property, to Morris Motors, a large chartered company he also largely owned, he took away a lot of cash, all in a very legitimate and legal manner. And that’s the real story. Lord Nuffield needed cash, and being a very good businessman, found a slick way to get it at no real cost to himself. A result was that MG lost its racing program. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Slower Reving, Bigger Displacement,Old Fashioning Very Long-Stroke 101 Engines ThisIn the one 1930s is deliberately British car thetaxes quickest could be modification up to half the I could cost figureof the out car. might They workwere out.proportional Here, I to usedonly thered pistonpaint andarea only in the ten car’s minutes motor, (I hadnot tothe three engine’s different stroke. reds The I had MG before Midget I foundhad small one that matchespistons (because well enough). it had aI paintedsmall, very over high the- RPMheadlight motor) areas and leaving so it had only been a round, in a very traditional low tax headlight,bracket for and years, over enjoying the lower a big eight cost inches advantage of the over windshield, its competition. making it smaller and older Bylooking, 1935 andMG wasthen running I painted its the OHC balck engine screw up headto 6,500 in the RPM front to getbumper competitive red, too. power for its road cars. That RPM caused unwelcome vibration and a decrease in engine life. Meanwhile competitors had developed very long stroke OHV engines with stroke-to-bore ratios of up to 1.7, engines that produced equivalent power with small pistons at a lower RPM, because they had much more displacement. That design also gave those cars lots of low-RPM torque, which made them pleasant every-day cars to drive. By contrast, MGs were fast but “buzzy” and didn’t have a lot of low end torque. That was okay on the track, but even MG owners tired of it on a daily basis. They were complaining.

In mid 1936 MG dropped its OHC engine in favor of a very long stroke lower-revving, bigger displacement Wolseley engine. Two

years later MG changed again, to a brand new 1,250 cc Morris engine that was smoother The new OHV four wasn’t as sexy or advanced in design as the Not a magic mushroom, but many racers in 1932 probably hoped they previous OHC engine, but it was torquey and smoother than the were hallucinating when they saw MG’s EX-127, nicknamed the Magic still, which it would use until 1950. engines it replaced and made for a much, much better street car. Midget set 750 cc land speed records at over 125 mph, or road race versions of it, known as “the C type” show their rear ends to their bigger displacement race cars when they were lapped by buzzing swarms of Midgets at Sarostat, Brooklands and LeMans.

