Early Founders20 Jan 1930

Early Founders20 Jan 1930

The Bullnose Morris

“Chummy”

Old Number One, in color.

The first official MG production automobile, the 14/28

MG RacingFrom the 14/28 to the Magic Midget to the XE181

Videos of MG Racing and MoreThe Magic Midget: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-tybhNNCDY

Video of the MG EX181 hitting 246.9 mph: https://wn.com/some_mg_morris_garage_history

Some of the factory history (silent): https://wn.com/some_mg_morris_garage_history

Best of British transports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl1oncAaJt4

MG Heritage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2PQnrzzIhg

Classic MG Cars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjcpKmYu5dU

Making of MGs at Abingdon (1931, silent): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYIz5BLKm8

Racing Awards

Early Racing

• Some owners raced their own cars

• A K3 won at the 1933 Mille Miglia (1000 miles across Italy) road race, beating out the Italians

• Team of three K3s raced; took 1st, 2nd, and 4th in class. Won team prize.

• http://www.lsrinmin.co.uk/main_list.html

MG Racing in America• Barron, Samuel, and Miles Collier were brothers who lived at Overlook, a home in

Pocantico Hills, NY.

• Barron’s fiancée (who had witnessed a race in Europe) imported an MG for him

• Miles and Sam became import agents to supply cars and parts.

• They started racing around the property with friends from nearby colleges.

• In 1934, the brothers and Thomas Dewart formed the Automobile Racing Club of America. It dissolved at the onset of WWII, but after the war, the Sports Car Club of America was formed.

• It grew from there!

• http://blog.nyhistory.org/mgs-fords-bugattis-austins-willys-maserati-early-photos-american-car-racing/

• In 1954, the SCCA established the Collier Brothers Memorial Trophy

• In 1985, The Collier Cup was reinvented by Sportscar Vintage Racing Association

• In 2004, 143 MGs raced for The Collier Cup.

• http://blog.amgba.com/?tag=vintage-mg-racing

Australia Pre-War

• Otto Stone with his factory K3

• John Dutton with his C-Type

• Les Murphy with his P-Type

• Leo Kelly with what became known as the Murphy Q-Type

• Cec Warren with another Q-Type

• the John Sherwood imported NE Magnette

• the Lanes Motors K3

• the Jim Gullan K3

• the Lex Davison/John Barraclough K3 (generally know as the Brady K3 or Prince Bira car)

• the Dale K3 (generally known as the Nilsson car)

• the Tomlinson TA which won the 1939 AGP and the Ohlmeyer TB

Australia Post-War

• “The era of the innovative Australian MG Specials.”

• Clarrie Head with his SC TC

• the very successful Harry Firth SC TC

• the Davison TC

• the Cobden TC

• the Patterson/Curly Bryden TC

• the very innovative rear-engined TC Special of Les Wheeler

• the MG Ausca of Gus Mercurio

MG Models built for Racing

Type C Montlhery Midgets, OTC full race machine

The Magic Midget / EX127• Completed in late Summer 1931, designed specifically to break international records

• Based largely on EX120 which won numerous races and set many records, but went up in flames in a race

• “The driver sat beside the propeller shaft with the seat of his pants barely 6 inches from the roadway.”

• At first outing in October 1931, broke 5-km record at 110.28 mph

• In December, broke 4 records at 114 mph

• February 1932, on the shores of Wales, reached 118 mph average – but had wanted 120 mph

• Finally in December 1932, reached 120.56 mph

• Was overhauled at Abingdon in 1933 to the point where Eyston could no longer fit. Had to hire a jockey to race the car; reached 128.6 mph

• Bought by Bobby Kohlrausch (German), reached 130 mph in Hungary in 1935

• Added bronze cylinder head raising bhp to 146 (supercharged), reached 140 mph in 1936

• Sold to German Engineers and was lost to history.

• http://www.geomatique-liege.be/MGJP/Pages/ModelesAnciens/Ex-127.htm

George Eyston in the Magic Midget EX127 outside the Abingdon factory

M-type

Q-type Racer

• 1934

• About 8 produced (not verifiable)

• Two seaters, from £550-£560

• Top speed 122 mph

• 746 cc, 113 bhp supercharged engine (eventually 146 bhp)

• Based on P-type chassis with K3 body, narrower with N-type axles

MG Q-type Racer

R-type Racer (Single Seater)

• 1935

• 10 produced

• £750

• 746 cc in 4 cylinder, OH cam supercharged engine

• 110 bhp

• Top speed 122 mph

• Revolutionary Y-shaped steel chassis but suspension caused problems (frequency of the rear suspension was lower than that of the front, making the car unstable in pitch)

EX135 (1951)

254.9 mph!• EX181

• 1489 cc increased to 1506 cc

• Rear-mounted twin cam supercharged engine

• Stirling Moss reached 245.6 mph in 1957

• Phil Hill reached 254.9 mph in 1959

• Had a 1.5 liter engine from a MGA but it had been tuned to run on was 86% methanol laced with nitrobenzene, acetone and sulphuric ether.

• http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-2008/80/mg-ex181

• https://modular4kc.com/2012/12/20/the-fastest-car-in-the-world-mgs-ex181/

EX181 reaching 255 mph in Sept 1959 (Utah salt flats)

MG Racing continues today!

Automobile speed records• First car to reach 100 mph: Jan 31, 1905, Arthur Macdonald, 90-hp Napier reached

104.65 mph in a mile.

• 15 minutes later, H.B. Bowden beat it with a twin-engine Mercedes (later disqualified)

• https://www.yahoo.com/news/bp/january-31-first-100-mph-car-ran-date-140455594.html

• Britain’s “first 100 mph car” was the Vauxhall 30-98 from 1913 to 1927

• First ever car to reach 200 mph: Sunbeam 1000 hp at Daytona Beach in March 1927 by Sir Henry Seagrave.

• First post-war production model to reach 200 mph was 1987, when Enzo Ferrari reached 202.7 mph in an F40.

• Today’s top speed record (Production vehicles): 268 mph by a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, 2010

• Top speed record (any): 763 mph (Mach 1.02) in October 1997, by Andy

Green of RAF, Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Thrust SSC powered by

Rolls-Royce turbofan engines (same as jet fighter), 110,000 bhp

2017: A Model Year

Month Model(s) Num of CarsJan History and pre-T-series 1Feb MG Racing -Mar Touring Saloons (SA to ZB) 2Apr TA/TB/TC 11May TD 9Jun TF 6Jul MGA 26Aug Midget 6Sep MGB 44Oct MGC and MGC/GT 5Nov MGB/GT V8 7