The MG Encyclopedia 

People, Places and Things From the World of MG Cars

- A Work In Progress - 

- New Stuff Added Almost Everyday -

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A

Ace Discs - See Wheels.

ADO Number - During the British Motor Corporation (BMC) years - 1952 to 1968, and then through the British Leyland Motor Corporation years - up to 1975, projects given the go ahead for initial investigation were given ADO numbers. At the time the design offices were at BMC's factory at Longbridge, and the abbreviation stood for Austin Drawing Office, but this was soon changed to Amalgamated Drawing Office.
  It was possible for a new MG project to have both an ADO number and an EX number. When a design originated within MG, the design was given an EX number, then if the design went up the corporate ladder to the head office at BMC, and was approved, it was then assigned as ADO number. Oftentimes the design was referred to by both numbers.

Abingdon Pillow - This was a tongue-in-cheek reference, used by MG factory workers, to the energy absorbing dash board used on MG from 1968 to 1971. This was one of the first iterations of safety engineering giving a nod to the new U.S. automotive regulations. 

Angus-Sanderson -  From deep within the arcane files: The Angus-Sanderson was a car produced by the firm of Sir Wm. Angus, Sanderson and Company. The history of this company is one of those snippets of automotive history that does not seem to be all that well recorded. Here is what I have dug up:
  It appears that around 1901, one William Angus, who had been running an axle making firm that had been around since the mid-1800s, branched out and began a coachbuilding company in Elswick, England. By 1907, he was building bodies for such fledgling auto manufacturers as Rolls-Royce and Armstrong Whitworth. Sometime before 1908, his firm merged with another coachbuilder, namely Sanderson's Coachbuilders of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, forming Sir Wm. Angus, Sanderson and Company. Not only did the firm make the bodies, they also acted as sales agents for the various car manufacturers they counted as clients. During World War One, much of the company's efforts turned toward the contract manufacture of military aircraft, for the likes of Armstrong Whitworth and Bristol.
  After the war, the company decided to use the capacity freed up from aircraft building to begin building their own car - the Angus-Sanderson. Like many cars of the era, the Angus-Sanderson was not so much built as it was assembled. Yes, they did make the bodies, however most of the other components were bought from outside firms. For example, the four-cylinder side-valve engine came from Tyler's of London (which apparently was more well known for their lavatory cisterns), the gearbox, driveline and rear axle came from Wrigley's of Birmingham, while Mechin's of Glasgow made the frames. Lucas, of course, supplied the electrics. First offered for sale in 1919, the Angus-Sanderson was generally well received, and some 3,000 examples were built before production was terminated in 1927. Some posit its demise to the cheaper cars then being offered by William Morris.
  So what does this all have to do with MG? Well, as mentioned, one of the suppliers for the Angus-Sanderson was E.G. Wrigley Ltd, of Birmingham, who in addition to the aforementioned components, also supplied the radiator, which was designed by a Wrigley employee named Cecil Kimber. Sure, a rather tenuous connection with MG, but a connection all the same

Arkley SS - So, you want to do something with your old, semi-rusty MG Midget, or Austin Healey Sprite. You could, of course, embark on a full restoration. Or, how about turning it into an Arkley SS roadster? As long as your car is not too rusty, you can, or at least used to be able to, transform it into a sporty little Arkley SS.
Back in 1969, or so, reasonably successful British club racer, and London-based Lotus dealership owner John Britten designed a two piece body panel kit that could be retrofitted to most years of the Sprite/Midget. Made of fiberglass by the Lenham Motor Company, based in Harrietsham, the Arkley SS sported front and rear fenders that were reminiscent of early MG T-Types, although some posit that the Morgan roadster was the real inspiration. After all, Britten also sold Morgans.
Up front, the fenders and hood (wings and bonnet) were one piece, a simple bolt on installation, that could be hinged to open as a whole. In the back, a bit more work was required with some metal chopping required before the one piece panel was bonded in place.
The first Arkley SS was built on a 1959 Sprite Mk I chassis. No one really knows how many Arkley DIY kits were made, but around 1,000 produced in England is a close guess. Sometime in the 1980s, the production molds were sold to an American company, and shipped across the pond. Up through the 1990s, the molds changed hands a number of time, so it is hard to determine how many additional kits were made. Presumably, the molds still exist, reportedly somewhere out in the western U.S.

Anyone have an update?

Artillery Wheels - See Wheels.

B

Black Monday - 10 September 1979. This was the day that BL Cars made public their plan to close the MG factory at Abingdon, effectively ending MG as a brand. Protests, petition drives and other forms of activism were for naught. 

BLAST - Well, of course, driving an MG is a blast, just ask anybody who owns one. However, in this case the word "BLAST" is an acronym  for British Leyland Alcohol Simulation Test. In the ever-increasing and all encompassing safety consciousness of the early and mid-1970s, (yes, mainly coming from the U.S.) the folks at BL came up with an idea to help cut down on the number of drunk driving incidents by preventing an inebriated driver from even getting on the road. BLAST was an ignition lockout system where, before starting the engine, the driver was forced to undergo a visual coordination exercise. A panel on the center console contained eight lights, which would illuminate in a random order when the key was turned. The driver was then required to replicated the order, apparently in a demonstration of sobriety. The sloshed driver would presumably fail the test, and the ignition would be disabled. Developed by Harry Webster, over at Triumph Engineering, the system was installed on the SSV1 demonstration vehicle (please see that entry), but never made it on a production car.

Bozell Jacobs - This U.S.-based advertising firm is credited with the phrase: "The Sports Car America Loved First." It was introduce by British Leyland in 1972 and used at various times until 1980.

British Aerospace - On 12 August 1988, British Aerospace (then BAe, today BAE Systems) bought the Rover Group, the nationalized auto firm that included MG, thus bring the company out from under UK government control since 1975. The price was 150 million Pounds. Part of the deal was that BAe was required to operate the business for at least a period of five years. Fulfilling this stipulation, on 18 March 19, BAe sold the Rover Group - MG included - to BMW, just over 5 years and 7 months later.

British Motor Car Distributors - A San Francisco, California-based car importer formed in 1947 by Kjell Qvale. Please see the entry for Mr. Qvale, below.

British Motor Corporation (BMC) - On 25 February 1952, Morris Motors was merged with the Austin Motor Corporation to form the British Motor Corporation. Although touted as a merger to most observers at the time it was more of a takeover of Morris by Austin.
  A slight change of name occurred on 14 December 1966, when Jaguar was merged, or perhaps more accurately was taken over by BMC, the new company being called British Motor Holdings (BMH). Any discussion as to whether or not this was a take over or a merger soon became moot. On 14 May 1968, the BMH organization itself was taken over by the Leyland Motor Corporation, this new concern being called British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC).
  As a side note: In a rather confusing exercise in corporate organization, there was within the BMC corporate structure what was known as The Nuffield Organization, which had been formed in 1940 by William Morris - later Lord Nuffield - to administer his many commercial interests, including Morris Motors and MG. Although now part of BMC, The Nuffield Organization continued to exist, and MG was ostensibly still a part of this organiztion. It was with the take over by BLMC that the last vestiges of The Nuffield Organization were finally eliminated.

Bullnose - This was a nickname given to the first cars built by Morris, and was based on the shape of the radiator. Some sources also indicate that the nickname was actually Bullet Nose, which was soon shortened to Bullnose. Regardless, most agree that the moniker was not officially endorsed. Morris models that fell into the Bullnose category include: the Morris Cowley and Oxford, as well as the Morris Oxford Six, and a few others, spanning the years 1913 to 1926. Many of the earliest MGs used the Bullnose radiator, including Old Number One - a 1925 14/40 Super Sports, based on a Morris Cowley.
  This was back in an era when many manufacturers would build what was essentially a basic chassis/engine unit, and then top them with a wide variety of bodies. Roadsters, tourers, coupes, saloons, salonettes, etc... are just a few body styles offered to the motoring public. For example, in 1913 the firm of Charles Raworth and Sons Ltd began supplying Oxford bodies to Morris for fitment onto the common Oxford/Cowley chassis.  And, of course, there was often a dizzying number of modifications, both large and small, to the common chassis/engine unit. (If you really want to get confused, simply try to decipher the myriad of early Alfa Romeo offerings.) Some of these bodies were produced in-house, while other were built by outside coach builders.
   This concept was used by Cecil Kimber to produce what many consider the first MG, or at least MG's ancient ancestor. Although in reality this car did not carry the MG name, it is generally acknowledged to be the first car designed by Kimber. Basically, Kimber took surplus Morris Cowley/Oxford chassis and dropped on a custom body he had commissioned from the Carbodies firm, although who actually built these bodies is subject of discussion. The result was the 1922 Morris Oxford Chummy, so called from its cozy, four-seat configuration. Records indicate that 109 examples were built.

C

(The) C. K. Car Company - On 1 July 1935, in a rather odd sort of corporate reorganization, William Morris - now called Lord Nuffield - sold the M. G. Car Company to Morris Motors Ltd, and installed Leonard P. Lord as the managing director of the new amalgamated firm. Cecil Kimber was essentially demoted from the helm of MG and made a general manager. Although Lord and Kimber worked reasonably well with each other, the old days of Kimber being in near complete control over MG were over.
  After this shake-up a group of well-placed London financiers approached Kimber with the idea of starting an new company, with Kimber at the top. The new manufacturer would be called The C. K. Car Company.  Kimber, while intrigued, passed on the idea.

Charlesworth Motor Bodies - Founded in 1907, with works at Much Park Street in Coventry, Charlesworth Motor Bodies - later simply Charlesworth Bodies - was a coach builder of note, building car bodies for a number of firms, including MG, Armstrong Siddeley, Lea-Francis and others. Between 1936 and 1939, Charlesworth built a four-door touring car based at first on the MG SA chassis, then on the MG WA chassis. Records indicate 90 examples were produced. Later, a two-door open sports touring car, based on a MG VA frame, was built. The number of these Charlesworth MG VAs produced is a bit unclear.
  Charlesworth Bodies survived World War Two, and on it to the late 1940s, when it was bought out by Lea-Francis, also of Coventry, in 1948. Lea-Francis closed up shop in 1954, and although it was revived a time or two, never really came back to life.

Crosby, Frederick Gordon (1884 - 1943) - Gordon Crosby was one of the early artists employed by Cecil Kimber to illustrate advertising materials used by the M.G. Car Company. In particular, Crosby produced a number of M.G.-related prints that appeared on the front cover of “The Autocar” magazine in the late 1920s and 1930s.

