Tag Archives: MG

Single Year Production – MG PB

Introduced in 1935 the MG PB was an upgrade of the MG PA featuring a larger 939 cc / 57 cui over head cam motor that produced 43 hp and drove the wheels through a non synchromesh gearbox.

Externally the PA and PB are differentiated only by the radiator grill which features a honeycomb pattern on the PA and vertical slats on the PB, the latter pattern would remain an MG feature right the way through until the early 1960’s.

MG PB’s were entered in the Le Mans 24 hours in 1935, ’37 and ’38 scoring a best 12th place finish in 1938 with Claude Bonneau from Belgium and Mme Anne Itier from France at the wheel of the formers car. Ernest Harewood won handicap events at Goodwood with his PB chassis #PB0528 in 1952 and 1953.

526 MG PB’s were manufactured from 1935 to 1936 when the model was replaced by the easier to drive and maintain MG TA.

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

Some Synchromesh – MG VA

In 1937 the MG VA succeeded the MG N-type I looked at in last weeks MG Blog.

VA’s were fitted with a twin carburetor 54 hp 1548cc / 94 cui straight 4 motor that sans twin carburetors was shared with MG’s parent companies Morris 12 and Wolseley 12/48 models.

The motor was attached to a four speed gearbox some of which had synchromesh on the top two gears but most of which had synchromesh on the top three gears.

The VA was available with either four door saloon, 4 seat tourer, like the 1938 model seen here or drophead coupé bodies, further Tickford drophead Coupés and 4 seat tourers, distinguished by spare wheels mounted ahead of the passenger door were also offered.

With the windscreen folded down a tourer could accelerate to 50 mph in under 16 seconds and reach a top speed of over 80 mph.

MG ceased production of the VA in 1939 and it was replaced after the 1939/45 war by the Y-type in 1947.

Hidden Tank – MG NA

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14 01 13 Errata the original photo’s posted in this blog were of an MG KN and will be re posted on 22nd January 2013 on this link, meanwhile the photo’s on this link are of an MG NA as originally intended, sincerest and humble apologies for any confusion caused.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The MG N-type Magnette open tourers were manufactured from 1934 to 1936 and replaced the K-Type built from 1932 to 1934. N-Types came in two distinct forms the 1934/35 NA as seen here with a honeycomb radiator grill and the 1935/36 NB which featured vertical slats in the radiator grill.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The 56 hp six cylinder 1271 cc / 77.56 KD motor, derived from the Wolseley Hornet was first seen on four of the twenty K2 models built and features twin carburettors.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol
In the photo above the bicycle style cables which operate the front drum brakes can be clearly seen emerging from the chassis on their route toward the top leading edge of the brake drum.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

N-Types have a more sophisticated chassis, that is wider at the rear, than the earlier simple ladder frame seen on the K-Type.
MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The body of the N-Type is insulated from the chassis by the use of rubber pads which minimise the transmission of vibrations from the suspension and the engine through the chassis.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Note the NA has rear hinged ‘suicide doors’ while the later NB had front hinged doors.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Ergonomics was still in it’s infancy when the N-Type was designed.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

For example the ignition key is conveniently placed in front of the passenger in case he or she needs to turn off the ignition if the driver is going too fast.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The gearbox has four forward gears and a reverse but no synchromesh which means the engine revolutions must be carefully matched with that of the speed of the car in order to avoid painful graunching when changing gear.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

From the rear N-Types can easily be distinguished from the earlier K-Types by the fuel tank which is hidden by the rear body work.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Some readers may remember the ‘Bellvue Special‘ was based on an N-Type chassis.

MG NA, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

In all 745 N-types were manufactured in total from 1934 to 1936 which included a handful of closed Airline Coupé’s.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Hidden Tank’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow to welcome a new photographer to GALPOT. Don’t forget to come back now !

Goodwood Revival 2012 – #2 MGs

Given that I have been blogging about MG’s most Tuesdays since at least January I don’t suppose it is that surprising that I noticed so many MG’s at Goodwood at the weekend. Here is a cross section of what I saw in the classic car park and a couple from the race track.

Oldest of the MG’s I saw was probably this 1933 MG K3 driven by Howard Maguire, it was in fact one one of two that appeared during practice for the Brookland’s Trophy on Friday.

What looks like an MG J2, above, with its cycle type mudguards, turns out to be a 1934 MG PA which is still used in competition.

The easiest way to externally differentiate an MG PA from an MG PB are the vertical slats of the PB’s grill which can be clearly seen on the 1936 PB seen above. The PB also has a 950 cc motor against the 847cc of the PA.

Like the MG PB the MG VA has not appeared in a GALPOT blog before, but will appear in the coming weeks so I’ll spare any further details until then.

I don’t have a year for the MG TC above but it was built somewhere between 1945 and 1950 being the first MG model to go into production after World War II.

From 1950 to 1953 the MG TC was replaced by the MG TD, like the 1950 example above, which used much of the running gear of the TC but the chassis and suspension from the MG Y-Type Saloon / Sedan.

Rupert Keegan and Julian Thurgood shared this MG ZA Magnette for the St Mary’s trophy races. For some reason it is incorrectly described in the programme as a Mk 3 Magnette Farina with a 1840 cc motor.

Identifying the the vehicle above I have noticed a major error in my MG A 1600 Mk II blog, the photo’s I used were all of an MG A 1600 without the distinctive lower grill seen on the MG 1600 Mk II above. This error has now been corrected. The car seen above comes from The Netherlands and I have been unable to identify the year of manufacture which will have been between 1960 and 1962.

Surprisingly this is the first non fedral spec Midget I have come across since I started collecting photo’s for ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ the example above was built in 1965.

