Throughout the thirties, The Autocar magazine organised and sponsored an annual caravan rally. In 1932 that event was centred upon the Somerset seaside town of Minehead. This extract from LAT plate B8947 shows a 1929 MG Midget (MY 1212) alongside a small caravan which had evidently been towed to the site behind the Midget. The tow bar can be seen just forward of the Midget’s spare wheel, although how it is attached to the car is not clearly visible in this image. (Photo courtesy of Motorsport Images)
This retouched photograph of a 1931 CMS DHC Wolseley Hornet Special was a recent discovery in the LAT Collection’s vaults. The only other image of the model held in the Network’s archive is a scan of a Light Car & Cyclecar magazine shot which is of very poor quality. Far more detail is revealed about this CF3 model than can be seen in the magazine scan. The car looks to have a capacious boot as the lock can be seen towards the top third of the tail’s arc. The manual advance/retard lever is visible above the door top while the Minor Saloon-based opening windscreen brackets, wheels and front bumper confirm the model’s roots. Other coachbuilders would have utilised the bonnet that came with the chassis, CMS haven’t. They have fitted a far longer custom bonnet with distinctive horizontal louvres. The aerofoil-shaped cabin entry steps, although not unique were another unusual feature. (LAT photoscan courtesy of Motorsport Images)
The 1935 Mannin Beg was run on Friday 31st May around the streets of Douglas, Isle-of-Man. Just thirteen cars started the race, seven of which were M.G.’s. This image was taken in the pits just before the start of the race. The three R Type M.G.s in the foreground in this LATphoto (C6220) were to be driven by Eyston (bending over car no. 16), Handley and Black. In what was almost a repeat of the 1933 event just two cars finished the race. The winning car was an ERA driven by Fairfield, while Dixon’s Riley was classified second. The Motor Sport magazine’s correspondent blamed the poor condition of the road surface on the decimation of the field. (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.
The NWLMC’s 1933 London to Gloucester trial took place on 9th December and was a highly attritional affair according to contemporary reports. The weather was the main factor contributing to the majority of failures, as a heavy downpour during the day meant that grip was minimal on most of the hills, despite the competition tyres worn by many of the cars entered. Here, W.E.C. Watkins pilots his MG Magna (JB 2269) steadily up Iles Lane while a team of horses are standing by to assist those who fail on this very sharp gradient. Watkinson went on to win a silver cup. (LATplate C2295 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.
The May 1934 running of the Mannin Beg race around the streets of Douglas, I.O.M. was a momentous one for the M.G. Car Company. Of the eight classified finishers, no less than seven were M.G.s with the first five places all being filled by Magnettes. This was in total contrast to the 1933 event when just one M.G. finished the race from the twelve cars entered. Here, G.E.T. Eyston pilots Magnette no. 8 along the promenade on his way to a 3rd-place finish. (LATplate C3683 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.
The LAT collection at Motorsport Images while containing many pre-war images is primarily made up of photographs that were taken in the post-war era. This image featured in a Haymarket publication from around April 1989 (date of the photo) although the title of the magazine is unknown. The 1932 metal panelled MG M Type Midget (RLG 479) is carrying a March 1953 County Council of Chester registration and looks to be in immaculate condition. It was last taxed in the UK in 1997 and has either been exported or is tucked away in a garage somewhere. There are several other photographs of the car held by the archive. (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.
1931 MG C Type Midget (RX 8306) has an illustrious sporting history. Campaigned today by Chris Cadman, back in December 1931 (12th) it was the editor of The Autocar, H. S. Linfield who was behind the wheel and pushing hard in this shot. He was competing in that year’s NWLMC London- Gloucester Trial and is seen here storming one of the observed hills (perhaps Ferriscourt). His efforts didn’t go unrewarded as he came away with a Silver Cup. (LATplate B7386 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.
This is KF 498, a 1930 Liverpool-registered MG Midget. Seen here in what looks to be a moorland setting with a young woman at the wheel sporting suitable open-air motoring attire, which includes very fashionable (for the period) trousers. Perhaps the only variations from the standard factory specification to be noted on the car are the fitment of a windscreen wiper along with that of a rearview mirror attached to either the scuttle side or screen support.
Meredith Coachcraft of Castle Bromwich, Birmingham designed and built these three-purpose bodies for the Wolseley Hornet Special chassis. (RD 4648 is a 1933 example) Known as the ‘Trinity’ the bodies were designed to adapt from a ‘foursome’ coupe to an open four-seater tourer in a matter of seconds, while the final option of open two-seat sports could also be achieved with speed and a minimum of effort. They were quite pricey at £289 when compared with other Hornet two or four-seat specials but their adaptability meant that they eventually sold nine Wolseley Hornet versions, seventeen Rileys, five BSAs and a solitary MG J1. (These production figures are from Nick Walker’s A-Z of British Coachbuilders book). Currently a surviving Hornet Trinity Special is being auctioned on the carandclassis website here.
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.
R. A. MacDermid gained a formidable reputation as a very successful trials driver for the Cream Cracker and Musketeer M.G. teams from the mid-thirties onward. Here he is seen in his 1934 ‘P’ Type (JB 3639) while taking part in the MCC London – Gloucester Trial on December 05, 1936. That year’s ‘Gloucester’ wasn’t a sparkling success for MacDermid in that he managed to roll his car (see TMC no.235) before going on to claim a Silver award. (LATplate C10358 courtesy of Motorsport Images)