D

(The) Dancing Daughters Racing Team - For the 1935 iteration of the 24 Hours of Le Mans - 13èmes Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans 1935 - Captain George Eyston managed a three-car team, all of which were driven by women, all of whom, save one, were British. They were given the informal nickname of The Dancing Daughters, after a popular stage act of the day. Although the fielding of an all female team did garner its share of publicity, it should be pointed out that all six were experienced racing drivers, certainly on par with the male drivers they competed against. Driving MG PA Midgets, all three pairs finished the race. Finishing 24 overall (completing 2077.7 kilometers) was Race Number 56, driven Joan Richmond and Australian Barbara Simpson, while coming in 25th overall (2068.3 km) was Race Number 55 piloted by Doreen Evans and Barbara Skinner. Finally, coming in 26th overall (2054.8 km) was Race Number 57, driven by Margaret Allan and Coleen Eaton. The average speed clocked by all three cars was just over 53 miles per hour. Apparently Captain Eyston had an additional car - an MG K3 Magnette - which for unrecorded reasons was not entered.

E

EX Number - EX stands for Experiment or alternatively Experimental. EX numbers were assigned to design projects that originated wholly within MG, regardless of the parent organization. After the formation of the British Motor Corporation in 1952, some EX numbers applied to work being done by MG on behalf of other brands under the corporate umbrella. It should be noted that not all EX numbers referred to entire cars, but could simply be a sub system of a car, a portion of the suspension, for example. The EX number was often followed by a slash and another number, denoting a sequential development of the original. For example, EX-182/38 was one of the four aluminum body MGA racers built for the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans race. EX-182/39, EX-182/40 and EX-182/41 were the other three race cars.

Eyston, George Edward Thomas - Like many former British military officers who retained their rank titles even after they left active duty, George Eyston was usually referred to as Captain Eyston, a rank he earned in the Royal Field Artillery, with service during the First World War.
Captain Eyston was born on 28 June 1897, in the city of Bampton, in the United Kingdom. As a young man, before the war, Eyston dabbled in motorcycle racing. Eyston was studying engineering at Cambridge when the war broke out, whereupon he accepted a commission in the Dorset Regiment. An injury while in the service meant that a career in the military was not to be, so he returned to his studies at Cambridge. One account of his burgeoning interest in automobile racing has it that in 1921, while on a holiday in France, Eyston met an American racing driver by the name of Ralph DePalma, who was using the roads in the countryside around Le Mans as a sort of test track. Inspired, Eyston jumped back into racing. It should be pointed out the Captain Eyston was also a trained engineer, who conducted much of the development work on the cars that he drove. Additionally, he was a fairly well accomplished businessman, who would assume leadership roles in a number of automotive related companies.
While Captain Eyston enjoyed a certain amount of success in normal racing events, driving Aston Martins, Alfa Romeos, Rileys, Bugattis and others, it was the all out world speed record events that he is most well know for, and which brought him into the world of MG cars. Eyston would eventually drive four MGs in his quest for world records. The first of these experimental models was the EX-120, of 1930, followed by the EX127, the Magic Midget of 1921, and the the EX-135, the Magic Magnette of 1934. The final MG he actually drove was the EX-179 of 1954. He also had a hand in the creation of the EX-181, the Roaring Raindrop, although he did not drive it. For a review of all these cars, please see: The MG Car Catalog.
Captain George Eyston was also well known for building and driving a massive, seven ton, twin-engine (Rolls-Royce V12s producing some 5,000 horsepower) Thunderbolt land speed record car, that would eventually clock in excess of 350 miles per hour. Captain George Eyston passed away on 11 June 1979.

F

(Mr.) Fishpool - From the MG Esoterica File. In 1957, Syd Enever, with the help of apprentice draftsman Peter Neal, sketched out an idea for a modern styling exercise based on the MGA. Rather than producing the prototype in-house, Longbridge boss George Harriman decided to send the whole idea, along with an MGA chassis, to the Italian coach builder and design house of Frua (please see this entry). When the completed prototype was returned to Abingdon, Her Majesty's government considered it an imported car, and thus required import duties to be paid within a certain time. The Frua MGA idea was not pursued, and to avoid having to pay duty, the car was scrapped. Mr. Fishpool was the local Customs and Excise officer who certified the Frua MGA was, indeed, destroyed. Now you know the whole story. 

Frua, Pietro -  Pietro Frua was born in Turino, Italy, on 2 May 1913, and as a very young man worked as an apprentice at Fiat, after which, at age 17, he went to work at Stabilimenti Farina. At the young age of 22, Frua was already the Director of Styling at Farina. In 1937, after working for a time with Farina, Frua branched out on his own by starting his own design studio. The war stopped all car related work, and Frua got by designing other industrial and domestic products, a lucrative sideline that he continued even after the war. In 1944, he bought an old disused, bombed out factory building in Turino, which he turned into a body shop.
  While doing well in this field, Frua always wanted to field his own line of cars. Records of the era are a bit confused, but it appears that the first application of his desire was to build a barchetta body, which he dropped onto a Fiat 1100 chassis. From this beginning, Frua was in demand, both coach building bodies in his own shop, as well as working in the design studios for the big manufacturers. Some of his clients were very well known - Renault, Maserati, Fiat, while others were not some much - Ghia, OSCA, Dyna-Panhard. North of the channel, he did design studies for the likes of MG and the AC Car Company. While many of his ideas were one-offs or built in limited numbers, he did have several prolific successes. His first mass-produced concept was the Renault Dauphine - Caravelle in the U.S. - which sold well over 100,000 examples. Another well known idea from Frua's drafting table was the Volvo P1800, although this should more properly be credited to the House of Frua, as his employee Pelle Petterson did most of the work.
  For MG aficionados, the name Frua pops up a few times, most familiarly in what was generally termed as the Frua MGA.
  Pietro Frua passed away in 28 June 1983.

G

G Series MG - Well, there never was an MGG, mostly because the sound of it was a bit silly - Em Gee Gee. I read this in an old MG book, however, there is no notation on who actually made this policy. This could just be a bit of MG legend.

H

(The) Herring Family - Over the long history of MG, it was not unusual for several members of the same family, spanning generations, to work for the company. One such family was the Herrings. The most well-known of the group was Harry Herring, a master modelmaker who worked for MG until he was 73. He built all manner of models - for car development, styling exercises, wind tunnel testing and promotions. Actually, his son John (Jack) was the first to join MG back in 1929, in the body department, with Harry joining up in 1930. Then, in 1950, Harry's grandson John came on board in the trim shop. John had three brothers: Ernie worked in the paint shop, while Tim worked on the production line, both staying until the shutdown in 1980. A fourth brother, Peter, also worked at MG, albeit for a shorter period of time.

Hotchkiss et Cie - Although forever associated with France, the Hotchkiss Company was actually founded by an American by the name of Benjamin B Hotchkiss. Born in Watertown, Connecticut, in 1826, and trained as an engineer, the adult Hotchkiss went on to take over his family's engineering firm. Failing to garner any major interest from the U.S. government for his wares, consisting primarily of armaments, Hotchkiss moved to France, where in 1867, he set up Hotchkiss et Cie, in Saint Denis, at the time just outside Paris. The famous Hotchkiss automatic machine gun, first produced in 1892, was one of the firm's more known products. At the start of the 20th Century, Hotchkiss et Cie also began producing automotive components, for such entities as Panhard et Lavassor, and in 1903 began to produce entire cars of their own.
   With the outbreak of the First World War, and at the behest of a French government concerned over the safety of one of their largest arms manufacturers, Hotchkiss et Cie moved much of their manufacturing north, establishing a factory on Gosford Street in Coventry, England. After the war, most of this factory's capability was swapped over to producing automobile and motorcycle engines. Hotchkiss et Cie did reestablish its presence in France, at the same time retaining its factory in Coventry.
  Many of the earlier Morris cars were an assemblage of various components purchased from outside sources, include engines from Hotchkiss. As his car market grew, in an effort to control costs and ensure supply, William Morris began to buy up many of these manufacturers, which in January 1923, included the Coventry-based division of Hotchkiss et Cie. The new company was called Morris Engines Branch.
  Please also see "Nuffield Mad Metric."

I

(The) Indianapolis 500 - An MG racing in the Indianapolis 500 - well, sort of. Back in the mid-1960s, a man by the name of Kjell Qvale (1919-2013), who was a big British Motor Corporation dealer in San Francisco, California, took the plunge and entered the Memorial Day Classic. Qvale - Mr. Q - had long had his own in-house competition staff, with Joe Huffaker at the helm, and correctly figuring that success on the racetrack would equate to more sales in the show room. What better way to satisfy one's passion for racing, all the while advertising your business, than to enter the Indianapolis 500, one of the greatest races in the world? For the effort, there would be no official BMC factory support.

   For the 1964 500-mile race, Huffaker designed a chrome-moly tubular chassis, powered by 255-cubic inch, normally aspirated, four-cylinder Offenhauser engine (fueled by gasoline) driving a two-speed transaxle, all enveloped in a sleek fiberglass body. The connection to MG came from Huffaker's use of the hydrolastic suspension then in vogue on MG saloon cars. The title of the car - "MG Liquid Suspension Special" - was a nod to this system. Three cars (or perhaps four), which were titled as "Huffaker Offy's," were built to this specification.
  In 1966, Huffaker built four new chassis, this time using monocoque construction techniques, while retaining the hydrolastic suspension. Over the next couple of years, in both types of chassis, a number of different engines were used, including a 168-cubic inch, turbocharged Offenhauser (fueled by alcohol), and a 305-cubic inch, fuel injected Chevy V-8 (unknown fuel, probably gasoline).

  Although there were only seven - or eight - of these racing cars built, there does appear to be a bit of confusion on which one was which, and which one raced when. This is perhaps exacerbated by the seeming lack of a chassis number assigned to the hulls. Based on available sources I will try to endeavor to chronicle these cars correctly, based on the year and entry number. If I'm wrong, please do drop me a note, and we will get things straightened out - thanks.

     1964 - Three, tubular frames cars, all powered by 255-cubic inch Offy's. All sponsored by BMC (Mr. Qvale's company, not the parent BMC) as MG Liquid Suspension Specials:

#48 - Driven by Pedro Rodriguez. Crashed during qualifying and did not run the 500.
#53 - Driven by rookie Walt Hansgen. Qualified 10th, finished 13th, but running 24 laps down.
#54 - Driven by Bob Veith. Qualified 23rd, classified 19th. Dropped out on lap 88 with a burnt piston. Note: This car was originally sold to the Sheraton-Thompson Racing Team, and was to be driven by A.J. Foyt, who did much testing in the new car, and actually turned some darn quick times. However, Foyt was used to the big, front-engine roadsters of the day, and was not particularly happy with the small Huffaker Offy. Sources quoted him a saying that he did not like sitting in what he perceived as a bathtub surrounded by gasoline. Foyt won the 1964 Indy 500 driving an Offy-powered Watson.

     1965 - The same three cars as fielded in 1964. All sponsored by BMC (again Mr. Qvale) as MG Liquid Suspension Specials:

#48 - Driven by Jerry Grant. Qualified 17th, classified 27th. Dropped out on Lap 30 with a failed magneto. This was the car that Rodriguez pranged the previous year. It also had Bardahl as an additional sponsor, and is sometimes referred to as the Bardahl MG. It carried the inscription "Miss Seattle" on the nose.
#53 - Driven by Walt Hansgen. Qualified 21st, classified 14th. Dropped out on Lap 117 with overheating issues. It carried the inscription "Miss Los Angeles" on the nose.
#54 - Driven by Bob Veith. Qualified 10th, classified 24th. Dropped out with another burnt piston. It carried the inscription "Miss San Francisco" on the nose. Note: Now for a bit of a mystery. One source indicates that for the 1965 Indy 500 Hansgen was driving Vieth's 1964 chassis and Veith was driving a "new" chassis. So what happened to Hansgen's 1964 chassis. Does this mean that there were actually 4 tubular framed chassis built? Any ideas out there?

     1966 - Four monocoques, and two tubular frame chassis, entered by various teams and sponsors:

The Monocoque Chassis:
Entered by Mr. Qvale as MG Liquid Suspension Specials. Powered by a 305-cubic inch Chevy V-8.
#67 - Driven by Bob Veith. Caught on fire during practice and did not run the Indy 500.
#63 - Driven by Masten Gregory. Did not qualify for the race.

Note: Walt Hansgen, who presumably (but not confirmed) would have driven Race #63, died on 7 April 1966. Four days prior he crashed heavily while testing a 7-liter Ford GT-40 Mk II, preparatory to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Entered by Gordon Van Liew as Vita Fresh Orange Juice Specials. No mention of MG on these cars. Powered by a supercharged Offy.
#11 - Driven by Bobby Unser. Qualified 28th, finished 8th, but running 29 laps down.
#?? - Driven by Chuck Stevenson. Failed to qualify for the race. Some sources indicated that this car also carried the Race # 11.

The Tubular Chassis:
Entered by Vatis Enterprises. No mention of MG on these cars.
#53 - Driven by rookie Gary Congdon, and now called Valvoline I. Qualified 16th, classified 25th, after being knocked out in a big 1st lap crash. This was Hansgen's 1965 car.
#54 - Driven by Eddie Johnson, and now called Valvoline II. Qualified 29th, classified 7th, after the car stalled on Lap 175. This was Veith's 1965 car.

     1967 - Two tubular chassis entered:

Entered by Vatis Enterprises under Valvoline sponsorship. Powered by turbocharged Offy's.

#53 - Driven by Wally Dallenbach. Qualified 15th, classified 29th, after crashing out on Lap 73
#54 - Driven by Chuck Stevenson. Did not qualify for the race. Sources differ as to whether or not Stevenson even took to the track for a qualification attempt.

     1968 - Two tubular chassis entered:

Again, entered by Vatis Enterprises under Valvoline sponsorship. The same cars as 1967, however they are now referred to a Finley Offy's. Bill Finley was the chief mechanic for Vitas Enterprises, and was known to have made several modifications to the chassis since he began turning wrenches on them back in 1966. Evidently, these mods were extensive enough to warrant changing the name from Huffaker to Finley.

#54 - Driven by Wally Dallenbach. Qualified 12th, classified 17th, after an engine failure on Lap 146.
#94 - Driven by Sam Sessions. Qualified 31st, finished 9th, only 3 laps down. Formerly Race # 53.

     1969 - One tubular chassis entered:

Still entered by Vatis Enterprises under Valvoline sponsorship.

#11 - Driven by Sam Sessions. Qualified 23, finished 12th, but running 37 laps down. Which former Race # (#54 or#94) is uncertain.

There you have it. Again, if you have any corrections I would be glad to hear them - one must keep one's history correct. Safety Fast!

Innocenti 950 Spider and Coupe - An Italian Spridget with an American Twist - Forging things out of metal must have been in Ferdinando Innocenti's (1891 - 1966) DNA, after all his father Dante, was a blacksmith. Before World War Two, the younger Innocenti made a good business making, amongst other metal things, steel tubing, which he used to make new type of construction scaffolding. Then the war came and destroyed his Milan-based factory. After the war, Innocenti rebuilt his business, and soon diversified into the world of transportation. In 1947, his company began producing an economical little motor scooter called the Lambretta, which he named after the Milan suburb of Lambrate, where his factory was located. With his company's solid background in metal fabrication, Innocenti next began making parts for various automobile manufacturers, including Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Fiat.
In the post-war era, importing a foreign car into Italy was an expensive proposition, as the tariff rate was quite high, which made what should have been inexpensive cars just a bit too expensive. So, in 1959, Innocenti made a deal with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) to build certain of their model cars in Italy, thus avoiding the tariff. At first, each car was shipped to Italy as CKD - Completely Knocked Down - kit, to be assembled by Innocenti. Soon, however, Innocenti began making their own body panels, which led to the company actually making unique cars based on BMC mechanicals.
The model we are most interested here is the Innocenti 950 Spider - and later a 950 coupe - which was introduced at the 1960 Turin Motor Show. Initially based on the running gear of the Austin Healey Sprite Mk I, the Innocenti 950's bodywork was all Italian, well sort of. The body was designed by an American named Tom Tjaarda, who at the time was working at Ghia. Innocenti and Ghia formed a joint venture called OSI - Officine Stampaggi Industriale - to build and market the 950 - under the name Innocenti - as perhaps a bit more refined than your basic Spridget. By the time the Innocenti 950 hit the market it was then based on the running gear of the Sprite Mk II/Midget Mk I. As BMC improved the engines and other mechanicals of the Sprite/Midget so too was this transferred to the Innocenti 950. Regarding the engine, however, while the 950 did eventually get the 1098cc A-Series engine - the Innocenti 950 S - for tax reasons it was never further upgraded to the 1275cc unit. A 950 coupe was introduced in 1967 - the Innocenti 950 C - and by the end of production in 1970, some 7,500 Innocenti 950 Spiders and Coupes had been built.

J

Jacobs Midgets, The -   An old friend of John Thornley, William “Dick” Jacobs (1916-1987) began racing MGs in the years after the close of World War Two. Also, after the war, he took over his father garage business - the Mill Garage, in South Woodford, Essex - and soon picked up an MG agency. In the early 1950s, Thornley often asked Jacobs to race factory prepared, works MGs, driving in such prestigious events as the Le Mans 24 hours. Jacobs racing career, as a driver, came to an end when his MGA flipped over at the 1955 Le Mans. Thrown from the car, he just barely survived. After this, still running Mill Garage, he became a team owner and manager.
In 1961, as the story goes (related in his book “The MG Experience”), Jacobs was sitting at his desk reviewing a recent road-test of the Aston Martin DB4GT. Also on his desk was a brochure for the new MG Midget. Thinking of a small GT racing car, Jacobs became enthusiastic we noted that the roof line of the DB4 would look good on the Midget - a fastback, Midget coupe. With a set of sketches in hand, Jacobs went to see Thornley, who was likewise interested in the idea, and turned the project over to Syd Enever, who was running the MG Development Department.
Notwithstanding the addition of the coupe roof, the body design was basically the same as the Midget, although the car, except the standard steel floor pan, was built out of hand formed aluminum panels. This resulted in a car that weighed some 320 pounds less that a stock Midget. No bumpers were used, and a new, more aerodynamic nose, with inset headlamps, was fitted. In an often quoted statistic, when compared with the standard Midget, this new design took 13 bhp less to push the car to 100 miles per hour. Of course, the suspension was tweaked, and the engine prepped to the maximum extent allowed by the rules. Three examples were built, carrying the registrations 138 DJB, 770 BJB, and 771 BJB,
Two of the Midgets (770 BJB and 771 BJB)  were delivered to Jacobs, who’s team began to campaign them in 1962, in both club and international events. The other Midget (138 DJB) was loaned to Scotsman John Milne. It should be noted that all three cars still technically belonged to the factory, and by 1965, all three were back in the factory fold, now with the BMC Competitions Department, which continued to enter them in various races both at home and on the continent. A year later, the cars were sold off to privateers, who kept them on the track for a few more years. All three of the Jacobs Midgets still exist today.

For a more full report on the Jacobs Midgets, please log on to the excellent website: Jacobs Midgets by Max Authers and Martin Ingall.

K

Kimber, Cecil - It would require a full book-length treatment, or at least a long chapter, to adequately chronicle the life and times of Cecil Kimber, certainly more space than we have here. As such we will review the high points of his career, and some of his influence on the early days of the MG Car Company.
  Born on 12 April 1888, in Manchester, he was the son of a local printing machine representative. Completing a relatively normal schooling, geared mainly towards accountancy, Kimber went to work in his father's business. Kimber's aptitude in mechanical things, in his teenage years mainly motorcycles, was all essentially self-taught. After working for his father, by all reports a rather bitter relationship, he did stints for the Sheffield-Simplex car company, AC Cars, Martinsyde Aircraft and by 1918 was with EG Wrigley, a gearbox and axle manufacturer in Birmingham. Following the near collapse of Wrigley in 1921, Kimber moved his family down to Oxford, and had the good fortune to sign on as sales manager for Morris Garages. As the saying goes, "The rest is history."
  Soon Kimber began branching out from his simple sales manager position, into design work using Morris cars as a basis for his ideas. For the next nearly two decades Kimber's leadership saw the creation of the MG Car Company, an ever more successful series of both road going sports cars and outright racing cars - although William Morris was not the greatest of racing fans - the founding of new MG factories, the charter of the MG Car Club, and well, the list goes on.
  With the outbreak of World War Two, the production of MG cars ceased and the factory space was turned over to the production of wartime needs. In 1940, a man by the name of Miles Thomas was appointed managing director of the newly founded Nuffield Organization, which included the MG Car Company. (The Nuffield Organization was named after the title assumed by William Morris - Lord Nuffield.) The story of the working relationship between Thomas and Kimber varies with the source, but apparently Thomas did not like the fact that Kimber had independently secured a contract for the idle MG works to build aircraft components, namely fuselage sections for the Albemarle bomber. Meeting with Kimber, Thomas let it be known that he did not think Kimber still had a place in the Nuffield Organization any longer. So was Kimber sacked or did he resign? Also open for speculation was how much William Morris had to do with this situation.
  After he left MG, Kimber worked for a few companies, including Charlesworth Motor Bodies and Specialloid Pistons. He died on 4 February 1945, as the result of a freak train accident. Again, the contribution of Cecil Kimber to the MG Car Company is worthy of more coverage than given here. Please refer to The Reading Room section for a list of books on MG, most with fine chapters on this great man.

