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Probably the best known MG is the “B”, the number made between 1962 to 1981 was 513,272 which made it the top of the MG cars, however both the “T” series and the “A” between them notched up 150 odd thousand units and to some extent are the true iconic MG’s, no doubt those who are into the history of MG are saying what about all the other models, the P’s, the grand touring SA the VA and the WA, then the post war Y’s and the Magnette’s.
You’ve forgotten to mention the Midget, well no, I grew up with the Midget and it’s sister Sprite with an Austin badge.
In the first place the Sprite which started life in 1958, very few use the correct name Austin Healey Sprite, this was a Donald Healey project, who had the styling by one Gerry Coker, as usual there was a complete lack of funds for a design budget and basically the little sprite was nothing more than an A35 with a sports car body.
The engine was the 948cc A series engine, the gearbox from the A35, axle rear and front suspension, the brakes and steering were our old friend the Morris Minor.
The sprite looked faster than it really was, being close to the ground also contributed to the fun factor, but a top speed of 86 mph and a 0-60 time of 20.5 seconds could not be called blistering.
These were the heydays of the sprite, competition success ensured a decent sales record and until 1961 there was no other similar competition, well the little Messerschmitt TG500 could beat the acceleration time, though losing out on top speed, but no thanks I would take the sprite anyday.
A few other comments were the extreme basics of the car, the front bumper was an optional extra and steel wheels, but the sales were about to dive for unveiled in 1961 the MG Midget, I am sorry but once again we had a new car that apart from the body and a name was no more than a rebranded Sprite.
By mid 1962 changes came about a larger engine 1098cc and front disc brakes, improvements came again in 1964 improved springing aimed to improve ride comfort and make the rear end less twitchy in the wet, a more rounded windscreen and wind up windows and lockable doors, I suppose it made for a feeling of security.
The little midget was growing 1966 saw an even larger engine the 1275cc A series, we could now reach nearly the magic ton, sales showed no sign of slowing, a proper folding hood was fitted.
In 1968 MG saw control pass to British Leyland and thankfully with only minor cosmetic changes the little Midget continued it’s success until 1974, it was still a fun car to drive.
The Americans had begun their safety and environmental crusade which had repercussions through out the motor industry, the midget’s A series engine had to go, pollution, excuse my ignorance but in a country where nearly everyone drove around in V8’s this must have been the thin end of the wedge for the Midget, not only the engine but then they decided headlamp height had to be raised by 3inches, huge polyurethane impact bumpers had to be fitted.
Come 1979 the death knell of the Midget was inevitable, the end of an era, I may be cynical but with all the safety features on today’s cars people are still being killed, why? Speed in the wrong place perhaps, a lack of driving skills, manufacturing faults only time will tell.
Ted lay
tedlay@gmail.com
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Just letting you all know that we are having our spring run on Sunday week the 25th April and your all welcome. we will be meeting for sign on from 10am in “THE OLD BROG BAR” in Killimer co, Clare we hope to get under way around 11.30. The drive is coastal one following the coastline around Kilrush and Kilkee and Loop head, if the weather is fine it will be a beautiful drive. the sign on is €15 and that includes light refreshments. dinner is available at the end of the day for €15. we hope to be back for dinner for 5pm.
On June 20th we host our annual fund-raiser which is a harvest and vintage day out for all the family. . we hope to see you there.
Carmel Crosse ..secretary of C.C.V.C 086 3514710
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I would like to invite your club to a vintage car run which will take place at Conlons of Booleigh Athy Co.Kildare
On Sunday the 2nd of May. A fee of twenty euro per vehicle on the day will include refreshments after the run and all money raised will be used to help fund local amenities. We hope to see you there .
Thanks James
If anyone wants to contact me 0876686903
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The Woodhouse Estate, Waterford.
29th-30th May 2010
The launch of a new Classic Car and Bike Festival in the grounds of Woodhouse Estate in Stradbally Co. Waterford.
We are inviting the following to exhibit over the two day extravaganza:
There will be plenty of family fun over the weekend. With facilities to accommodate camping and picnics. We have based our festival on the Goodwood Revial to relive the former glory of Classic Auto mobiles with modern and future Classics in a stunning setting on the Copper Coast.
