Why MG dropped racing

Sir,
Having just received the December and January editions of “Motor Sport”, I feel I must put pen to paper and rally to the cause and defend the MG Octagon.

In reply to Mr. Pegum suggesting that MG withdrew from racing due to Jamieson’s twin-cam Austin, I must say that this is absolute nonsense. A challenge from Austin of this nature would have been welcomed with open arms by Kimber and the Abingdon crew.

The reason for the MG withdrawal came at the time Lord Nuffield sold the assets of MG to the Morris Group. The directors of Morris Motors issued an official statement part of which I quote:

“The directors have decided that, at all events for the present time, racing for the purpose of development has served its useful purpose.”

Surely this “useful purpose” reached its peak at Abingdon in the shape of the R-type single-seater, the only single-seat MG built for racing only. With its backbone chassis and torsion bar suspension all round it was acclaimed throughout the sporting world as being ten years ahead of its time. Unfortunately, the axe fell before the car reached its full potential.

It is noteworthy that all MG racing engines were touring engines tuned for the track. They were not specialist-built racing engines as I believe the twin-cam Austin was.

Gavin C. Gough.
Tropical Oman States.