L

London - Land's End Trial, 1925 - For most MG people this was the first race won by any MG. It should be pointed out, however, that this was not intended to be a race at all, but more of a reliability run, with the idea of consistent and controlled driving paramount. This, of course, was the event in which  Cecil Kimber drove in his custom Morris Cowley, that has for years been known as Old Number One. He, along with co-driver Wilfrid Mathews won a Gold Medal, and many reporters after that claim this was a victory. In a way it was, but it was more of an acknowledgement of the consistency required to achieve the medal, as many other entrants in the Trial also won Gold Medals. Below is the text of an article that appears in "The Motoring World" section of the 8 April 1925 edition of The Register newspaper:

LONDON-LAND'S END TRIAL.
New Regulations in Famous Easter Run.

  With a view to improving the Easter-tide London-Land's End trial which is one of the most sporting events of the year, and is the chief trial in the English Motor Cycling Club's programme, the rules this year have been revised considerably. For example, cars up to 2-litres engine capacity are admitted. That eliminates the anomaly of one class with a limit of 1,100 c.c, and a second class with a limit of 12 h.p. by R.A.C. formula.
  To prevent excessive speed on the lower part of Porlock Hill, and to avoid risk of congestion in the narrow part and skidding at the first bend, thus obviating the risk of accident and preventing the cutting up of the road, it has been decided to stop all cars just below the first right-hand turn on Porlock Hill, and to restart them at a given signal, timing them subsequently over half a mile, which should add considerably to the interest of the climb.
  The club has also adopted a fair method of determining the best performances as the gold medal winners have to be within 10 percent, of the average created by the fastest 50 per cent, of the cars in each class, the figure being determined, therefore, after the trial. The average in the top half of the class is found. Then, to win a gold medal a climb must be done in not more than eleven-tenths of such average time displayed by the upper division in each class.
  Chains will be barred entirely, which will not only relieve the crews of the cars of considerable work, but will make things more difficult if the surface of Lynmouth Hill is in bad condition. Lynmouth, Beggar's' Roost, and Bluehills Mine Hill will be non-stop sections if a gold medal is to be acquired, and two out of the three hills must be climbed to obtain a silver medal.

M

 MG - Well, it's actually rather amazing how many people don't know what this abbreviation stands for, many thinking it stands for Morgan Garages. This assumption is actually quite reasonable, seeing there is a Morgan brand of British car. I hope I am not insulting any of MG fans out there. Anyway, MG stands for Morris Garage, or alternatively or Morris Garages or The Morris Garages.
However - and this is a big however, Cecil Kimber had other ideas as to the meaning of MG, as noted in the brief article that appears to the right.
  There has been much discussion on the proper way to write the term "MG" - should it be MG or M.G.? It seems that in the early days it was more often seen as M.G., the company being born from Morris and his garages. Indeed, Cecil Kimber preferred the “full stop” version - M.G. Over the years, the periods have been dropped, although exactly when is also up for discussion. By the time I started driving MGs, the periods were gone so I am going with "MG." I may be wrong - if so, drop me a line.

MG Car Club - The genesis of the MG Car Club (MGCC) can be traced back to probably 5 September 1930, when a man by the name of Roy Marsh, a London-based M-Type Midget owner, posted a letter to the magazine “The Light Car and Cyclecar” extolling the virtues of a single marque owner’s club. Mr Marsh asked the question: “Now Midget enthusiasts, what about an MG car club?”
Many answered his call when, on 12 October, some 340 MGs owners, in their cars, turned up for the first meeting held at the Roebuck Hotel. Later, it was John Thornley, then secretary of the group, who asked Cecil Kimber for permission to use the MG moniker for the club. It was also Thornley, who joined the MG company in 1931, that brought the MGCC under the sponsorship of the factory.
Of course, any decent club needs a publication, and to this end the MGCC began publishing it own journal called “The MG MaGazine,” which began in May 1933, and was subsidized by the company. This publication lasted until March 1935, when it was replaced by “The Sports Car” the following month. This magazine had the subtitle: “The Official Journal of the MG Car Company and the MG Car Club.” Publication ceased in October 1939, for obvious reasons. During the war the club’s news and announcements appeared in other commercial automotive magazines. It took a few years after the end of the war for an MGCC publication to get underway again, however in April 1959, the first issue of “Safety Fast” - using the popular MG slogan from the late 1920s - came out as the factory sponsored MGCC membership magazine. And, of course, it is still being published today.
After the war, the MGCC got back into the swing of things and worked to increase a membership that had dwindled to just over 350 MG owners. Membership increased, regional club centres in both England and overseas were rekindled and a club sponsored racing program was revitalized. All this still with the backing of the MG Car Company. With the formation of the British Leyland Motor Corporation in May 1968, the MGCC lost its factory backing and was spun off in to an independent organization, and it remains as such to this day.

An excerpt from the MGCC’s current webiste:
The MG Car Club is the original club for MG owners, based in the heart of MG country, Abingdon in Oxfordshire. We are a not for profit organisation, with nine staff, and a worldwide membership of 50,000 enthusiasts. We welcome every type of MG, from the very first cars to the very latest.
The MGCC was formed in 1930 by a group of enthusiasts who met for their first meeting at the Roebuck Inn in Hertfordshire. Soon afterwards the MGCC was taken into the Abingdon factory. Our strong factory connections mean we possess a wealth of historical material at our headquarters.
The Club’s Head Office, Kimber House on Cemetery Road, Abingdon, is situated on the edge of what was once the MG Car Company’s headquarters and factory – where Cecil Kimber (Managing Director from 1935-1945) and John Thornley (General Manager and subsequently Managing Director) successfully ran one of the world’s most well-known and well-respected car manufacturing companies. In 2017 the Club won the prestigious honour of ‘National Car Club of the Year’ at the National Car Club Awards.
If you own an MG, like MGs, want to know more about MGs, I encourage you to join up - you will not be disappointed. Here is the link:
MG Car Club

 MG Car Company Ltd, The - Registered in March 1928, and incorporated on 21 July 1930, The MG Car Company Ltd was formed to concentrate on building cars, as separate from William Morris' other engineering activities. Morris was the governing director, with Cecil Kimber as managing director. Rather confusingly, The MG Car Company Ltd was sold to Morris Motors, another of Morris' concerns, on 1 July 1935.
  The 25 February 1952 merger of Morris Motors and the Austin Motor Company formed the British Motor Corporation. With Morris Motors came The MG Car Company Ltd. Then, on 14 December 1966, the British Motor Corporation merged with Jaguar to form British Motor Holdings, of which MG was still a portion. Then - yet again - on 14 May 1968, British Motor Holdings was itself taken over by the Leyland Motor Corporation, the new firm being called the British Leyland Motor Corporation. Throughout all these corporation maneuvers, the production of MG cars continued, albeit in different divisions of the overall corporation.

MG Mini - A design concept that dates back to arounf 1967, whcih was basically a Mini body shell with a different bonnet and a distinctive MG grill. The grill design, however, dated back to earlier MG T-Types, and was thought by many as somewhat dated and not in tune with the new 1960s and future 1970s designs. The MG Mini was not built.

(The) Magic Midget - The Public House: Back in 1974, the Abingdon-based brewer Morland & Company built a new public house on Preston Road, in Abingdon-on-Thames, not all too far from the MG works. At the time, Morlands had been in Abingdon for some 200 years, while MG had been in the town pushing 50 years. Enlisting the support and spirit of the local folks, many of whom were MG employees, Morlands held a contest to name their newest pub, which was actually the first new pub the company had built since the end of the War. And, of course, the winning entry was clearly going to be something MG related. The winning entry was “The Magic Midget,” a nod to that well-known MG racing car of the 1930s. The Magic Midget was opened on 12 December 1974, the first pint being drunk by Donald Stokes - Lord Stokes - who at the time was the head of British Leyland Motor Corporation, which counted the MG company as one of its properties. Knowing Lord Stokes managerial bias against MG - in favor of Triumph, and others - it is a wonder he was even allowed in the pub at all.
Still in operation today, The Magic Midget pub - renamed as simply “The Midget” in 2002 - is located on the corner of Preston Road and Midget Close.

(The) Mac Lac Special - The Mac Lac Special was an MG TA campaigned just after World War Two by Australian Dougal Andrew McLachlan (1917 - 1971), who for some reason often went by the nickname "Wild Bill." Originally owned and raced by the team of Alan Crago and John Sherwood, the MG TA was essentially a stock machine, but with the fenders removed. Bought by Wild Bill McLachlan, the car was fitted with a custom single-seater body and called the Mac Lac Special. Wild Bill raced several events in 1946 and 1947, finishing a few in the top ten. Then while practicing for the 1948 edition of the Australian Grand Prix, held on the Point Cook Royal Australian Air Force base near Melbourne, the Mac Lac Special came to grief. A few days prior to the event, McLachan was running the course, and was at speed when an Air Force truck pulled out into his path. Wild Bill threw the car into a slid, smashed into the truck and rolled a couple of times. He emerged with a broken shoulder, but the Mac Lac Special was a goner.  About the only thing left to salvage on the car was the engine, and since McLachlan was also a speedboat racer, the MG TA’s engine found its way into one of his speedboats. Although the Mac Lac Special was not a record setting car, its engine helped McLachlan to set several speedboat class records.
I have yet to find an actual photo of the Mac Lac Special, nor have I found out if the engine/speedboat happens to still exist. Update me, please, if you know - thanks.

Midget - 1961 to 1980 (The Last MG Midget) - This iteration of the “Midget” name by MG was based on the Austin Healey Sprite - informally called either the Frogeye or the Bugeye, depending on which side of the Atlantic Ocean you happen to be on. Although internal changes were minimal, at least at first, outward changes to the Sprite to create the Midget included fixed front wings (fenders), a new bonnet (hood) and a genuine, easily accessible boot (trunk). Over the next couple of decades there were a number of relatively moderate engineering upgrades and increases in engine capacity, as well as improvements in the creature comforts. And, of course, there were the more drastic modifications in the 1970s to meet U.S. safety standards.
On 3 October 1979, the first of the last batch of 500 MG Midgets started down the assembly line. A few months later, on 12 December 1979 (or 7 December according to another reference), the last of 224,843 MG Midgets built (the last MG bearing that moniker), an MG Midget 1500 - vehicle number G/AN6 229526, was completed. It was one of 500 commemorative cars that while built in 1979, were titled and thus considered 1980 model year cars. All were painted black, with either a tan or black interior, and sported a dash plaque denoting that there were rather special cars. While these cars were intended to celebrate the 50 years of MG production in Abingdon, they will also forever be associated with Black Monday - 10 September 1979 - the date that BL Cars announced that it would be shutting down the MG Abingdon factory. This last ever MG Midget was immediately incorporated into what would later become the British Motor Museum - part of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust - at Gaydon, Warwickshire.

  Note: Ok, so British Motor Heritage (BMH) records indicate that Austin Healey Sprite + MG Midget production equaled 352,732 units, of which 224,395 were Midgets. Elsewhere on the BMH website they list that 224,817 were Midgets. Hmmm? The folks over that the MG Car Club list some 224,843 as Midgets. I have an idea - buy me a pint or two, and we can discuss which source is correct. I am really not dwelling on the numbers, I just want you to buy me a beer.

Mille Miglia (Coppa Mille Miglia) - Although some of the original organizers objected to using the word “miglia,” which translated in the word “miles,” instead of the more geographically appropriate “kilometres,” in the title of their race, others prevailed and the race has always been known as the “Mille Miglia” - one thousand miles (although in its original form is was 1,006 miles long). Plus, perhaps Mille Kilometres was not quite so poetic, especially considering the course was about 1,618 kilometres long. Interestingly, according to some versions, the route was selected before the name. Running from Brescia to Rome and back, the roughly Figure 8 shaped route turned out to be right around 1,600 kilometres. The organizers then figured that 1,600 kilometres equals around 1,000 miles, thus the Mille Miglia was christened. There is also some speculation that “miglia” was a reference to the old Roman mile (which equated to 1,000 paces of a marching Roman soldier), later called the Italian mile. Whatever the case - the Mille Miglia it is.
First held on 26-27 March 1927, the Mille Miglia was a classic, cross-country sports car race held over public roads. It was organized by a number of automobile enthusiasts from the Brescia, Italy area, all members of the Automobile Club of Brescia. Like other such events, there were many different entry classes, usually based on engine displacement. There was an overall winner, as well as a winner in each of the sub-classes - a race within a race. Additionally, there was a trophy that was awarded to the best team finish.
In 1933, an MG sports car team was entered in the Mille Miglia for the first time, although not specifically sanctioned by MG or William Morris. Headed by The Right Honourable Earl Howe, the team consisted of the following three MG K3 Magnettes (supercharged, 6 cylinder), entered in the Sports 1,100cc Class:

Race Number 39: Captain George Eyston/Count Giovanni “Johnny” Lurani. Chassis K3003, Registration JB1475

Race Number 41: Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin/Bernard Rubin. Chassis K3002, Registration JB1474

Race Number 42: Lord Howe/Hugh “Hammy” Hamilton. Chassis K3001, Registration JB1472

Held over 8-9 April, the overall winner was Race Number 98, an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM, entered by Enzo Ferrari’s Scuderia Ferrari, and driven by Tazio Nuvolari and Decimo Compagnoni, with a time of 15 hours, 11 minutes and 50 seconds. As for the MGs, the team took a One-Two in their class. The Eyston/Lurani team took the first place in class (21st overall) with a time of 18 hours, 1 minute, and 4 seconds, while right behind was the Howe/Hamilton team in second place (22nd overall), with a time of 18 hours, 2 minutes, and 37 seconds. Unfortunately, Brikin/Rubin’s K3 dropped a valve and had to withdraw. The MG team was awarded the trophy for the best team effort.
A good indication of the competitiveness of the little MGs was that the fact that they bested a number of other Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Mercedes and Maseratis.

Morris Engines Branch - Formed in 1923 when William Morris bought out the Coventry factory of Hotchkiss et Cie. As Morris bought out more companies, such as Wolseley in 1927 and Riley in 1938, each company's engine department was folded into Morris Engines Branch. 

 Morris Garages, or alternatively The Morris Garage, or The Morris Garages - In 1902, Mr. William Morris opened, in a rented livery stable, a small facility to produce bicycles and motorcycles. The building was on the corner of Holywell and Longwall Streets, in Oxford, and was called The Oxford Garage, with a large banner on the side of the building noting: Morris Cycleworks, Cycles & Motors Repaired.  As his business grew, which now included maintenance and repair of customer cars, Morris bought and then rebuilt the stables on Longwall Street, and in 1910, renamed it as The Morris Garage. It is generally accepted that Longwall was where William Morris sold his first car - a Morris Oxford. This car, although it did not carry the MG brand, is by many considered the ancestor of all MG cars.
   In 1913, with the addition of an automobile showroom located on Queen Street, Oxford, the company was renamed The Morris Garages. Several additional facilities followed. At this early stage, The Morris Garages were a multi-faceted concern, producing mainly motorcycles., but with a growing and ever more important sideline of auto repair.

Morris-Léon Bollée - In 1895, in his hometown of Le Mans, France, Frenchman Léon Bollée, who descended from a family that was in the steam engine industry, built his first vehicle. Called a Voiturette, it was a three-wheel, tandem two-seater that was powered by a one cylinder, 3-horsepower engine. With that impressive amount of power, the Voiturette was surprisingly peppy. A four-wheeled car, with a modern four-wheel independent suspension, was introduced in 1899. By 1903, sales were brisk enough to warrant building a new factory at Le Mans. Léon Bollée passed away in 1913, and the running of the company was taken over by his wife. During World War One, the factory was turned over to the production of military machines. After the war, car produce resumed, but the Léon Bollée line of automobiles had become somewhat dated, and sales fell off.
Meanwhile, William Morris was finding it difficult to sell his cars in France, facing high import duties, as well as a certain level of loyalty by the French to buy French cars. So, in 1924 to get into a better position to sell cars on the continent, Morris bought out the Léon Bollée company. Although they were building a home grown car, the new company - Morris-Léon Bollée - found it difficult to ramp up sales. Even though they were primarily made in France, the fact that the car was still just a Morris product made it a difficult sell. Still, at one time some 50 Morris-Léon Bollée cars were rolling out of the factory each week. To add a bit of perspective, the Cowley factory was turning out 1,500 cars a week. A paltry 50 cars was not enough to justify the expense, and production ceased in 1928, with the company was sold off in 1931.

Morris Oxford and Cowley - 

Morris, William Richard - 1st Viscount Nuffield, GBE, CH, FRS (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) - Like several of the key figures in the history of MG, William Morris’ biography is much too extensive to record in a short piece presented here. Instead, below is a list of various articles published over the years about the man and his car company. Click on the title and enjoy.
”Certain People of Importance” by A.G. Gardiner (Jonathan Cape, London, 1926)
”Kings of Commerce” by T.C. Bridges and H. Hessell Tiltman (Crowell, New York, 1928)
An excerpt of a book review for “The Life of Lord Nuffield” by P.W. S. Andrews and Elizabeth Brunner that appeared in the December 1955, issue of the publication “Labor and Industry in Britain” (British Information Services, 1955)

N

NI 91 - This was the registration number plate of Cecil Kimber's 1912 Singer 10 automobile. The "NI" was actually an Irish registration code, and it is not certain how Kimber obtained it for an England-based car. Even back then there was numerous police speed traps lurking behind the odd bush or rubbish bin in hopes of catching the more enthusiastic driver, of which the young Kimber could be counted among. One theory - or perhaps legend - posits that Kimber chose the NI 91 registration because it looked very similar to the registration "N 191," which was a proper English registration. It is not know if, or how many times, the real owner of N 191 was contacted by the police in regards to his or her driving style. Kimber retained the registration, and applied it to his later 1915-vintage Singer 14. Of course, this could all be just an entertaining legend.

Nuffield Mad Metric - When the First World War broke out Hotchkiss et Cie (please see the Hotchkiss entry) relocated much of its manufacturing capacity to Coventry, England. This included bringing a lot of their machinery and tooling with them, including thread cutting taps and dies, which happened to be in the French metric thread. This was an unusual thread, not quite like today's metric threads. Nuts and bolt heads were also of a French metric specification.
  When MG bought out the Coventry-based Hotchkiss et Cie factory, thus forming the Morris Engines Branch, all of this tooling and machinery stayed in place. MG management deemed it cost prohibitive to convert all this equipment over to the standard British fastener specification, so they kept the unusual French metric thread but modified the nut and bolt head dimensions so that the current stock of hand tools could still be used. While the threads were still the odd French metric, the heads were good old British Standard Whitworth. As such, whether you were a factory employee, a professional mechanic or your average British back shed wrench turner, your current tool kit still worked. Later on, this conglomeration of specifications was informally labeled "Nuffield Mad Metric."
  In the early 1950s, with MG now under the British Motor Corporation, a large number of Austin-based components began to be used in MG cars. These Austin components, mostly engines and gearboxes, used what it called Unified Fine (UNF) and Unified Course (UNC) threads, which was an American-based specification. In the U.S. these were known as American Fine (ANF) and American Course (ANC). Similarly, the nut and bolt head dimensions were American based, being measured "across the flats." For example, a 1/2 inch bolt was 1/2 inches across the flats of the bolt.
  Records indicate that the last MG to use the Nuffield Mad Metric bin of bolts was the 1955 MG TF1500.

O

Osberton Radiators Limited - A radiator factory that counted Morris as its only customer. It was bought by Morris in 1922, and renamed Morris Radiators.