Rounding out this review of MG’s at Goodwood is this 1967 MG B Roadster which has been retrospectively fitted with a Rover V8 motor that was only made available from the factory with the MG B GT Coupé body between 1973 and 1976.

Thanks for joining me on this “Goodwood Revival 2012 – #2 MGs” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some of the Continental Curiosities at Goodwood over the weekend. Don’t forget to come back now !

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #4 – Avenue Drivers Club

Last Sundays Avenue Drivers Club meeting filled Queen Square with another staggering selection of motor vehicles.

This 1968 Vauxhall Viva SL 90 has some go faster stripes, but not just any go faster stripes, these are replica’s of those that were originally supplied as part of the over the counter Brabham tuning kits that were available from 1968 to 1971 when the HB Viva was in production.

Like so many popular cars you do not notice them until they are almost all gone. This 1983 Lada is one of a fast disappearing breed, first time I have seen one slammed, modified with extreme lowered suspension.

This is certainly the first Toyota GT 86 I have ever seen on the road, it comes with rear wheel drive and even more unusually a 4 cylinder boxer engine !

Continuing the sports theme was this 2007 Caterham 7 with a 50th Anniversary Paint option.

Among the vintage vehicles present this 1931 Alvis Silver Eagle sold with the strap line “The Freedom of the air comes to the road with the Silver Eagle”

Staying with an ornithological theme further round the block I found this 1936 Riley Nine Falcon Special.

Only 25 Crossley 2 Litre Sports Saloons were built this one, chassis and engine #16/103 was the third built in 1934, and is thought to be the only one that is still road worthy.

Cadillacs are rarities in Britain what ever the age this is a Pininfarina designed 1988 Allanté Roadster, the only option available for it when new was a ‘cellular phone’.

Harking back to the zenith of the Muscle Car Era was this 1968 Dodge Charger, about the only option missing was Miss Daisey Duke !

A little humour from the owner of this Harley Davidson Road King.

A couple of months ago I met Rich and Matt and related their tale of an adventure going to fetch a left hand drive Volvo 121 from Sweden, this is one of Matt’s cars a tidy 1971 MGB GT.

Finally as it was time to head home this 1977, Chrysler powered, Bristol 412 came purring past.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #4” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. I hope you will join me again tomorrow with the first of my Goodwood Revival 2012 posts. Don’t forget to come back now !

International Favorite – MG Magnette ZB

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There are six MG’s models in three model groups which have had been marketed with Magnette name :- the K and N types built from 1932 to 1936, the Wolseley based ZA and ZB types built from 1953 to 1958 and the BMC Farina bodied Mark III and Mark IV built from 1959 to 1968.

Today’s 1957 Magnette ZB, seen earlier this year at the 33rd Bristol Classic Car Show, is the fourth iteration based on the Wolseley 15/50 built from 1956 to 1958.

The Magnette ZA was launched in 1953 with a cut down body similar to the Wolseley 14/40 launched earlier the same year. The only interchangeable panels between the two models, and those of the later ZB, launched in 1956 and Wolseley 15/50 are the front doors, roof and boot lid.

Gerald Palmer was responsible for the detail differences between the ZA and Wolseley 14/40. The ZA would became the first unitary monocoque constructed MG without a separate chassis.

The ZB, seen here, features a 64 hp motor, up from 60 hp on the ZA, with a bigger carburetor and higher compression ratio than the original British Motor Corporation (BMC) B- Series motor used for the ZA, was capable of 86 mph with a rest to 60 mph time of 18.5 seconds.

With advertising advertising benefits like “Spots-car Performance, Family-car Comfort, Small-car Economy” and a strap line that ran “Style and luxury combined with the nimble roadability that has made the MG and international favorite” the low slung ZB outsold the Wolseley 15/50 BMC stable mate by 3 to 2 with 18,524 being built from 1956 to 1958.

Thanks for joining me on this “International Favorite” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a Brooklands legend. Don’t forget to come back now !

One and a Quarter Litre – MG YB

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After MG had been taken over by Morris plans were made for the new acquisition to offer four ranges of vehicles , which would be become known as the “W”, “V” “S” and “Y” model lines that were to be built for sale with either 4 seat closed saloon or 4 seat open touring bodies.

The smallest MG Y series was the last in the range to be developed in 1939 powered by a 1.25 litre / 76.27 cui 4 cylinder motor with a single SU carburetor.

Gerald Palmer was responsible for the design of the new car whose, body draw’s heavily on the Morris Eight Series E four-door bodyshell in pressed steel but with an MG radiator grill, swept tail and wings / fenders added. The body of the MG Y was mounted on a separate chassis, one of the first to be designed with cutting edge independent front suspension.

When “Y”Type was launched at the 1939 Earls Court motor show the sales literature boasted “A brilliant new Member of the famous MG breed. This new One and a Quarter Litre car perpetuates the outstanding characteristics of its successful predecessors – virile acceleration, remarkable ‘road manner,’ instant response to controls, and superb braking. A ‘lively’ car, the new One and a Quarter Litre provides higher standards of performance.”

However almost soon as the model was announced plans to manufacture the MG “Y” Type had to be indefinitely postponed thanks to the commencement of the 1939 – ’45 war. Eight years after it’s first public appearance the “Y” Type went into production in 1947.

In 1952 the YA saloon / sedan, was upgraded with smaller 15″ inch wheels replacing the original 16″ spec, a new Lockheed brake system, front anti roll bar and stiffer shock absorbers all round.

1031 YB saloon’s, like the 1953 model featured today, were manufactured between it’s introduction in 1952 and the end of production in 1953 when the aging “Y” Type was replaced by the MG ZA Magnatte for 1954.

Thanks for joining me on this “One and a Quarter Litre” edition of Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. MG blogs will be returning to their usual Tuesday spot next week. I hope you will join me for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !