Pre
- War MG's
Old
Number One
Not
the first MG ever built, but certainly the first MG "sports car"
built for Cecil Kimber for use in the 1925 Lands End Trial.
C
Type
The
production version of EX-120, the C type was introduced in 1931 as a racing
car. It met that challenge nicely, having achieved 100 MPH on a 750 cc
engine. 44 of these cars were produced between 1931 and 1932.
D
Type
The
D Type was an attempt to bring about a commercially produced version of the
C Type and due to its longer wheelbase and larger amount of coachwork, the D
Type lacked the performance of the C Type and was somewhat unsuccessful
F
Type
The
F Type was the first of the Magna models. It was basically a 6 cylinder
version of the C and D Types. The engine, which was derived from the
Wolseley Hornet engine of the time provided impressive performance. The F
Type was available as a two or four seater in open and closed roof variants.
There were 1244 F Types produced between 1931 and 1932.
J
Type
Thought
upon by many as the pinnacle of all the pre-war Midgets, the J Type was the
first MG to feature the traditional "square rigger" body styling.
Equipped with an 847 cc engine, it was capable of speeds of up to 78 MPH.
The J Type was available as a two or a four seater and between 1932 and 1934
2463 J Types were produced.
K
Type
The
K Type was probably the most serious contender in international racing to
come out of Britain before the war. K Types were available in a variety of
forms including single seater, 2 seater and 4 seater open versions as well
as closed saloons. The K Type was powered by a 6 cylinder 1086 cc Engine.
M
Type
The
M Type was the first of the MMM Series (Midget-Magna-Magnette) of cars, the
M Type being the Midget. By today's standards it was a very crude sports car
however in its day it had excellent performance for the price. It was
powered by a 4 cylinder overhead cam 847cc engine. The M Type was the first
MG model to be produced in large numbers and a production figure was reached
of 3325 cars between late 1928 and mid 1932.
N
Type
The
N Type was introduced early in 1934. It was powered by an improved version
of the 1271cc KD engine from the later K Type road cars, improvements were
made to this engine by fitting a modified cylinder head and a improved
crankshaft.
Alongside the standard two seater, a number of N Types were produced using
unsold K2 bodies, this resulted in the ND-Type which found considerable
favour with competition enthusiasts.
P
Type
The
P Type was produced from 1934 to 1936 with a total production of 2499. It
was a much more refined MG Midget than its predecessor, the J Type. The
847cc engine was equipped with a three bearing crank which made the engine
much more robust and gave it a very smooth performance. The later P Type,
known as the PB was given a larger engine of 939cc and was equipped with a
few more refinements to make it a more comfortable car.
Q
Type
The
Q Type was derived from the Magnette and the P Type Midget and designed with
the racing enthusiast in mind. It had a 750cc engine which delivered 110
bhp. It was commercially unsuccessful and the most likely reason for its
lack of success was that with a price tag of 555 pounds it was beyond the
reach of the average enthusiast. Only 8 Q Types were produced, making it the
lowest production of any of the pre war MG's.
R
Type
The
R Type was another attempt by the MG Car Company to capture the glories of
racing. It continued the experimentation in redesigned chassis and
suspension which was seen in the Q Type, however, this time it was in a
single seater layout. Due to its weight, it did not follow the racing
success of earlier MG Models and only 10 were produced in 1935.
SA
In
1936 the SA was introduced by the MG design team, which had, by that time,
moved to Cowley. It was a true luxury saloon car, built on a very large
chassis and powered by a 2 litre, 6 cylinder engine.
VA
The
VA was at the time intended to be a replacement for the Magnette, however,
it never lived up to that title. Its low revving engine was not capable of
the performance of the earlier cars. Nonetheless, it still had appeal for
the open-motoring set, with versions in 4 seater open, tourer and Tickford
body styles.
WA
The
WA was the largest MG ever built and, powered by a 2.6 litre, 6 cylinder
engine, it was an update of the earlier SA which was becoming a little bit
dated. There were 369 WA cars produced before World War II halted
production.
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