1932 Eustace Watkins Hornet Special GY 3131 was owned by Miss C. Labouchere and was competitively used throughout 1933. Here her car is in London having been driven the 680 miles from John o’Groats on 21st January 1933, the first leg of the crew’s epic attempt to get to Monaco as competitors in that year’s Monte Carlo Rally. Both driver and co-driver appear weary in this night-time shot while their Hornet is covered in road dirt, testament to the trying conditions. Sadly, they failed to make Monte Carlo and were one of the 58 retirements from among the original 129 car entry. (Autocar photo scan 27/01/33 – courtesy LAT 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.

A trio of MG PA Midgets were entered by Capt. George Eyston for the 1935 Le Mans 24 hour event.  Unusualy, his car’s were to be crewed by an all female team of drivers that came to be known as Eyston’s Dancing Daughters. The three teams all finished the race in 24th, 25th and 26th positions with the Barbara Skinner – Doreen Evans car (no 55) covering 1285 miles over the 24 hour  day/night/day period of 15th and 16th June. Here Doreen Evans is seen at the wheel while the car is routinely serviced by her pit crew. (LATfilm C6558)

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.

This 1933 Carlisle registered MG J2 Midget HH 6753 is a long way from home. The car is seen here competing on a crowded Beggar’s Roost in Devon during the 1936 MCC Lands End Trial, while being driven by K W Mahany. This car/driver combination  were to go on and win a Premier award. (LATplate C8315)

Although the majority of Hornet specials were open cars, plenty were constructed as sporting saloons or coupes. This particularly handsome example of a sporting two-door saloon was constructed by Patrick Motors of Bournebrook, Birmingham sometime in 1933 and was photographed in this leafy outer-suburbia setting for The Motor magazine.  (LATplate Motor 519-2)

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.

D. G. Evans is photographed here in his MG ‘N’ Magnette (BLL 493) on Darracott, North Devon during the course of the 1935 MCC London-Lands End Trial held over 19th & 20th of April. With 313 cars starting the event, Evans was one of the 102 who gained a Premier Award that weekend. (LATplate C5776)

This photo of a 1934 Wolseley Hornet EW Daytona Special was taken on the Whittingham & Mitchell stand at the 1934 Olympia Motor Show in London. W&M were a Chelsea based coachbuilding firm, who under contract from Eustace Watkins, (Wolseley main dealers and also located in Chelsea) constructed bodies for the Hornet Special chassis. According to Nick Walker (author of the A-Z of British Coachbuilders – Bay View Books 2007) W&M were eventually acquired by Eustace Watkins, although not exclusively to build bodies for Wolseley cars, the firm providing bodies for a variety of marques.

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.

A caption is required for this recently discovered LAT image (LATplate L5870) of a 1933 MG Magnette.

(Could this be Eyston’s 1933 Mannin Beg car as it’s carrying the correct racing number?)

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.

DG 2327 is a 1931 Gloucester registered MG M Type Midget, identifiable as such by its angular wings. This photo was taken on the Isle of Man and is one of a sequence of a dozen or more shots, some of which were used for a subsequent Autocar ‘touring’ article. This image was taken in the centre of Douglas and is one of the few where the driver’s face can be seen and the car’s two-tone colour scheme is apparent. The re-positioning of the spare wheel was no doubt made to optimise luggage space in the small boot. The newsagent located immediately behind the car is carrying an advertisement for the latest paperback by Edgar Wallace, priced at 9d. (LATplate E3917) 

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.

This atmospheric shot of an  MG Abbey bodied Magna Coupe appeared in a June 1939 edition of The Autocar. GX 827 was first registered in London during the spring of 1932 and was already seven years old at the time this photograph was taken near Kenworth(?), according to the caption on the rear of the photo. (LAT photoscan)

The Arrow body upon the Hornet chassis of JD 1953 was constructed by coachbuilder A. P. Compton in late 1930 at their works in  a former tram depot in Hanwell, West London. Compton’s products at this time were all known as Arrow specials, their cars being identifiable by a stylised arrow attached to the radiator core of the host car. Miss P.D. Goodban was the owner of JD 1953 and she competed extensively in the car throughout the 1933 season. The two images seen here capture her and her car at the 1933 running of the Scottish Six Day Trial which took place between 15th and 20th May whereupon she won a bronze award for her efforts. From 1934 onward Miss Goodban’s name continued to be mentioned on the results pages of motoring magazines, but she was by now driving a Singer Nine. (Images courtesy of LAT – plate numbers C322 and Motor Box X274 476 -2 )