Just 10 minutes from Dungarvan and 20 minutes drive from Waterford, we are ideally located in the catchment area of Cork and Waterford in the sunny south-east.
All entries are welcome.
For further details and enquires contact,
Tina White
M. 087 6167021
Tel. 051 293105
Email. kristina@woodhouseestate.com
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Austin 16, 1945 – 1949
The world of classic cars brings together many people of like minds, who love and cherish cars of a bygone era. Not an earth shattering statement by any means but if you get to the end of this article you will understand my sentiments.
I decided to write about the post-war Austin 16, which was produced between 1945 and 1949, like many of the cars I write about much of the information is derived from browsing the Internet and encyclopedias, however the information relating to the Austin 16 was minimal. Out of desperation, it was either abandon the project or look for an alternative source of information, there was virtually nothing other than what I had already gleaned, and that was insufficient to write an article.
By chance I found an Austin Counties Club Site, which obviously was dedicated to the County Series Cars, Dorset’s, Somersets, Herefords and the Devon, which were all produced after the war, there was also mention of the 16, but not enough for our article, I sent an E.mail asking if anyone had knowledge relating to the 16, this was Easter Monday, next morning there was an Email from Pete Simmonds giving plenty of material on the model, now you won’t believe the coincidence Pete’s father Barry worked on IT at Avonmore and Pete came to Kilkenny for a holiday when he was 10 and and stayed with no less a personage as Nicky Brennan, how about that.
Before deviating from the straight and narrow, the 16 had a 2199cc 4 cylinder OHV engine which produced 67BHP @ 3800 revs, a four speed manual gearbox was fitted. The 16 had a top speed of 75mph, it is stressed that this 16 was in no way related to the pre-war 16.
The 16’s body was a prewar Austin 12, in fairness it was a design that was produced just before the outbreak of war, though the engine was not new, it originated from a 6 cylinder truck unit which went on to be fitted to the A70 Hampshire and Hereford, the A90 Atlantic and the Austin Healey 100/4 had the same motor bored out to 2660cc, in addition the motor was fitted to the K8 van and the Gypsy, Austin fitted the unit in commercials up to the 1960’s.
Most of the production in 1945-1947 were exported, so the examples in the UK are in the main 48’s.
The 16 was quite luxurious, with leather upholstery and a sunroof, plus heater, some of the later cars came without the sunroof and optional needle cord upholstery could be specified.
It is strange that Austin fitted a hydraulic jacking system but used rod operated brakes, incidentally the handbrake worked on all four wheels.
Austin decided to fit “Woodies” or estate bodies to a number of chassis’s, and to be honest it was quite a good looking unit, at the time only Lea Francis was into Woodies, apparently the chassis were shipped out to Papworth Industries in Cambridgeshire for completion, oops here I go again through the Austin Counties site there is a very detailed article written by a Colin Peck on Austin 16 Woodies, we are at the moment trying to establish if Colin is the same Colin Peck I went to school with in Balham South West London.
I have no idea of the spares situation for old Austins however the Counties club actually hold spares for sale to members, which one can do for single make clubs.
I am indebted to Pete Simmonds for his assistance in this article (psimmons.org.uk)
TED LAY tedlay@gmail.com
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Below is a van that was recently sourced through our web site
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A LARGE SHOW WITH A GREAT PAYING PUBLIC AND WELL STEWARDED THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED
More photos in gallery section
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As a youngster I lived in London, like many during the war we were bombed out, luckily we were in the air raid shelter and came to no harm, but after the dust had settled we found that everything had gone. So it was off to live with my dear old gran in Stockwell.
Toys were no existent in those days, I acquired an old tyre to push around with a piece of stick, I remember it well it was made by The north British Tyre Company, which has long since disappeared with many other famous names, whilst I had no intention of writing about one of Britain’s most famous car companies, how on earth could it disappear into the great blue yonder, Austin.
It was a household name, the foundation stone of British engineering, our landlord drove an Eighteen, silver in colour, how he didn’t get bumped off carrying all that money, one wonders perhaps there was not the criminals around like today. He used to come every Monday morning, he looked wealthy he had that aurora about him that said money, so what it was the car.
