Tag Archives: Kimber

150 MPH ex POW – MG K3 #K3007

In 1933 today’s featured record breaking MG K3 chassis #K3007 was sold new with a two seater body to successful amateur racer Ron Horton who in 1932 had won a British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) Gold Star, which would be the same as calling him British Motor Racing Champion in today’s terminology.

The car appears to have never been registered for road use but extensively raced and hill climbed. Driving K3007 in 1933 Horton set a 1100cc class Outer Circuit Record at Brooklands of 115.55 mph and class wins on the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb.

For 1934 Ron Horton had an offset single seat body manufactured by Jensen of West Bromwich and made numerous other upgrades. In March 1934 Ron set six international class records, four of which still stand as British class records, at Brooklands from 50 kms to Hour averaging 117 mph with a best lap average of over 119 mph. Unusually Ron received not only a customary letter of congratulation MG’s Cecil Kimber but also another from Lord Nuffield of Morris Motors Ltd who’s Overhead Cam Wolseley 6 Cylinder motors were supercharged and tuned by MG for use in the K3 model.

Later in 1934 Ron won a Brooklands Whitsun Meeting race at an average speed of over 110mph and set a new 123.88 mph lap record later the same day which earned him the first 120 mph badge given to the driver of a car fitted with 1100cc / 67 cui motor.

In 1935 Goldie Gardener acquired K3007 and had it continually updated, in 1937 he became the first driver to record a one way 150 mph average in an MG at the October Frankfurt Speed Week with a two way class record breaking average of over 148 mph timed over the flying kilometer and mile distances.

In 1939 Gardener had the the motor taken out of #K3007 and fitted in to K3023/EX 135 which had a lower seat thanks to an offset gearbox and had been used by George Easton. Goldie set a 200 mph record with his new bolide. The chassis of K3007 along with the discarded motor from K3023/EX 135 ended up at the Abingdon MG factory and reassembled into a complete car with an ENV Crash gearbox from an MG K1 and sent to Singapore where a contemporary Mercedes Grand Prix single seater style body was fitted for it’s new owner Mic Jennings.

After recording fastest lap in the rain shortened 1940 Johore Grand Prix Jennings was forced to abandon K3007 at Singapore Docks while fleeing the incoming Japanese invasion. A Japanese Imperial Army Officer commandeered #K3007, after which it appears to have been liberated by MG racer Lim Peng Han who broke it up and kept in storage ‘for the duration’. Jennings was offered the car back after the war but declined. The original #K3007 motor was destroyed in a bombing raid during the ’39/’45 war.

In 1969 MG J2 owner Mike Hawke was sent to Singapore with the Royal Navy and secured the very rusty ex K3023/EX 135 motor with a bottle of whiskey without any knowledge of it’s history. The motor had at one point been buried and then been kept at the bottom of the previous owners garden. It was only when Mike started to dismantle the engine that it’s identity became clear.

Having established the identity of his rusty motor Mike recovered the chassis which had the front cut off with the remains being used for a trailer, the ENV gearbox was discovered being used as a door stop at a veterinarian’s surgery.

After many adventures by 1985 Mike had salvaged enough bit’s and pieces to restore #K3007 to something approximating it’s 1934/37 single seat specification and the the car ran for the first time in just over 40 years under it’s own power and has since recorded 125 mph laps at Millbrook.

Mike says he considers himself fortunate to have discovered, recognised and put back together one of the worlds more historic MG’s.

My thanks to Jeremy Hawke for his time and patience retelling the story of the storied K3, found by his father, seen in today’s photographs at the recent Sunlight Textile Services Pegasus Sprint.

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for the year ahead to all “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” readers and contributors !

Thanks for joining me on this “150 MPH ex POW” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at the first Formula One car that Peter Connew was involved with. Don’t forget to come back now !