P

Q

Qvale, Kjell - Born in Trondheim, Norway in 1919, Kjell Qvale (pronounced shell kah-vah-leh) was 10 years old when immigrated to the U.S. with his parents in 1929, settling in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from the University of Washington, Qvale went to U.S. Navy flight training, was designated a Naval Aviator, and flew during World War Two. After the war, he turned his attentions to the automotive industry, first buying a Willy's Jeep dealership - for the sum of $8500.00 - in Alameda, California and then a year later, in 1947, establishing a company called the British Motor Car Distributors, across the bay in San Francisco
   Regarding this entry into the world of British cars, as the story goes, Qvale had been attending a business meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, meeting a man who had the U.S. sales rights to the British-built James motorcycle. While waiting for his contact to arrive Qvale sighted his first British sports car, an MG TC, and was captivated by the machine. He was quoted as saying that the MG was a: "goofy-looking little car." The driver of the MG, who happened to be the person he had come to meet, gave him a ride. Qvale enjoyed the experience, so he came home and started his new company, and began a life-long involvement with British cars, and sports cars in general.
   Qvale's interest in cars was multi-faceted. He not only imported MG, but also Austin Healey, Aston Martin, Porsche, Maserati, De Tomaso, Audi, Volkswagon, among others, and at one point was bringing into the U.S. 10 different brands of British, Italian and German cars. He was also big into racing, either the building of cars or the fielding of racing teams or the organizing and sponsoring of events. (Please see the entry on the Indy 500 MGs.) On a couple of occasions he tried his hand at building road cars. In 1970, he bought an 85% stake in the nearly defunct Jensen Motor Ltd car company (Qvale was a big Jensen dealer in the West Coast), and with the help of Donald Healey, produced the Jensen Healey sports car. Even though the Jensen Healey only saw a production run from 1972 to 1976, it was the largest selling Jensen of all time. In 2000, he teamed up with De Tomaso to produce the Qvalle Mangusta, a nod to the original Mangusta built between 1967 and 1971. The Qvalle Mangusta was built between 2000 and 2002, selling 284 examples worldwide. It should be noted that this was the return of a De Tomaso-built car back to the U.S.

  Kjell Qvale - Mr. Q, to his friends - passed away on 1 November 2013, at the age of 94. A life like his is certainly worth a book-length treatment, which fortunately for us a couple of books have been written. The first, published in 2005, is an autobiography titled "I Never Look Back, My Story," while author Kevin Nelson penned a book titled "Lunches with Mr. Q," in 2012. Great reading, and still available if you dig around a bit.
  One final Kjell Qvale quote: "I got involved with an MG, once you get hooked, like I did with a TC in 1946, there's no way out." True, very true.

R

Registrations - Oftentimes, especially back in the olden days but certainly still applicable today, British cars wore the same registration numbers - or number plates - for their entire life span. As such, certain well known cars were referred to by these numbers. For example: Nigel is chatting with Ian, when Nigel says: "Did you see that ABC 123 is back out on the circuit?" Of course, Ian knows exactly what particular car ABC 123 refers to, and replies: "Splendid." 
Initiated in 1904, the British licensing system was based on a logical issuance of a combination of letters and numbers, whereupon the letters would indicate a geographical region, and the numbers - 1 through 9999 - simply a sequential series. For example the single letter “A” went to the London area, so registration plates could be A 1 through A 9999. When the alphabet was gone through once, a double letter was issue, and example being “AA” for Southhampton. Naturally, when all the single and double letters were issued - around 1932 or so - a three letter registration was issued. In this case the number ran only three digits, as the maximum number of letters and digits could be no more that six total. If a letter/number combination was returned and cancelled, it could then be issued to another car. Around 1953, or so, the triple letter/triple digit registration had been gone through, so it was decided to simple reverse the order - digits first, then letters. This also applied to double letter/triple digit registration - i.e. DG 1881 could be swapped around and issued as 1881 DG. Then in 1963, necessity required a seventh character be added, in this case a letter suffix. Although most registrations stayed with the car through changes of ownership, for a fee a person could keep a registration and transfer it from car to car. The registration A 1 is still valid, and has been “bought and sold” a number of times.
  Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule. Sometimes, especially when it came to racing cars, the registration could  be swapped from one car to another, which causes considerable headache to automobile historians trying to match chassis numbers with registrations. 
  Below is a list of some of the more famous - and some not so famous - MG registrations. I wonder how many of these cars still exist. Got a photo of one - send it in and we'll post it here.

     6, 7 and 8 DBL:  This was a trio of works MGB roadsters, although they were usually run sporting hardtops, prepared for the 1963 racing season. Out of the factory they were all painted red, with the hardtops finished in white. One premise surrounding these cars was that be fairly close to the production machines anybody could buy off the showroom floor. They were, however, originally fielded with specially tuned engines supplied by Morris Engines Branch, which had a higher compression ratio, racing camshafts, and a Weber 45 DCOE side-draft carb. The exhaust was purpose built, and the gearbox a a close-ratio unit. Most of these parts were available for purchase though the MG Special Tuning department.
     Two of the cars made their racing debut at the Sebring 12 Hours, at Sebring, Florida on 23 March 1963. Under a private team - BMC, at the time did not endorse racing -  with the imaginative name of Ecurie (Team) Safety Fast, 6 DBL was driven by Denise McCluggage and Christabel Carlisle, while 7 DBL was piloted by Jim Parkinson and Jack Flaherty. Unfortunately, due to lack of testing back in the UK, a problem with oil sump baffling did not manifest itself until the cars were on the race track, and both engines burned out their bearings, forcing the cars to retire. After the race 6 DBL was sold to a private party, while 7 DBL and 8 DBL continued with the factory team for a number of years. For the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, 7 DBL was fitted with a distinctive streamlined nose cowl to give it a bit more straight line speed. Again, entered by a private team, 7 DBL finished 1st in the 2-liter GT Class, and scored a 12th overall, at the hands of Alan Hutcheson and Paddy Hopkirk.
     Of the three "DBLs," 6 DBL and 8 DBL both still exist and are in fine condition. 7 DBL, however, was written off in May 1964, when it crashed while competing in the Scottish Rally, driven by the team of Donald and Erle Morley. 

      FC 7900: Of course - this is "Old Number One." While Old Number One is a very popular moniker, it is not exactly accurate, being more of a legend created by later publicity folks than an actual sequential beginning of the MG line. It is a subject much discussed among MG enthusiasts. Perhaps the Old Number One title came from a statement reportedly made by Cecil Kimber alluding to this car as, "my first MG." Then again, perhaps not. In any case, this singular MG certainly dates back towards the beginning, and is a fine example of what is took back then to be considered an MG. Specifically, construction of this car began in the spring of 1924, when workers at Longwell began modifying a Morris Cowley chassis to specification drawn up by Kimber, including changing the rear frame side members and springs, new Morris Oxford brakes and a special overhead valve Hotchkiss engine. For much of the rest of 1924, the frame did not receive much more attention. In March 1925, however, work began again with Carbodies of Coventry building a slender two-seat body, which was finished in what was called "shop grey." The entire car being completed in time for the Land's End Trial, Easter weekend 1925. Kimber, along with co-driver Wilfrid Mathews, finished the event with Gold Medals, although what that actually means is unclear. Shortly thereafter, Kimber sold the car to a friend in Lancashire, and it was ultimately bought back by the MG Car Company in 1932. What it did during the interim is subject to much speculation. Upon this return to MG, the car was christened Old Number One, again more by the publicity department than anyone else.
      Interestingly, there were two other MGs  - not sure of the type - entered in the 1925 Land's End Trial - one driven by Russell Chiesman and the other by R.V. Saltmarsh - as well as a marshaling MG driven by Billy Cooper. Both Chiesman and Saltmarsh also qualified for Gold Medals.

      LBL Series: After the delayed development of the MGA, stymied by Leonard Lord's preference for the Austin Healey 100, things finally started rolling again in late 1954, with a June go ahead to build the new MGA for the 1955 model year. Previously, between 1952 through 1954, BMC had taken a hiatus from the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and from all racing for that matter. However, towards the end of 1954, the Competition  Department was opened, under the helm of Marcus Chamber, and it was decided to enter three examples of the new MGA in the 1955 24 hour race. The desire to showcase the MGA by running near stock production cars was thwarted when the entire MGA program was slowed due to delays in body production. Thus, four hand-built, aluminum-bodied MGAs - coded EX-182 - were produced (registered as LBL 301 through LBL 304), and entered in the race as "prototypes" vice "production" cars.Interestingly, the original documents for the EX-182 referred to the car as an "M.G.A."  (For some great vintage footage - from the British Pathe Archives -  of the 1955 24 Heures du Mans, including some scenes with the MGAs, click here.)
      LBL 301: (EX-182/38) - Race Number 41 - was driven by Jonnie Lockett and Ken Miles, who finished 12th overall and 5th in class - bested by a trio of Porsches and an Osca. Later that year - on 17 September - with newly profiled front wings, new Girling disc brakes all around, and a powered by a prototype Morris Engines 1,489cc twin overhead cam engine, LBL 301 was enter in the RAC Tourist Trophy race, run on the Dundrod circuit in Northern Ireland. It was forced to withdraw after the custom-made intake manifold started to develop cracks, which destroyed the fuel/air mixture going to the engine. (Click here for a link to the British Pathe Archives site, and watch the news footage of this race. At about the 1:30 minute point you will see an MGA go by. I'm not sure if this is one of the EX-182 cars. Great footage, anyway.)
     LBL 302:  (EX-182/39) - Race Number 42 - was driven by Dick Jacobs and Joe Flynn. On lap 26, Jacobs was at the helm, going through the White House corner (Le Maison Blanche), when, as he later recalled: "I wasn't concentrating enough and went into the ditch." The car flipped and started on fire. Jacobs was badly injured, to the point that BMC flew in a special medical team just to bring him home. It was several months before he could even walk, let alone drive again, and at the behest of friends and relatives, he never raced again.
     LBL 303: (EX-182/40) - Race Number 64 - was piloted by Ted Lund and Hans Waeffler, who finished 17th overall and 6th in class.
     LBL 304: (EX-182/41) - no Race Number - was a development, practice and spare car.

     MG 1: Of  course, the most appropriate registration for any MG. This registration was originally issued to University Motors in 1930, and was applied to an MG sold by the firm, although what type of MG remains rather vague. Over the years, the MG 1 registration was "lost" until 1958 when Marcus Chambers saw it on a Vauxhall. BMC - MG's parent company at the time - bought the Vauxhall, and transferred the registration over to an MG Twin Cam, then to a Midget and then, in 1973,  to the MGB GT owned by John Thornley.
     MG 2 through 8000: Actually, this batch of registrations includes MG 1, as noted above. MG 1 through 8000 was issued by the Middlesex County Council to the London-based University Motors. These registrations were applied to cars sold by University Motors from March 1930 until March 1949.

UMD 534F: This car was a Mark One MGB that was campaigned in the 1968 London to Sydney Marathon (10,000 miles in ten days), by Jean Denton and Tom Boyce. Prior to this, Ms. Denton raced the lightly prepped car in various races and rallies. With the entry in the 1968 Marathon, a team made up of Denton and Boyce, a long with Tony Denton (Jean’s husband) and Pete Smith, pulled the car into a rented mews lockup where they completed several modifications, mostly to improve the robustness of the car. Denton and Boyce successfully completed the rally, in 42nd place overall. In the next few years UMD 534F was used in a few other ultra-long range rallies, after which is just faded from the scene. Fast forward to 2015, when the car was discovered in a junkyard, in terrible condition. Rescued by the MG Car Club, UMD 534F was fully restored, mostly by volunteers, and appears at it was back in 1968.