Like many things in life they go into the memory box, sometimes they don’t come out again, however we, Eileen our Robert and myself actually took the Volvo to Urlingford for the St Patrick’s day parade, before we get lost in cars, lunch was at Brian Morrisey’s in Johnstown, now it is a couple of years since I have been there, but now the motorway bypasses the place pubs, shops have closed down, one can cross the road without almost looking, but it is sad for those whose living depended on not only local but passing trade, Any way Brian Morrisey’s pub lunch, Eileen had the roast beef and I the cod, though very simple it was great value for the money, we would recommend it to anyone, however the dessert, pudding call it what you like, was something else, I would doubt that there is a hotel or restaurant in Kilkenny or for that matter within fifty kilometres that serves a Sherry Trifle like Morrisey’s in Johnstown, it was definitely home made, it is worth making the trip to Johnstown just for the trifle.
It was on the way home that Eileen said I would like to go to the parade in my own car next year, do you know I would love a mini, okay we will start looking for one, Eileen was definite it has to be a classic, right, we thought the best place to start to get an idea of prices etc was Ebay.
There are plenty of Mini’s on Ebay, there is also plenty of rubbish being offered as a Classic so much so if you are tempted to try your hand at buying on Ebay there are some basics to be aware.
Before you even look at the car, check the person selling it, in the top corner of the screen you will see a coloured star with a number and a percentage number below it, anything below 15 would show the person was a relatively new seller and that the percentage number might not be a true reflection of the quality of the goods being sold, we would ignore any percentage below 99%, just walk away there are hundreds of other cars.
Then you go to the description, “I am selling this for a friend”, don’t even go any further, it is unknown territory, I mean does the friend even know the car is on Ebay? I am not suggesting but think deeper, okay.
A favourite is, the car is in good condition given the year, you know there is something not quite right, they may give a suggestion as to what wants doing like rust, needs a little welding, in other words it is falling to pieces.
The price is a fair indicator these people are not fools they know exactly the worth of a car in good condition, remember no one is going to give away money and no one is going to sell a car far below it’s value, so do some research, cheap cars usually spell expensive trouble.
Another typical statement is “I have just lost my garage“, there must be an awful lot of lost garages in the UK, it was my daughters car she wanted something bigger and it has been sitting on our drive for months, if it was that good.
Needs small amount of work to pass MoT, so why didn’t they do it?
Mileage, so easy to alter, ask for previous MoTs or any garage receipts to establish authenticity of speedometer reading.
If you are determined to buy the car, do not send money before seeing it, as much as I dislike carrying cash, it is safer no one gets to know your bank account details and what’s more important if there is no car you have not lost any money.
Having said about Ebay, I have been trolling an Irish web site, a couple of cars advertised said the engines were larger than what is shown on the log book, interesting how does one tax and insure a car with incorrect details the engine number cannot agree with the official number, who checks this?
From what we have seen so far there are very few genuine early mini’s, the ravages of time and poor manufacturing have decimated the much loved mini, though there are some around at silly money.
If by chance one is in the right place at the right time one can come across some brilliant examples of cherished cars, twice this week I have spoken with owners of cars that would walk away with top prize in any show, you might just know the owners , car number one was a bright red morris minor pick-up, I was so overcome I forgot the reg number or whether he was a member of “the club”, even under the wings one could see the bright red paintwork, the rest of the little Morris was as spectacular, by the way this was in the Esso Station by the Callan road roundabout, well our Declan has provided the answer, yes it is in the club.
Car number two was in Lidl’s, another red car, a 1986 mini, given it was some years younger than the morris, took nothing from it, spotless immaculate, the young owner did not belong to our club and had restored the mini himself, definite asset to any club. The car had an IZV reg, would think he was local, ah by chance I had the camera handy….
TED LAY tedlay@gmail.com
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IT’S A FAIR assumption that most people who own classic or vintage cars will look after them well and drive them only occasionally, writes JOHN CRADEN IRISH TIMES ARTICLE JAN 6 2010
Accordingto research on old car usage here, undertaken in 2006 by the Irish Vintage and Veteran Car Club (IVVCC), 88 per cent of historic vehicles in Ireland are used less than three times a week, while 78 per cent travel no more than 2,000km a year.These are some of the reasons why classic car insurance is a bit cheaper than for moderns, and also why a nominal rate of motor tax, at €48 a year, is levied on all cars first registered before 1980.