Corporate Fudge – MG SA

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In 1935 MG merged with Morris Motors and Leonard Lord was appointed by Lord Nuffield to look after his interests at MG over Cecil Kimber. The plan was for MG to move away from it’s sporty roots and to rationalise it’s model line with Wolseley another marque with in the group.

Kimber recognised that Leonard Lord’s intention to sell a Wolseley with an MG radiator at a premium price was not going to work and persuaded Lord to let him design a distinctive body on a, heavy, Wolseley Super Six chassis.

The new car suffered from corporate indecision resulting in production delays and numerous specification changes including two complete upgrades to compete with the very first, superior, Jaguar which was launched at the same time.

The Saloon body was made in house by Morris, it would later be joined by a Charlesworth open tourer and Tickford drophead Coupé.

Rationalisation meant that a 75 hp Wolseley Super Six derived motor with pushrod operated valves was chosen in favor of MG’s own overhead cam unit leaving the car underpowered much like MG’s earlier 18/80’s.

At £375 the saloon was well appointed with leather seats and a walnut dash, among the options offered was a Philco radio for 18 Guineas (£18.90).

MG enthusiasts did not take too kindly to the new model with it’s heavy chassis and retrograde pushrod engine and many sales were lost to Jaguar as a result of production delay’s.

In all over 2,700 SA’s were built between 1936 and 1939 with 350 of them being exported to Germany.

Thanks for joining me on this “Corporate Fudge” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t for get to come back now !

Worlds Oldest MG – MG 14/28 Super Sports

Buried And Covered In Concrete – MG 14/40 MK IV Sports

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Towards 1927 production of MG’s moved to a new factory in Edmund Road, Oxford and production of the MG 14/40 MK IV commenced, with MG Car Company becoming a legal entity in 1928.

14/40’s were built around bare Morris Oxford chassis, unlike earlier MG’s that were built from completed frames that were striped and rebuilt to MG specifications, as the MG 14/28 had been but were now given MG chassis numbers, MG badges and motors, optimistically, estimated to produce 40hp.

MG publicity at the 1928, London, Motor Show mentions Land Speed Record Breaker Malcolm Campbell as an owner of a 14/40, a model which was struggling to sell at the time in part due to the age of the Oxford chassis and side valve motor underpinning the car.

MG founder Cecil Kimber went to great lengths to differentiate his cars from their Morris inheritance before fitting MG bodies, his alleged obsession with octagons is said to have been frequently overdone.

This Mk IV Sports is one of 135 such vehicles built in 1928 and the only survivor in the UK of a total of just four that are known to exist.

The winner of Best Vintage Car award at the Bristol Classic Car Show, where it is seen in these photo’s, has no history prior to 1999 when it was found beneath a ripped up concrete base of a shed in Gloucestershire.

The disassembled car was found carefully preserved beneath a further layer of gravel complete with it’s guarantee plate and original number plates apparently ready for it’s ground up restoration.

Thanks for joining me in this ‘Buried And Covered In Concrete’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be going Dutch with a Daf. Don’t forget to come back now !

Imshi Chassis – MG 14/28

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The history of the foundation of MG cars as a manufacturer is closely linked to the development of a vehicle, by Cecil Kimber of Morris dealer Morris Garages in 1923, based on a 14/28 Morris Oxford chassis purchased directly from the Morris Factory. In 1927 Morris Garages started registering their cars for the road with the local council as MG’s advertising one such car as being based on the ‘Imshi chassis’. Imshi, Arabic for ‘get a move on’, refers to a news paper journalists six month expedition through Europe and North Africa in a 14/28 Morris Oxford.

MG badges did not appear on the cars with MG bodies and modifications to Morris chassis and motors until 1928 and the blue radiator badge on the 1927 14/28 seen here bears the ‘Morris Oxford’ name. The car, seen here at the Bristol Classic Car Show, belonging to an Early MG Society member, is one of just 10 of the later 290 flat radiator 14/28’s built, the original 14/28 maintained the bull nose radiator from the original 14/28 Morris Oxford chassis.

