At the time this photograph was taken (February 25th 1939) this Wolseley Hornet (OG 7528) was already nine years old and competing against far more advanced machinery. The car was being driven by C.C. Evans at the SUNBAC Colemore Trial and was universally known as ‘Ophelia’. It was also a regular entry at this event which was located not too far away from its place of manufacture and first registration in the City of Birmingham. (LATplate C16570 courtesy of Motorsport Images)

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Venue: Shelsley Walsh Date: 18th May 1935

Eddie Hall’s quad rear-wheeled MG K3 Magnette sets a cracking pace on the lower reaches of the hill on the day the venue celebrated its 30th anniversary. By all accounts the weather was extremely cold  for May with the prospect of snow. The only hint to be seen of that in this photo is the unseasonal clothing worn by the few spectators on view. (LAT photoscan courtesy of Motorsport Images)

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

On a cold 18th May 1935, Doreen Evans broke the Women’s record at Shelsley Walsh by almost a full second while competing in her Bellevue Garage M.G. single-seat R Type. She snatched that title from none other than Barbara Skinner who in 1934 had taken her supercharged White Minor up the famous hill in a record breaking 46 seconds. The Autocar magazine,  on page 915 of its 24th May 1935 edition, shows an edited extract of this LATplate (C6157) with the following caption: “Miss D.B.M. Evans starting off on her run, when with an R Type M.G., she broke the womens’s record.” (Photo courtesy Motorsport Images)

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

OD 6791 is a 1933 MG J3 Midget, the J3 being a supercharged 746 cc version of the famous J2 while using a similar engine to its predecessor, the Montlhery C Type. This one was originally ordered by a Miss E.V. Watson who competed extensively in the car during the thirties and was the last of the 22 examples of the model to be built. A little internet research indicates that the car has been sold at least twice in the last twenty years. However, the undated photo seen above is from the LAT archive and has a caption that reveals that it may have also been sold by the Brooks auction house at ‘Motorfair’, the name given to the Earls Court London Motor Show in October 1991. (LATphotoscan – courtesy of Motorsport Images)

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Date: 19th August 1933 Venue: Donington Park

The year 1933 saw the Donington circuit in Leicestershire open as a new venue for motor racing in the U.K. The event held on 19th August that year was organised by the Derby & District Motor Club and was the third in a series of four such meetings to take place in that inaugural season. The circuit was to undergo some serious changes over the coming months as there were a number of ‘pinch-points’ on the track where overtaking was extremely dangerous, in fact ‘no overtaking’ signs were erected to underline to drivers the danger involved. Here H.C. Hamilton in his MG Magnette (28) passes through such an obstacle on his way to victory in the last 5 lap race of the day, taking just 10 minutes and 36 seconds in doing so, while averaging 61.8 mph. (LATplate C1589 courtesy of Motorsport Images) 

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Date: 12th December 1931, Event: MCC London-Gloucester Trial

With the light failing, H.S. Linfield pilots his MG C Type Midget (RX 8606) around a sharp bend watched by a crowd of onlookers. Linfield was at that time a journalist for The Autocar and rose to the position of editor, a post he held for many years. He won a Silver Cup award for his efforts that day. The Midget survives and is regularly raced by current custodian, Chris Cadman. (Extract from LATplate B7389 – courtesy of Motorsport Images)

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Whenever Doreen Evans appeared in a motor sporting photograph during her short pre-war career, the camara’s lens was invariably drawn to her and not the car she was driving, or in this case pushing! She is seen here at Chalfont Heights in South Bucks during a Bugatti Owners Club meeting held on 25th May 1935, where her Belle Vue Garage supercharged MG single-seater plays second fiddle to her sparkling persona. This LAT photoscan (courtesy Motorsport Images) is captioned “Doreen and Wilkie at the same meeting.”

GO 8812 is a March 1931 London registration. The car is a Swallow Hornet Special and is seen parked-up in a suburb with its owner at the wheel. The Swallow coachbuilding firm of Coventry were a very early adopter of the Hornet chassis for their bodies, the first such special appearing in August 1930, just four months after the model’s launch in April that year. Unlike many coachbuilders at that time, Swallow discarded the factory supplied wings and wheels, providing the buyer with a car, that apart from the radiator looked entirely different to those models offered by the chassis supplier.

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Here is a further image from the 1931 RAC International Tourist Trophy race which was run over the Ards circuit in Northern Ireland on 22nd August that year. This photo shows the Crabtree/Dobson MG C Type Midget (no.40) and an identical car driven by Hall/Smith (no.48) battling alongside each other towards the front of the field. Motor Sport magazine wrote that the pair were “…in a duel that was to last for many laps until Hall was forced to retire”. Crabtree was eventually to bring his 746 cc supercharged Midget home in 3rd place. (LATplate B6977 courtesy Motorsport Images)

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Date 22nd August 1931: A hectic scene from the early stages of the 1931 RAC International Tourist Trophy race (T.T.) run on the Ards circuit in Northern Ireland. Here Two Austin Ulsters in the shape of cars driven by Charles Goodacre (37) and Donald Barnes (36) fend off the attention of a whole gaggle of MG C Type Midgets, led by Dan Higgin (52), R.R. Jackson (46), Stan Hailwood (47) and R.T. Horton (45). Although Norman Black in a C Type famously won this race, the MG’s of Hailwood, Higgin and Horton recorded DNFs while Jackson’s car finished in 10th place, ahead of the Austins of Barnes in 12th, and Goodacre in 17th. (LATplate B7016 courtesy of Motorsport Images)