Less well known is the fact that any car over 30 years old is exempt from the legal requirement to have an NCT.
Yet owners can put an exempt classic in for a test voluntarily if they want to (see panel). The car will be tested according to much the same standards as a modern car except for exhaust emissions, which are exempt (for cars registered before January 1980) because the car manufacturer information on which the testers base the standards only goes back as far as October 1986.
Some minor variations in older cars are also taken into account. For instance, cars registered before June 1971 are not legally required to have front safety belts, so if they are not fitted that will have no bearing on the test result.
But, as you might expect, few people put their classics in for the test. According to the Road Safety Authority (RSA), which is now responsible for setting vehicle testing policy, 125 vehicles over 30 years old were tested in 2009, but these were mainly limousines and hackneys, which are public service vehicles and required by law to have a certificate of roadworthiness anyway.
Now, changes to the NCT recently announced by the Minster for Transport, Noel Dempsey, include a requirement for annual (rather than bi-annual) testing for all cars over 10 years old but also a provision that all cars registered after January 1st 1980 will continue to be tested.
This means that all cars first registered before this date will continue to be NCT exempt.
An RSA spokesman said that the relevant EU directive on vehicle testing allows a derogation on the mandatory testing of historic vehicles. “The directive provides that vehicles may not be tested to a higher standard than that to which they were originally designed,” he said.
This means the standards of the NCT are deemed to be so stringent that many classic cars, even those in perfect working order, would be unlikely to pass – particularly those older than 50 years.
But while some other EU countries have also chosen to exempt classic cars from testing, the number may be falling. Roadworthiness testing for classic cars in France was optional until the beginning of 2009, when it became law for cars aged over 30 to be tested (albeit every five years as opposed to the normal two years).
In the UK, all cars over three years old, including classics, must have an MOT to be allowed on the road. Sweden tests classic cars (aged 30 years or over) every second year as opposed to every year for modern cars.
In the Netherlands there is a bi-annual test for cars aged 30-50 years, but cars aged over 50 are exempt.
For many, the exemption here is not difficult to justify. The NCT, after all, is designed to force those who wilfully neglect their cars to keep them in roadworthy shape – definitely not an accusation you could level at the average classic car enthusiast.
But what about those who don’t fit the usual profile of classic car owners? Paul Kanters, who runs Classic Cars Ireland, acknowledges that most of the cars found at classic car shows here are in very good condition, but says that a few of the “contraptions” rolled out at some shows are in a “dreadful and woeful condition due to lack of maintenance and neglect, that you wonder how on earth they made it to the show in the first place.
“These cars would then be driven back home on public roads, endangering other road users who have complied with the rules and regulations,” he says. “Luckily this is only a very small percentage of cars, but that’s not an excuse to not have an NCT in place.”
But the IVVCC (Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club), a national organisation with over 40 affiliated clubs, sees no reason for the exemption to be stopped, pointing out that there is no evidence of any significant number of accidents involving classics. “There is certainly no evidence that mechanical failure in such cars has given rise to any appreciable number of accidents,” says the club’s president, Peadar Ward.
An informal survey of other opinions among those in classic car circles suggests a strong divide between those who would have no issue with mandatory testing on safety grounds, and those who view it as totally unnecessary and just another tax on their hobby.
Some of those on the no-NCT side also worry that some aspects of the test could be unduly harsh on their old cars, while testers unfamiliar with unusual models could inadvertently damage them.
One enthusiast relayed an apparently true story about one ham-fisted NCT tester who managed to drive a 1940s Rolls Royce into a wall. The tester had turned off a switch for a vacuum pump that pressurises the brake system in order to complete a suspension test, but forgot to switch it back on when he was finished.
According to the RSA spokesman, the possibility of mandatory testing for historic vehicles will be “kept under review”, although any decision will remain up to the Minister for Transport. For this to happen, it’s clear from the EU rules that standards would have to be adapted in terms of the physical testing procedure in order to make it fairer on older cars.
For example, the suspension and brakes may need to be tested to a lower set of tolerances depending on the year of manufacture.
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