Fit to a T Old Fashioning 101 In mid-1936, along with those new engines, MG introduced all new models, the Midget and This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I Magnette having been on the market, if continually upgraded in increments, for nine years. used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that matchesMG dumped well enough).its original I paintedMidget entirely,over the while headlight keeping areas the leaving name. only Its newa round, TA Midget traditional was as headlight,large as the and six over-cylinder the lower Magnette eight had inches been. of the It weighed windshield, less makingthan the it Magnettesmaller and had older but more looking,than the and Midget then had,I painted and itsthe 1,250 balck cc screw four hadhead about in the as front much bumper power red,as the too. six had, so it was about as fast, and far more comfortable than the four-cylinder Midgets had been. But hardened MG traditionalists howled in protest, decrying the loss of the tiny, nimble Midget. They were just as upset about the changes at the “top” of the MG lineup, for MG had not entirely dropped six-cylinder cars, just six- cylinder sports cars. It was offering two sedans now. The new 1936 MG-SA was a luxurious “touring sedan” with a 2.2 liter – later 2.3 liter six – a six-cylinder version of the bigger new four. In 1938 that was superseded by the 2.6 liter MG’s model lineup leading up to WWII. The four-cylinder 54 HP Midget TA (black) replaced both the previous Midget and the larger Magnette sports cars, and was very MG-WA, which was fast and pricey similar to the postwar TC. The four-cylinder 1489 cc VA (blue) replaced the Magnette four-door, and the new SA and WA (cream) with a six-cylinder engine of up to 2.6 liters, enough to compete with Jaguar. were added to the lineup to compete with upscale saloons like those made by Jaguar. A Final Burst of Glory - Three MonthsOld Fashioning Before the 101Storm MG’s final factory-built race car prior to WWII was EX-135. Built in 1934, before MG’s This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I absorption into Morris Motors, it had been designed around MG’s six-cylinder engine, and was used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that patterned after absolute land-speed record car like John Cobbs 24-liter Thunderbolt, and matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional intended to push MG speed records to above 200 mph. In land-speed record attempts before headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older the Morris Motor takeover it looking, and then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. captured a number of 1,100 cc class records but had not gone anywhere near 200 mph. Lying to the Boss. In 1938, using the excuse that EX-135 already existed and was paid for (true) and that MG customers May 31, 1939. EX-135 had been streamlined using lessons from British absolute land- speed record Bonneville racers like Bluebird and Thunderbolt, and thus it fit in well with were paying for the effort (partly the German LSR cars running on the closed Autobahn course that day (silver). EX-135’s true) MG was able to resurrect 750 cc class winning world record speed that day was 203.54 mph. That was rather far below the 250 mph of the big Audis and Mercedes, but none of them set class records, something of its competition because they had V12 and V16 engines of up to 20 liters, and raced in other classes. program and begin serious efforts to make EX-135 live up to its potential. On May 31, 1939, Hitler’s Germany opened the high- speed test portion of the Autobahn to the English as well as German car companies to use for land speed record attempts. EX-135 set three records for 1,100cc cars including the flying kilometer and mile at over 203 mph. Ninety-three days later, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. During WWII Old Fashioning 101 Since the mid ‘30s, Vicount Nuffield had worked closely with the Baldwin government on how This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I his companies could most help if war came. He ended up having a key role in running British used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that wartime production during WWII. Basically MG ceased to exist during the war, and its factories matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional and personnel were turned over to the centralized war production authority to run. Smaller MG headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older and Morris facilities were directed to make everything from mess kits to looking, and then I painted the balck screw head in the front bumper red, too. to ammunition ,and one made a few Mk I tanks (left). Founding Father Cecil Kimber Leaves MG During the war, MG’s Abingdon factory, where its Midgets had been made, took on the job of making a key portion of the AW-41 Albemarle bomber (below). This was a source of some annoyance and embarrassment to Lord Nuffield. Cecil Kimber had independently committed to that work in order to find the Abingdon factory work to do. He had not , without checking with Nuffield checked with Nuffield, whose government-approved plan had had a different role for the Abingdon factory (tanks). Ultimately, those key parts of the AW.41 were made at Abingdon, but not as Kimber had expected, with him in charge. He was asked to leave the company in 1941, and spent the rest of the war at another company managing production of pistons for aircraft. He was killed in a train derailment outside London in February 1945. The Worst Possible Sports Car Market Old Fashioning 101 The war left parts of London, Coventry and other English cities in a shambles - and wrecked This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I the English economy. There was almost no gasoline for private use and thus a limited market used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that for new cars. Materials for cars, i.e. steel, were in short supply, and allocated on a need-to- matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional have-it-basis. But one of those needs-to-have was MG, for reasons to be discussed shortly. headlight, and over the lower eight inches of the windshield, making it smaller and older looking, and then I painted the balck screw headJust in fivethe monthsfront bumper after VE red, day, too. MG announced it had begun production of a new car – an MG-TC Midget. The TC used the prewar chassis and motor, but it was a significantly reworked car, with a new front suspension, transmission, clutch, and four more inches of shoulder room inside: the body had been pushed out on each side and the running boards were narrower. One of the few in England who managed to buy an MG-TC Somehow MG managed to build right after the war was a handsome young naval officer with one a day – a total of eight-one – by connections inside the government. It was his first car. Phillip Mountbatten would take his girlfriend, Elizabeth Windsor, for the end of 1945, and 1,500 more drives in it, to the great worry of her parents. Twenty-three the following year, as many as it years later, their son, Charles, Prince of Wales, bought his first ever made of any model in one year. car: an MGC-GT. T One Up for the Economy! Old Fashioning 101 MG received priority for scarce materials it needed partly because Lord Nuffield had This one is deliberately the quickest modification I could figure out might work out. Here, I tremendous clout with the government. But his demands for priority were based on used red paint and only ten minutes (I had to three different reds I had before I found one that legitimate national needs: MG intended to sell its cars overseas, bringing in foreign currency. matches well enough). I painted over the headlight areas leaving only a round, traditional headlight,The company and concentratedover the lower on eight just inchesits TC sports of the car,windshield, and began making building it smaller an overseas and older dealer looking,network. and In then1946 I itpainted sold a thirdthe balck of its screw production head in overseas, the front and bumper the following red, too. year half. Within a few years it was selling 90% of its cars outside the UK. Ultimately, MG made 10,000 MG-TCs, and sold most of them overseas. The TC was the highest production MG ever made, but among the rarest MGs to be found in Britain.

Only 2,000 of those TCs made it to the Unites States Among the owners were thousands of former GIs, now home in the US, who had fallen in love with English sports cars during the war.

The majority of MG-TCs were sold overseas, the reason MG was given priority for scarce materials in postwar Britain. Cars to be sold in Europe were shipped in the open across the channel on ferries, but those bound for the US, Australia, India, and South Africa, etc., were boxed at the factory and shipped to Liverpool and other ports for loading on freighters. T for Two Times As Many Old Fashioning 101 ThisMeanwhile one is deliberately the British theeconomy quickest was modification recovering, Iso could MG broughtfigure out out might a small work saloon out. (sedan)Here, I – usedthe YA red – paintaimed and at itsonly domestic ten minutes market. (I had The to YA three had differentactually been reds Idesigned had before before I found the onewar, that but matcheshostilities well started enough). before I painted it could over be brought the headlight to market. areas leaving only a round, traditional headlight,The “new” and YA overused thea 46 lower HP (single eight- inchescarburetor) of the version windshield, of the making TC’s 54 it HP smaller two-carburetor and older looking,engine. and It was then a smallerI painted car the than balck previous screw MGhead saloons, in the front and despitebumper what red, too.the 46 HP sounds like, among the more powerful cars in its class. It was also very well appointed and considered a bit upscale, and sold reasonably well: MG sold one for every three or four TC’s it sold. A four-seat convertible “tourer,” the MG-YT was also briefly produced. It looked like a longer TC with a back seat, and had been rather cleverly cobbled together with bits and pieces from the TC and the YA. The MG- YT was on the market from 1948 to 1950. Fewer than 100 were

The MG YA (left) was smaller than MG’s smallest pre-war saloon, the VA sold each year. It was dropped (right) had been, and had a 1,250 cc rather than 1,500 cc engine. But it was after in 1950 and MG never even better appointed, with features like a sunroof, and a more comfortable and better handling car. Despite its 46 HP, about half what similarly priced produced a four-seat “sports car” cars had in America, the MG YA was powerful for its class. MG had no again. problem selling every one it could make.

Next Week Part II One Road Test Made All The Difference