horseless carriage
Well-known Member
The love of the MG marque started as a teenager in the 1960's. The driver of an MG TC was fuelling up at the pump, or to be exact, being fuelled at the pump, there was no such thing as self-service back then. What a magnificent car the TC was.
It's ivory colour enhancing all the chrome plating to breathtaking effect. For many years I was under the impression that TC was an acronym for “Twin Carbs” or maybe: “Twin Cam,” I had no idea that the TC was the third in the 'T' series of sports cars.
Alas, the reality of having to live within my means meant no TC for me. I couldn't even manage a two seater sports car, all I could afford back in 1964 was a humble 1955 Hillman Husky, with it's side valve engine.
But it was a car, with a heater, a warm dry place for the national sport that teenagers think they invented.
By the latter part of the 1960's I was on the bottom rung of the greasy management ladder and with it, my first company car, a Ford Anglia 105E, the one with the inward sloping rear screen.
Forty years on, following a climb of the greasy ladder and the comfort of many a company car, far more luxurious than that humble Anglia, my thoughts turned back to my teenage years and that magnificent MG TC.
A search through the internet and various classic car publications revealed that I would have to part with a serious amount of cash to acquire a TC of some restorative note, but before I started a serious search for the car, I sought advice from an MG expert. One, Richard Grey, of RG Classics, he was well informed on all things MG. He listened to my tale of nostalgia, mulled over all the things that I had said before suggesting that I look at other MG's of similar vintage. It was sound advice, of which I am most grateful.
Researching MG's of the pre-war period, I came across the Y Type. First mooted in 1937, it was intended to go into production in 1939/40 but the hostilities that was WW2 meant the car, along with it's drawings and tooling, were mothballed whilst the factory, like nearly all other factories, went over to producing war effort.
Production of the Y Type finally started in 1947 and ran through until 1953. That is why a post war car looks pre-war. What first attracted me was the iconic radiator, so much like the 'T' series sports cars. The front end of the car, with it's MG sports appearance, dovetails perfectly into the Morris 8 saloon body, that is the car's rear end. This sporty saloon was my choice and at about half the cost of a 'T' Type, it didn't break the bank. Two weeks later found my wife and I in Norwich where we struck a deal on a maroon & cream, MG YB.
The MG was delivered a few days later, in the meantime, my wife had started calling it Jessica.
Over the next few days/weeks/months or however long it takes, you will here about our adventures with Jessica.
It's ivory colour enhancing all the chrome plating to breathtaking effect. For many years I was under the impression that TC was an acronym for “Twin Carbs” or maybe: “Twin Cam,” I had no idea that the TC was the third in the 'T' series of sports cars.
Alas, the reality of having to live within my means meant no TC for me. I couldn't even manage a two seater sports car, all I could afford back in 1964 was a humble 1955 Hillman Husky, with it's side valve engine.
But it was a car, with a heater, a warm dry place for the national sport that teenagers think they invented.
By the latter part of the 1960's I was on the bottom rung of the greasy management ladder and with it, my first company car, a Ford Anglia 105E, the one with the inward sloping rear screen.
Forty years on, following a climb of the greasy ladder and the comfort of many a company car, far more luxurious than that humble Anglia, my thoughts turned back to my teenage years and that magnificent MG TC.
A search through the internet and various classic car publications revealed that I would have to part with a serious amount of cash to acquire a TC of some restorative note, but before I started a serious search for the car, I sought advice from an MG expert. One, Richard Grey, of RG Classics, he was well informed on all things MG. He listened to my tale of nostalgia, mulled over all the things that I had said before suggesting that I look at other MG's of similar vintage. It was sound advice, of which I am most grateful.
Researching MG's of the pre-war period, I came across the Y Type. First mooted in 1937, it was intended to go into production in 1939/40 but the hostilities that was WW2 meant the car, along with it's drawings and tooling, were mothballed whilst the factory, like nearly all other factories, went over to producing war effort.
Production of the Y Type finally started in 1947 and ran through until 1953. That is why a post war car looks pre-war. What first attracted me was the iconic radiator, so much like the 'T' series sports cars. The front end of the car, with it's MG sports appearance, dovetails perfectly into the Morris 8 saloon body, that is the car's rear end. This sporty saloon was my choice and at about half the cost of a 'T' Type, it didn't break the bank. Two weeks later found my wife and I in Norwich where we struck a deal on a maroon & cream, MG YB.
The MG was delivered a few days later, in the meantime, my wife had started calling it Jessica.
Over the next few days/weeks/months or however long it takes, you will here about our adventures with Jessica.
plus owned a Cortina, way back in the 1980's.