     UMG 400: An MG TD prepared to race in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. Using the Armstrong-Whitworth wind tunnel at Coventry, Syd Enever designed a new streamlined body to sit upon the MG TD chassis. Coded EX 172, this car was, in part, the genesis for the MGA. It was prepared for George Phillips, who raced it along with co-driver Alan Rippon.  The car burnt out a piston on lap 80, and was retired.

And Finally...A Few Honorable Mentions:
  While these may not be MG cars, any British car enthusiast worth his or her salt should know these. One wonders if any of these cars still exist. Got a line on one - drop me a line. Cheers.

  731 HOP: This was the registration of an Austin Cooper S that John Drake drove in several episodes of the great British spy TV show Danger Man, known as Secret Agent here in the colonies. Star of the show Partrick McGoohan can be seen zooming around London city streets in such episodes as Fish on a Hook - first shown in the UK on 14 November 1964.
  KAR 120C: Another Patrick McGoohan series was The Prisoner, which followed on the heels of Danger Man. Although McGoohan never confirmed it, many fans believed the main character, known only as Number 6, was actually John Drake. In the opening sequence, as well as in a couple of the episodes, Number 6 is seen driving a Lotus 7, with the registration KAR 120C.
NI 91 - This was the registration number plate of Cecil Kimber's 1912 Singer 10 automobile. The "NI" was actually an Irish registration code, and it is not certain how Kimber obtained it for an England-based car. Even back then there was numerous police speed traps lurking behind the odd bush or rubbish bin in hopes of catching the more enthusiastic driver, of which the young Kimber could be counted among. One theory - or perhaps legend - posits that Kimber chose the NI 91 registration because it looked very similar to the registration "N 191," which was a proper English registration. It is not know if, or how many times, the real owner of N 191 was contacted by the police in regards to his or her driving style. Kimber retained the registration, and applied it to his later 1915-vintage Singer 14. Of course, this could all be just an entertaining legend.

Riley - It seems that more than a few pioneer automobile manufacturers can trace their history back to a two-wheeled vehicle, namely the bicycle. Popular history records that William Morris, of our beloved MG heritage, began his legacy at the age of 15, working in a bicycle repair shop. Not satisfied with this wages Morris left the shop to start his own. And the rest is history.
Even further back there was a fellow named William Riley, Jr. (1851-1944), who in 1870, at the age of 19, began running the family’s silk weaving business, all the while giving in to his passion for cycling, riding to his heart’s content in and around his hometown of Coventry. Tending to the weaving looms, however, gave him a solid grounding in mechanical devices.
Meanwhile, also in the town of Coventry, there was a company called Bonnick & Co. Ltd, a bicycle manufacturing firm founded by Arthur Bonnick in 1885, that by the late 1880s was falling on hard financial times. In steps avid cyclist William Riley, who bought out Bonnick in 1890, and later on 23 May 1896, formally launched the Riley Cycle Co. William Riley, Jr. had five sons - Victor, Allan, Percy, Stanley, and Cecil, all of whom would eventually become part of the business. Indeed, it was efforts among these sons, much to the consternation and reluctance of their father, that propelled a simple bicycle company into the manufacture of world class automobiles.
William, it seems, was not a big fan of the idea of the automobile that was being championed by his sons. He did, however, agree to the addition of an internal combustion engine on some of his bicycles, and thus in 1899, Riley Cycle Co. began to market a motorcycle, or a “motor-bicycle” as they were called back then. Soon, motorized tricycles and quadricycles were added to the line up. Finally, in 1907, William realized the future of the automobile, and somewhat reluctantly, but urged by his sons, allowed the company to begin their manufacture. Production of all the various powered cycles ceased, while the production of pedal bicycles ended in 1911. In 1912, a name change from Riley Cycle Co to Riley (Coventry) Limited signaled the demise of the cycle business, but oddly not the emphasis on motor cars. Rather, the new company would concentrate on the production of automobile wheels, which was actually quite lucrative. The Riley sons, however, set up a couple of subsidiary companies, one called the Riley Motor Manufacturing Co. Ltd, to continue the nascent auto building scheme. While William would always be part of the company, he stepped down from the chairmanship in 1923, a position taken over by his son Victor.

The first Riley car is generally acknowledged to be a four wheel, belt-driven “Voiturette,” powered by a single cylinder engine. It was built in secret around 1897, mostly by Percy. Only one was ever built. The first production Riley, a two cylinder tourer, dates to 1905. After the inevitable pause in auto production caused by World War One, in 1918  - now back to being called Riley Coventry Ltd - the company’s post-war catalog of small reasonably high performance cars, as well as chassis and engines, was well received by the motoring public. Racing, rallying and trials successes with Riley cars, many of them factory sponsored, was common. The word “Rileyability” was coined to convey the stout nature of the Riley. Innovations, many directly developed by Riley, were continuously incorporated into their cars. Riley’s order book was looking good. Until, that is, the late 1930s.
In September 1938, Riley was “Nuffieldised,” when William Morris bought the company, and incorporated it into the Nuffield Organisation, which included Morris, MG, Wolsley and now Riley. It seems that by 1937, Riley Coventry Ltd was not doing well, although the cars were still very well thought of by customers. There were a number of subsidiary companies - like Autovia Cars, which built limousines - some of which were a drain on the accounts. Riley’s own catalog of cars was quite extensive, with numerous designs, models, and options that caused production costs to rise. In September 1938, facing grave financial instability, Chairman Victor Riley had to turn the company over to the solicitors.
The name “Riley” was carried on for several decades, by whoever owned the portfolio of car companies at the time. Of course, most of the cars were often just badged engineered examples of other cars. In the late 1940s, early 1950s, there was a half-hearted effort to market Rileys in the United States, which was soon abandoned. In 1969, the Riley line of automobiles was finally rationalized out of production.
Over the years, the trademark of Riley was passed around to various firms, some of which actually announced a return to production. This never happened. Then, more recently, a company called Riley (Coventry) Limited was incorporated in the UK on 20 February 2019, its sole director being a man named James Henry Riley (born in 1975). The paperwork notes the Nature of Business as “Manufacture of Motor Vehicles.” The paperwork also notes that since it incorporation the company has been “Dormant.”

S

Sankey Wheels - See Wheels.

Side Valve (sv) Engines  - Many early British engines used what was called a side valve configuration, where both the intake and exhaust valves are mounted within the engine block, as opposed to an overhead valve (ohv) engine, where the valves are mounted in the cylinder head. One of the reasons that the side valve configuration stuck around so long, despite its obvious performance limitations,  was the restrictions brought about the RAC Treasury Rating Scheme (please see this entry). Larger cylinder bores meant more tax liability, which  tended to cause engine designers to opt for smaller cylinder bores. Overhead valves, especially large diameter valves, by their nature require larger cylinder bores, which meant a more powerful engine, but in turn meant the car would be taxed at a higher rate. This quandary was avoided by using a side valve configuration.

 Spridget - A hybrid word combining Sprite and Midget, essentially the Austin Healey Sprite and the MG Midget. The word Spridget was used both by the motoring public and the folks who worked in the plants. One source indicates that this word originated during a time when a certain number of Austin Healey Sprites, were out of necessity, fitted with MG Midget grilles.

Skinner's Union (SU Carburetors) - In 1900, George Herbert Skinner carried out some initial design work on a new type of carburetor. In 1904, he was joined by his brother Thomas, and in 1905 some of the original patents for what we know as the SU carburetor were filed. Another brother, John, joined the two in 1906. Originally, the carburetor was called the Union Carburetor, but this was soon changed to the SU Carburetor, meaning Skinner's Union, for the partnership of the three brothers. Skinners Union was bought by Morris in 1926, during a time when Morris was buying up many of his outside suppliers.

T

Tickford - Strictly speaking, this would be the Tickford Abbey, a walled estate in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. Within the walls of Tickford Abbey there was a small coach work building firm by the name of Salmons and Sons, established by one Joseph Salmons in  1820. In 1925, the firm developed a new folding fabric top, which they called the TIckford All Weather, and thus bodywork with this new top installed were often simply referred to as Tickford coach work. The firm became associated with MG in 1936 when Salmons and Sons built a Tickford body to be installed on an MG SA chassis. Other TIckford bodies were later built for VA, WA, TA and TB chassis. So numerous were Tickford bodies intended for MG frames that Salmons and Sons had a separate facility at their factory called the MG Shop. Chassis units were delivered from MG to Salmons and Sons for installation of the Tickford coach work.
  The Salmons and Sons/Tickford and MG relationship did not survive World War Two, although the company, now called Tickford Ltd, did restart after the war. MG, however, was not a customer. 
   After a number of different owners, Tickford - now called Aston Martin Tickford - and MG did reestablish a relationship in 1983, with the advent of the Tickford MG Metro, although this car was not a big seller. It was essentially an MG Metro with some new bumpers, a spoiler, a new dash and leather seats. Not really an exercise in custom coach work. 
   In 1984, Aston Martin sold the TIckford name to CH Industrials, and once more MG was associated with the name TIckford. This time, in 1985, Tickford was tasked with the completion work of the MG Maestro Turbo. This would all come to an end when CH Industrials went out of business in 1991.

Treasury Rating  - Back in 1910, the Royal Auto Club, working under the auspices of the British government, instituted a road toll tax policy based on a computed horsepower (hp) rating. This was referred to as the Treasury Rating of the car. The relatively simply formula was based on three variables, namely the bore of one of the engine's cylinders times the number of cylinders, with a 2/5 factor figured in because of the acknowledged low efficiency of early motors. This formula produced what was called the tax hp of the engine. Other variables, such as carburetion, valve configuration, supercharging, etc..., were not taken into account. Thus the car was taxed on the computed hp rating not the actual hp produced.
   With this system in place, early British cars were often called by their particular manufacturer's name along with a numeric suffix. For example, one of Cecil Kimber's first cars was a 1912 Singer 10, the number "10" indicating the RAC tax hp rating being 10 hp. Later, Kimber upgraded to a Singer 12. One outcome of this rating scheme was that many pre-World War Two British engines were of relatively small bore, but in an effort to increase engine capacity, of longer stroke. Remember that stoke was not one of the three variables in the computation. Thus, for the time, slower reving engines were the norm.
   As mentioned, while this tax formula was appropriate for 1910, it was soon proven a bit outmoded as engine development progressed and actual hp produced rapidly increased. Still the tax formula remained in effect. Manufacturers soon began to publish two numbers when advertising their cars. The first number was the tax hp, while the second number was the actual hp produced. This second number was often referred to as brake hp, indicating the actual hp produced was verified, at least sometimes, on an engine brake apparatus. This verification may or may not be quite accurate. Take for example the venerable "Old Speckled Hen," of 1927, which was an MG 14/40 Featherweight Fabric Saloon. The "14" indicating the tax hp rating, and the "40" being an indication of the actual hp produced, even though the engine actually only produced a bit over 20 hp. The second number was often seen as an optimistic target rather than an actual value. Another example was the 1928 MG 18/80 Mk 1, which at some 25 actual hp never came close to the advertised 80 hp.
  Although clearly an inaccurate way of taxing a car, the Treasury Rating tax hp system remained in effect until 1 January 1947, when it was replaced with a tax based on an actual cubic measurement of engine displacement.

