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Out for a light breakfast with the MG Magnette


Last month, H&H auctioned several MG cars. Robin Batchelor wrote a lovely article about it and mentioned the six-cylinder MG Magnette.  Last week I had the chance to drive this car with its new owner. The catalogue editor of H&H was correct; the car is restored to a very high standard. It is actually nearly new (or maybe better).  So I thought this is the perfect ride to get some breakfast, so off we went to the local pub. Although still local, we thought  it better to add a few extra miles (so far only 172 miles since the restoration) so we went to a pub a bit further down the road.
Before I saw the car in 'the flesh', my expectations were that it would be more or less like my Riley Lynx. Both built in 1934, same body style, both a small 6 cylinder. But after seeing and driving it, I find it hard to compare the two.
The MG is a much smaller fit. Yet it has those lovely suicide doors, so getting in is not the problem. It's only that gearshifter between driver and passenger (and some more levers) that results in very limited space (my Riley has a preselector handle on the steering column). which is a bit of a shame. The car has enough power for fast driving but the lack of space adds to feelings of discomfort and takes out most of the fun of lively touring as pictured above. 
For that I probably need to loose some weight by choosing fruit for breakfast during the next 20,000 miles. 

Words and pictures: Laurens Klein , period photo provided by owner

Publiziert:
Sonntag November 6th, 2016
Unbekannt
07 November 2016, 18:51
Laurens, it is a delightful change to hear a bit of CRITICISM of an old vehicle rather than the pervasive never ending accolades that are usually the standard in current age magazines, and forever within the sales descriptions. Way back when, there used to be some non- conformist vehicular columnists, I guess they all have fallen by the wayside...
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Unbekannt
07 November 2016, 12:38
Spring 1986 me and a good friend drove from Holland to North of Italy to have some hillclimbs in and around the lovely city of Meran or Merano. Our 1933 MG J2 was very small but after 3000 km we were good friends and during the whole trip all kind of mechanicals broke but we repaired again and again. Me the 'doctor' my friend the 'nurse' giving me the tools and cleaning them afterwards. It was a lovely trip and even years later we still spoke about 'this trip of all trips''. Anyway with small cars people come together :-)
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Unbekannt
06 November 2016, 23:46
I empathize with your comments on the fit. Just completed an Alfa Romeo Monza, as of a few weeks back fitting in was painful, God's way of telling me I'm not Nuvolari and need to loose some pork. 8lbs later its feeling a bit better but still tight. Basically for anything other than a car designed in Holland: they were smaller than us in those good old days.
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