A superb and rare
photo, made from what we believe is the original negative, of the MG car!
M.G. has an astounding history in international speed records, which
culminated with the M.G. EX181! The MG
EX 181 (1957-1959) was a car especially built for land speed record
attempts in its engine size class. It had a 300 hp supercharged version of the
MGA Twin Cam engine. The car, nicknamed the "Roaring Raindrop" by its
designer Syd Enever, had an
extraordinarily original design based on an aircraft drop-tank. As a 1500cc
class car the EX181, driven by none other than Stirling Moss, achieved 245.64 mph in 1957, 50 mph faster than he had
ever driven in his life. Later the car, driven by Phil Hill, reached 254.91mph
on the Utah Bonneville salt flats, making the EX181 the fastest ever MG - a
record which still stands today. SEE
PHOTO! In 1957 the EX181 was powered by a 1489cc Supercharged MGA Twin
cam 290hp / 213kW engine. Two years later, in 1959 it was powered by a 1506cc
Supercharged MGA Twin cam 300hp / 221kW. This was the fastest ever MG. M.G. has
an astounding history in international speed records, which culminated with the
MG EX181.
The famous British
MG sports car factory was
founded in 1924. Production of predominantly two-seater sports cars was
concentrated at a factory in Abingdon, some 10 miles (16 km) south of Oxford. MG got its name
from "Morris Garages", a dealer of
Morris cars in Oxford
which began producing its own customized versions to the designs of Cecil
Kimber who had joined the company as its Sales Manager in 1921 and was promoted
to General Manager in 1922. The earliest model, the 1924 MG 14/28 consisted of
a new sporting body on a Morris Oxford chassis. This car model continued
through several versions following the updates to the Morris. The first car
which can be described as a new MG, rather than a modified Morris was the 18/80
of 1928 which had a purpose designed chassis and the first appearance of the
traditional vertical MG grille. A smaller car was launched in 1929 with the
first of a long line of Midgets starting with the M-Type based on a 1928 Morris
Minor chassis. MG established a name for itself in the early days of the sport
of international automobile racing. Beginning before and continuing after World
War II, MG produced a line of cars known as the T-Series Midgets which,
post-war, were exported worldwide, achieving better than expected success.
These included the MG TC, MG TD, and MG TF, all of which were based on the
pre-war MG TB, with various degrees of updating. MG departed from its earlier
line of Y-Type saloons and pre-war designs and released the MGA in 1955. The
MGB was released in 1962 to satisfy demand for a more modern and comfortable
sports car. In 1965 the fixed head coupé (FHC) followed: the MGB GT. With
continual updates, mostly to comply with increasingly stringent United States
emissions and safety standards, the MGB was produced until 1980. Between 1967
and 1969 a
short-lived model called the MGC was released. The MGC was based on the MGB
body, but with a larger (and, unfortunately, heavier) six-cylinder engine, and
somewhat worse handling. MG also began producing the MG Midget in 1961. The
Midget was a re-badged and slightly restyled second-generation Austin-Healey
Sprite. To the dismay of many enthusiasts, the 1974 MGB was the last model made
with chrome bumpers due to new United
States safety regulations; the 1974½ bore
thick black rubber bumpers that some claimed ruined the marque MGB. As with the
MGB, the Midget design was frequently modified until the Abingdon factory
closed in October 1980 and the last of the range was made. The badge was also
applied to versions of BMC saloons including the BMC ADO16, which was also
available as a Riley, but with the MG pitched as slightly more "sporty".
The marque lived on after 1980 as British Leyland (later Austin Rover Group),
the then-owner, continued to place the MG badge on a number of Austin saloons including
the Metro, Maestro, and Montego. In New Zealand, the MG badge even
appeared on the late 1980s Montego estate, called the MG 2.0 Si Wagon. There
was a brief competitive history with a mid-engined, six-cylinder version of the
Metro. The MG Metro finished production in 1990 on the launch of a Rover-only
model. The MG Maestro and MG Montego remained on sale until 1991, when
production of these models was pruned back in order for Rover to concentrate on
the more viable 200 Series and 400 Series. The Rover Group revived the
two-seater with the MG RV8 in 1992. The all-new MGF went on sale in 1995, becoming
the first mass-produced "real" MG sports car since the MGB ceased
production in 1980. In
May 2000, BMW sold off the Rover group after a six-year ownership and its new
owners were the Phoenix Consortium. The Land Rover and Mini marques were not
included in the deal, and the new-look group included just the MG and Rover
models. The MG range was expanded in the summer of 2001 with the introduction
of three Rover-based sports models. The MG ZR was based on the Rover 25, the MG
ZS on the Rover 45, and the MG ZT/ZT-T on the Rover 75.The MG Rover Group
purchased Qvale, which had taken over development of the De Tomaso Bigua. This
car, renamed the Qvale Mangusta and already approved for sale in the U.S.,
formed the basis of the MG XPower SV, an "extreme" V8-engined sports
car. It was revealed in 2002 and went on sale in 2004. From its earliest days
MGs have been used in competition
and from the early 1930s a series of dedicated racing cars such as the 1931
C-Type and 1934 Q-type were made and sold to enthusiasts who received
considerable company assistance. This stopped in 1935 when MG was formally
merged with Morris Motors and the Competition Department closed down. A series
of experimental cars had also been made allowing Captain George Eyston to take
several world speed records. In spite of the formal racing ban, speed record
attempts continued with Goldie Gardner exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h) in the
1100 cc EX135 in 1939. After World War II record braking attempts
restarted with 500 cc and 750 cc records being taken in the late
1940s. A decision was also taken to return to racing and a team of MGAs was
entered in the tragedy-laden 1955 Le Mans 24 hour race, the best car achieving
12th place. Prior to the use of the Toyota Tundra in the Craftsman Truck
Series, MG was reported as the last foreign brand to be used in NASCAR. It was
driven in 1963 by Smokey Cook. In 2001 MG re-launched their motor sport
campaign to cover the 24 Hours of Le
Mans (MG-Lola EX257), British Touring Car Championship
(BTCC) (MG ZS), British and World Rally Championships and MG Independent
British Rally Championship (MG ZR). The Le
Mans team failed to win the endurance race in 2001 and
2002 and quit in 2003. MG Sport+Racing raced in the British Touring Car
Championships with the MG ZS between 2001-2003 as a factory team. In 2004 WSR
raced the MG ZS as a privateer team and still race in the series today with
many wins to date. After three years without a major sponsor, WSR teamed up
with RAC in 2006 and the team was called Team RAC. The MG British Rally
Challenge still runs today despite the liquidation in 2005. In 2004 plans to
race in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) with a heavily modified V8
powered ZT supertouring car were cancelled due to MG Rover's liquidation in
April 2005. In
2007, a
surprise announcement was made that a Super 2000 (S2000) rally car has been
prepared in conjunction with rally experts MSD, who used to manage the Hyundai
works World Rally team. This is the first sporting step the reformed company
has made. Testing has been carried out on the MG ZR based car & it is
expected to enter competition in 2008.
This is a very
nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of M.G. ‘s automotive
history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this
photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 11"
(ca. 20 x 27 cm). It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.