A “DOUBLE TWELVE” M.G. MIDGET

A “DOUBLE TWELVE” M.G. MIDGET ON THE ROAD.

WHEN a make of car at

its first appearance in a big race, not only carries off the team prize, but is, moreover, the only complete team to finish the course, it is evident that something remarkable has occurred. It is therefore of special interest to be able to give our firsthand impressions of the behaviour under ordinary road conditions of one of the successful cars. Owing to the kindness of Mr. Randall, the entrant and owner of the M.G. Midget team in the Double

Twelve hour race, and of Mr. Kimble of University Motors we were able to take over No. 76, which was the first car of the trio home in the race, and give it a fairly extended test on the road.

One day a party consisting of Mr. Kimble, an assistant, and two members of MOTOR SPORT staff, set out for Waltham Cross to collect the winning cars and bring them up to London. On arrival they were filled up with fuel and oil and forthwith started up. Only one of the cars had had the engine running since being . driven down after the race, but all three cars started at once on the starters and we purred merrily off to London. The first part of our run being in dense traffic gave us a chance to appreciate the extreme handiness under such conditions of a small car with real acceleration.

Having left two of the team at University Motors, we set off in No. 76 to find out what effect 24 hours of almost continuous all-out running had had on the behaviour and performance of the 850 c.c. engine.

We had originally intended to do only a short run, but we became so intrigued with the performance of our tiny steed, that we were well down towards the West country almost before we had decided where to go, and the same evening saw over 200 miles more registered on the clock !

The Hartford shock absorbers were, naturally, set for high speed work and made the springing a little hard at low speeds. This is, of course, only what is intended, and once in open country they made the car ride perfectly smoothly and steadily over all sorts of roads.

The engine, although quite untouched since the race, gave an absolutely effortless cruising speed of 60 m.p.h. on about half throttle, and a good 70 m.p.h. maximum. On one occasion under fa

vourable conditions we reached and held 75 m.p.h., and the road holding was still excellent. Naturally on such a small engine the gears must be used well if the best performance

is to be maintained, but, the running at low speeds was perfectly smooth, and there was absolutely no sign of pinking or roughness when picking up from this speed. This pleasant state of affairs was largely due to the R.O.P. benzole mixture which was used throughout our run, and the next morning the engine started from cold at the first touch of the starter button without even flooding the carburettor. Verb. sap !

The K.L.G. 268 plugs, although of the distinctly warm variety functioned well under different conditions, and it was only by allowing the engine to tick over too long that we once contrived to oil up No. 1 cylinder a trifle. This gave an opportunity of proving the accessibility of the unit and a new one was fitted in a matter of seconds.

Naturally, the brakes were ready for slight adjustment after their hard time in the race, but were still adequate. The car as a whole seemed to us a very attractive proposition, which would be economical to run, and after the Double Twelve race, any further comment on its reliability would be superfluous.

THE GRAND PRIX BORDINO.

THIS event which is organised in memory of the great Pietro Bordino was run this year on 20th April over the circuit of Alessandria. The race was won by Varzi on an Alfa-Romeo, who covered the distance of 160 miles in 2 hours, 21 minutes, 42 seconds,

an average speed of 67.7 m.p.h. Zanelli on a Bugatti was second and Ferrari on another Alfa-Romeo third.