Product Description
Compiled by Peter Garnier from the archives of Autocar
Printed by Hamlyn
Excellent condition, hardback with sleeve
£12.50
MG Sports Cars Book Autocar Road Test Archives Six MK I M Type to MGB GT and all in between!
Published 1979
Compiled by Peter Garnier from the archives of Autocar
Printed by Hamlyn
Excellent condition, hardback with sleeve
About the Author:
The MGA, based on Goldie Gardner’s pre-war record breaker. was an instant success from its introduction in 1955. More than 100.000 were sold before it was replaced by the MGB in 1962. To date more than half a million MGBs have been made and the car has become a classic in it’s own lifetime, although now, tragically it’s under sentence of death in a British Leyland re-organisation. Faster cars such as the MGC and MGBV8 should have ousted the MGB, but both failed and today they are cult cars such is their rarity.
The MGs were conceived by two of the most brilliant minds in British Motor manufacturing, John Thornley and Syd Enever. The interesting stories behind all these cars are covered in great detail in this book. Production and competition histories and a great deal of practical information on owning and running the cars are also included. In company with other books in this series, the picture research has been done painstakingly to provide a superb collection of both colour and black and white photographs.
Not only is this book the definitive work because Wilson McComb was on the inside at MG for a decade, it is doubly so because the author knew exactly how a complex story such as this should be researched and told. Osprey are proud to have employed the talents of a comparable expert.. From Cecil Kimber and the Bullnose MGs of the 1920s, to the thirties Midgets, the Magnettes, the TCs, the MGA, MGB, even the Metro and Maestro, every twist in the tale was followed by Wilson McComb, with an intimate knowledge not only of machinery but also of men, those who created the marque, some who abused it. There are not many more interesting automotive stories than that of the Octagon to be told, and MG will be one of the few British marques to make it into the 21st century.
When Cecil Kimber began tuning and modifying Morris cars in the early ‘twenties, he little realised that these embryonic M.G. Cars would establish a name which, in the course of time, was to be¬come that of Britain’s best known sports-car. Mike Allison, a keen M.G. Enthu¬siast, very involved in the M.G. Car Club and at one time working at Abingdon, traces the history of M.G. Cars, with the use of around 400 photographs, from the early days of the Bullnose MG, 14/40, 18/80, 18/100, through the triple M cars (Midgets, Magna and Magnette models of the 1930’s), the pre war comfort models VA, SA and WA, and the immortal T series cars. Then he moves onto postwar production of the Y Types, ZA and ZB range, 1100, 1300 and finally the A, B, C model ranges. The achievements in competition do not go unrecorded, with a selection of illustrations showing cars in events, such as the pre war Mile Miglia, and record breaking cars such as EX181. Photographs of all the models and most of the specialist coach¬work show the interesting de¬velopment of a marque that has won the hearts of many a man.