Triple M - Generally inclusive of the MG Midget, Magna and Magnette cars built from 1929 through 1936.

U

V

W

Wheels - There is nothing better than a nice, clean, well-maintained set of wire wheels on one's MG. The modern MG enthusiast can opt for wires, steel wheels, or perhaps a set of alloy performance wheels. Back in the pre and post-World War One era motorists in the UK saw a variety of different wheels types being manufactured, some of which were based on concepts dating back to the previous century. Generally, in the earliest years the "wire-spoked" wheel, mounting a solid rubber tire, was the first, if not only, choice. It was an idea adapted, of course, from the cycling industry. These wheels were acknowledged as being quite spindly and were soon not particularly appropriate for the developing automobile. And, speaking of tires, another option at the time was called the "cushion" tire, which was a hollowed out solid rubber tire - it was not inflated - which provided for a bit of relief from harsh road conditions. In the early days, true pneumatic tires were originally seen as unreliable for the motor car.
  Then, as cars became larger, heavier and faster, many manufacturers opted for what was soon known as the artillery wheel. Using the hub plates (the inner part that mounts on the axle hub), thick wooden spokes and the wooden felloe (the outer rim) of the type found on artillery gun carriages, manufactures mounted a metal rim on the wooden felloe, on which was mounted a now more developed and reliable pneumatic tire. Of course, the wood used to make these wheels had to be of the best variety, and the care and maintenance had to be spot on for these wheels to last. Vagaries in climactic conditions could wreak havoc with these wheels. Clearly, almost any motor car could run at speeds greater than your average artillery piece being towed across the battlefield, so the wooden artillery wheel would eventually fade away. Still, for general motoring, the use of the wooden artillery wheel was for a long time quite popular and actually persisted well after World War One.

  With the improvement to the wire-spoked wheel, particularly with the tangential wire wheel (where sets of spokes were mounted in parallel to opposite side of the hub) the use the old wooden artillery wheel began to wane. It should be noted that there was an all-metal adaptation of the wooden artillery wheel, which was to see use for years into the future - more on this below. As is the natural automotive progression, auto racing was the arena that saw the first widespread use of these improved wire wheels. As noted in one 1921-vintage text (Modern Motor Car Practice by W. H. Berry): "S.F. Edge [Australian Selwyn Francis Edge] won the [1902] Gordon-Bennett trophy on wooden wheels [driving a Napier], but he was also among the first to use the wire-spoked wheel, and he established the fact beyond all question, weight for weight, it is stronger and generally an improvement on any other type of wheel." As a side note, Edge was also an active businessman, gaining full control over AC Cars in 1922, which he then lost a few years later.

  Another type of wheel to come out in the pre-war years was similar to the wooden artillery wheel, but was made entirely out of pressed steel. One prominent manufacturer of this variety of wheel was the Joseph Sankey & Sons Company, and soon this type of wheel, regardless of who made it, was simply called a "Sankey wheel." Early experience with these steel artillery-type wheel often saw cracks developing in the metal, whereas wood was seen a more flexible thus less prone to cracking. The debate continued on.

  Of concern to any motorist of the era, regardless of which wheel was mounted on his car, was keeping these wheels clean, as well as preventing the build up of mud and snow in the wire or spokes. Even to this day, the care and maintenance of wire wheels can be a daunting task. To help alleviate the chore of tending to wheels the motorist of the time had the option to install steel discs, also known as "mud discs," on the outer and sometimes inner sides of the wheel. These were the distant forerunner of the modern wheel cover. Some auto enthusiasts of the era used these discs to cover up and hide the old artillery wheels, often viewed as not the most attractive of wheels. One of the manufactures of these discs was Cornercroft Ltd, of Coventry, a metal engineering firm that also marketed their "Ace" line of automotive accessories. So like the Sankey wheel, any wheel disc, regardless of the vender, was soon simply called an "Ace disc." Some folks liked these discs while others didn't. One 1921 reviewer noted: "Opinions differ as to whether the efficiency of these discs off-set their unsightliness, but they were certainly coming into very general use just prior to the War." For the later MG motorist, Cornercroft marketed what was called the "Ace-Mercury Wheel Disc," a wheel cover complete with a simulated wheel nut. There is at least one company still producing wheel discs today.

  Finally, there was the pressed, or stamped, steel wheel, although in this period they were seen primarily on industrial vehicles and trucks as they tended to be heavier than the wire-spoked or artillery-type (wood or steel) wheel. However, the pressed steel wheel was certainly stronger than the wire-spoked wheel and less costly to make and maintain. Also, the pressed steel wheel was more adaptable to a split rim configuration, thus allowing much simpler mounting of the tire. Versions of the pressed steel wheel looked rather like the "Ace disc." Rather oddly, one reporter stated that if the motorist so desired the pressed steel wheel could have fake spokes painted on it, or even other strange designs like concentric circles - like an archery target. Other options included cutting holes in the pressed steel wheel to make it lighter and to give the appearance of spokes. One more idea making the rounds [pun intended] was to take a pressed steel wheel, cut holes in it to approximate spokes and then bending these spokes so that they acted as springs, thus supplementing or completely eliminating the motor car's suspension. Right! Some tests indicated that at speeds over 20 miles per hour, these springed wheels proved rather impractical.

WIPAC - For years, the advertisements for WIPAC automotive accessories were commonplace in almost every motoring magazine then in print. First of all there was an American company called Witherbee Ignitor Company - a manufacturer of various automotive electrical components founded way back in 1892 - which later changed its name to the Wico Electrical Company. Then there was a British company called Pacy Sparkplugs.
In 1926, Wico Electrical Company opened a branch facility in London, and by the 1940 was producing components for the British aviation industry. As a war expedient, Wico’s London facility was bought by the British government. At the close of the War, Wico and Pacy merged to form the Wico-Pacy Corporation, then based at Bletchley. Soon renamed WIPAC, and relocated in 1959 to Buckingham, the company was well known for a diverse variety of automotive accessories, including a huge range of lighting and other electrical components.
Today, WIPAC is still around - now part of the Carclo Corporation - marketing their products to the public as well as a number of automobile manufacturers.

Wisdom, Ann - When Ann Wisdom was born in May of 1934, it was into a motoring family. Her father was Tommy Wisdom, a well known motorsports writer as well as a keen racer and rally driver. He competed in no fewer that 23 Monte Carlo Rallies. Ann’s mother, who was named Elsie, but went by the nickname Bill, was also a competitive driver in a pre-war racing arena that was dominated by men.
It was a mutual love of horses that brought Ann into contact with Pat Moss, and the two soon began to campaign a Triumph TR2 in local rally events. Their first big international rally, driving an MGA, was the RAC Rally held in 1956, and their first big success was an overall fourth at the 1958 running of the Liege-Rome-Liege rally. It was in the same year, with a number of top tier finishes in the books, that the team of Moss and Wisdom were crowned European Ladies Champions. As member of the BMC Works rally team, Moss and Wisdom rallied in a number of different works cars, including an Austin Healey 3000. While driving a Mini Cooper, the duo scored an outright win at the 1962 Tulip Rally.
Also in 1962, Ann - who always went by the moniker Wiz - married Peter Riley, who was also a well heeled rally competitor. After the win at the above mentioned 1962 Tulip Rally, Ann decided to retire from the sport and raise a family, although she did compete with Moss a few more times.
During their competitive tenure, the rally team of Ann Wisdom and Pat Moss practically dominated the Ladies Class in international rally event, while most of the time competing on a equal basis with the men’s teams. Ann passed away on 14 October 2015.

Wolseley Motors Ltd - In 1887, Dublin, Ireland-born (on 16 March 1837) Frederick York Wolseley established the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company, Ltd. in Sydney Australia. Two years later, in order to market his mechanical sheep shearing equipment in England, Wolseley moves to Birmingham and founds Wolseley Engineering, Ltd., appointing Herbert Austin, who had been working as a foreman in his Australian workshops, as his plant manager. Both Wolseley and Austin had an interest in automobiles, and began to tinker with various ideas, the result being the first Wolseley-built car, namely an 1896 one-off three-wheeler. Frederick Wolseley passed away on 8 January 1899, but the company he founded continued on under his name.
   In 1901, after producing some 100 cars, Wolseley sold the automobile portion of its business to Vickers Son and Maxim, Ltd. (heavily into arms manufacturing), which continued to build cars under the original Wolseley name, changing it in 1914 to Wolseley Motors Ltd. Herbert Austin stayed on for a few more years, before leaving to found the Austin Motor Company.
   For almost two decades Wolseley built vehicles ranging from fire engines to truck to railroad cars. Engines were produced for everything from tractors to blimps to submarines. During World War One, Wolseley built Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines under contract, thus giving the engineers at Wolseley considerable experience with advanced engine concepts. When a new Wolseley factory at Drews Lane, Ward End, Birmingham, was established it housed a dedicated engine shop.
  Post-war, Wolseley cars, and in particular their engines, were seen as cutting edge, but rather expensive, as compared to the competition. Despite such a diverse catalog, Vickers leadership did not like the ledger numbers and in 1926, put Wolseley up for sale, with William Morris getting into a heated bidding war with Herbert Austin. Morris won out in the end, with some correspondents surmising that the 730,000 pounds Morris paid was way too much, and concluding that in any case Morris would have paid almost any amount in order to beat out Austin. Other bidders included General Motors.
  Wolseley's Adderly Park factory, in Birmingham, was renamed Morris Commercial Cars. In 1935, the former Wolseley factory and engine plant at Ward End was closed down, with all of its engine work transferred to the Morris Engines Branch, in Coventry. In 1949, the Adderly Park factory was shuttered and manufacturing was moved to Cowley. As a make, Wolseley remained a viable offering, and was continued through the BMC and early British Leyland years. The last Wolseley automobile was built in 1975.

X, Y and Z