MG Sports Cars by Autocar

By Richard L. Knudson. M.G. established its reputation as a world-class sports car manufacturer by winning races and breaking class speed records. In the 1930s Cecil Kimber, the founder of M.G., ran the fledgling motorcar factory in Abingdon. He knew the publicity value of record breaking and supported the building of special record cars. Driven by such notable motorsport names as Captain George Eyston, Major Goldie Gardner, Bobbie Kohlrausch, and Bert Denly, the cars garnered class records at various venues. The cars set records at Pendine Sands, Brooklands, France, and on the super highways of Belgium and Germany. The first book to provide in-depth coverage on these record-breaking cars. Included are International Class Record Summary charts for the EX 120, EX 127, EX 135, EX 179 & EX 181.

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.