One last car from the illustrious history of MG. I somehow missed the MGA in my recent broadly chronological sequence, so here it is. Produced between 1955 and 1972, the sleek MGA marked a complete break from its more traditionally styled predecessors. This one, in Old English White, was snapped at the NEC Classic Car Show last year, and has a few choice under-the-skin upgrades such as a five-speed gearbox.
I’m pleasantly surprised at the positive early reviews coming in for the MG Cyberster (what a silly name). Although the car has a few weird quirks and affectations (the scissor doors are out of place, and those arrow taillights…ehh), the platform itself appears solid and amenable to future tuning.
The thought of going canyon-carving in a silent EV roadster is honestly very appealing.
As well as introducing MG versions of its Rover saloons and hatches, in 2002 MG Rover also revamped the MGF sports car, which was rebadged as the TF. The most visible change was a slightly more aggressive frontal treatment. But under the skin, there was a stiffer body shell and the replacement of the previous hydragas suspension with coil springs. Snapped at the 2023 NEC Classic Car Show.
Today, we’re stepping away from the current sequence on MG with the most dramatic Jaguar ever made, the XJ220 - although there is an interesting MG connection. This is the XJ220 prototype which had 4WD and a Jag V12 engine. The production version instead got rear-wheel drive and a development of the V6 engine used in yesterday’s MG Metro 6R4. Those fancy scissor doors were dropped for production too. Snapped at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon.
After yesterday’s ADO 34, here’s a slightly later attempt to come up with a Mini-based MG sports car, the Targa-style ADO 70. This was designed in the UK but the prototype was actually built by Michelotti in Italy. They seem to have used the left-over green paint from the ADO 34. This one didn’t make it into production either. Pics taken: British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
Today, probably the best known of all MGs, the MGB. Over its eighteen year life between 1962 and 1980, over half a million roadsters were made, and more than 100,000 MGB GT fixed-head lift-backs. This particular car at the British Motor Museum Gaydon was restored at the 1988 NEC Classic Car Show, using the first brand new ‘heritage’ MGB body shell manufactured by British Motor Holdings, and mechanical parts from a 1969 donor car.
After a couple of early MG Midgets from the thirties and fifties, today we’re looking at the last of the line, which was produced between 1961 and 1979. This final Midget wasn’t, perhaps, quite the purebred MG it appeared. It started as a rebadged Austin-Healey Sprite, and later cars like this one, with its US-spec bumpers, got a 1500cc Triumph Spitfire engine to compensate for power-sapping emissions kit. Pic taken at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
Over the last few days, I’ve posted several of MG’s super-streamlined record breaking cars used in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. If you were wondering how these creations influenced the design of MG’s road cars, the answer appears to be ‘not at all’. This is the 1954 MG TF Midget, which very much sticks with the traditional British sports car look. Note the MG-typical octagonal instrument surrounds. Pics taken at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
One last MG speed record car from the British Motor Museum collection at Gaydon. This is the 1957 EX181, which was powered by a supercharged MGA twin cam engine. In 1957, Stirling Moss took it to 245.6 mph on the Utah Salt Flats. With a slightly enlarged engine, Phil Hill was able to improve on this with a speed of 254.9 mph in 1959.
Yesterday, I explained how Austin’s 1969 Zanda concept was designed to take a mid-mounted version of the Maxi’s engine and gearbox. In 1995, the mid-engined MGF followed the same principle: mechanically it was based on a 180 degree flip of the Metro’s front subframe, engine and gearbox. Another link to the Maxi/Metro - the MGF had Hydragas suspension, although this was replaced by steel springs when the F became the TF. Pic taken at the British Motor Museum
#Baustelleninfo#Mönchengladbach#Rheindahlen: An der Gladbacher Str (Dahlener Heide bis Pfingstgraben) wird bis zum 8. März an einem Gehweg gearbeitet. Auf der Straße wird es dann für die Autos einspurig. Für mich heißt das, man kann als Fußgänger und Radler nicht mehr den Rad- und Gehweg stadteinwärts nutzen. Ich bin gespannt, ob dann der Flickenteppich durch die Wurzelschäden verschwindet & ob es eine Umleitung für Radler gibt? 🤔 #MG Quelle: #RP
Update: Die Sperre steht. Ob man als Fußgänger oder Radfahrer auf der abgesperrten Fahrbahn vorbei fahren kann, konnte und wollte ich nicht testen. Sie haben die Absperrung gerade aufgebaut und ein Stück B57 wollte ich mit dem Rad nicht riskieren. Wegen "übersehen", ihr wisst schon... #MG#Baustelle#Info#Gehweg#Radweg#GladbacherStr#Dorthausen#Rheindahlen
Aujourd'hui, c'est la journée de l'installation en médecine #JIM organisée par #NorAGJIR avec le soutien logistique de l'#URPSML !
Objectif : dédramatiser l'#installation (surtout en #MG même si les principes restent les mêmes pour les autres spécialités) et donner les clés aux jeunes médecins pour que ça se passe bien !
Une soixantaine de participants pour ce samedi, c'est plutôt satisfaisant !
A Classic Beauty … A 1953 M.G., done up in soft butter yellows and hunter greens that scream class.
Digital art created in a watercolor style and loosely based on one of my own photographs. NOT created using AI - Artificial Intelligence programs. At my website - find the perfect gifts for the car-lover in your life in addition to fabulous wall art which is on sale today until midnight (11/24/2023):
Another review at Shiny New Books, this time of the new Folio Society edition of Charmed Life by the great #DianaWynneJones.
Here's hoping more Chrestomanci is in store ...
It's Friday, which means it's fresh-ep-of-Vertical Hold day! This week we're taking a deep dive into Australia's EV future -- from parts to battery manufacturing, chargers to cheap cars, with special guest Jennifer Dudley Nicholson!
As if children's books aren't already losing visibility due to censorship now this...
This year Goodreads has removed all children's books categories from their Goodreads Choice Awards, meaning no more #MG or #PB categories. Worse, Graphic Novel & Poetry, have also been eliminated.
Here you can vote to ask them to bring those categories back:
The battle is won, but the war is far from over. In this thrilling sequel, a twelve-year-old nonbinary hopeful knight fights for the heart of their kingdom in a magical medieval world filled with dragons, shape-shifters, and witches.
From We Need Diverse Books cofounder Lamar Giles comes an out-of-this-world adventure starring the Epic Ellison twins! Join them as they race to solve the mystery of Cosmos Camp for young geniuses in this stand-alone companion to the Legendary Alston Boys series.
Yesterday, I featured MG Rover’s Streetwise in juxtaposition with the Rover 25 on which it was based. Another variation on the 25 was this slightly sportier MG version, the ZR. Like the Streetwise, the ZR was far less ‘pipe and slippers’ than the standard 25. This sort of rejuvenation measure was essential given that much of the 25’s design and tech, while sound, dated back to the Rover R8 of 1989. Pic: the #GreatBritishCarJourney#MG#Rover#BritishRacingGreen#WeirdCarMastodon#davidsdailycar