This car was found in 1989 and the current owner acquired it in 1996 and since proceeded with a restoration to bring the 65 mph car, which cost £350 new, to it’s current condition.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Imshi Chassis’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be featuring a Panhard. Don’t forget to come back now !

MGCC Speed Champion – Kayne Special II

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After selling the original MG J2 with a PB motor Kayne Special, which I looked at last week Colin Cooper started work on Kayne Special II.

Colin began with a scrap 1965 MG B found in Cheshire from which he cut out the engine sub frame and added a pair of chassis rails around which he built up the rest of the car with an under slung rear axle featuring a limited slip differential. Kayne Special II ran on specially made bespoke wire wheels.

The motor was a 4 cylinder MG B unit which was eventually fitted with an HRG Cross Flow cylinder heads and twin 45 Weber Carbs. Colin notes this car, his favorite, was always totally reliable.

Among many successes were winning the 1981 MG Car Club (MGCC) Speed Championship, 1981 Ellison Trophy at Oulton Park, see Frank Halls top photo, the 1979 Kimber Trophy, 2nd 1983 Kimber Trophy at Baitings Dam, see Frank Halls second photo, named after MG founder Cecil Kimber, and several awards for fastest MG in Sprint and Hill Climb events.

Colin said of Kayne Special II it was “a bit of a shed but it didn’t half go, (it was) timed at 115 mph at Blackpool Sprint.”

The car was eventually sold to a sprinting novice and is thought to have been eventually broken up with many of it’s parts going into a road going MG B.

Colin’s third special, Kayne Special III, seen towing Kayne Special II in the photo above will be the subject of next Tuesdays blog.

My thanks to Colin for sharing his memories and photographs and to Tony Gallagher for putting me in touch with Chris Winstanley who kindly gave me permission to use Frank Hall’s photographs of Colin in action at Oulton Park and Baitings Dam.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘MGCC Speed Champion’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

24 04 12 Added Frank Halls photo’s from Oulton Park and Baitings Dam.

Irish Grand Prix Winner – 8/33 MG Midget

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Cecil Kimber’s Morris Garages blossomed into the car manufacturer when it began producing sports versions of the 4 seat Morris Oxford in 1924. After building around 1100 such vehicles by 1929 the MG Car Company found a new market niche for small engined two seat performance sports cars.

The first such car was the M-Type similar to Alex Peacops 1930/31 example seen at Prescott above which was marketed as the 8/33 M.G. Midget which was based on the Morris Minor chassis featuring lowered suspension with a wheel base of 78″ / 1980 mm and track of 42″ / 1067 mm.

The power for the Midget was provided by a 20 hp overhead cam 4 cylinder motor derived from the Morris Minor and Wolseley 10 cars. In 1930 the Midget design, like all those featured today, was upgraded with the Morris rod braking system replaced with a cable operated system and the 20 hp motor being replaced by a 27 hp version. Roger Glister is seen at Prescott driving his 1931 Midget above.

Competition success with Midgets in 1930 included a Gold Star on the Lands Ends Trial, class victories in the Double 12 (hour) race at Brooklands, and Irish Grand Prix, success which were unashamedly used in subsequent advertising campaigns for the MG Midget.

In standard form, like the 1932 #19 above driven by David Rushton at Loton Park, the Midget was capable of 65 mph and 40 mpg. The popularity of the Midget significantly boosted MG production numbers, by 1932, when production ceased, 3,235 Midgets had been produced which included coupé, supercharged and a one off service van variant.

Thanks for joining me on this M-Type edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again for a look at “The Car You Always Promised Yourself”. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring

Tag Archives: Kimber

150 MPH ex POW – MG K3 #K3007

Corporate Fudge – MG SA

Worlds Oldest MG – MG 14/28 Super Sports

Buried And Covered In Concrete – MG 14/40 MK IV Sports

Imshi Chassis – MG 14/28

MGCC Speed Champion – Kayne Special II

Irish Grand Prix Winner – 8/33 MG Midget