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Wolseley Hornet Specials no.87

By Triple M corner

Following on from last week’s Hornet Specials image is another shot of the same car (EPO 192) taking part at what we now know was a Firle Hill hillclimb, thanks to the local knowledge of Network member, Keith Durston. In response to last week’s photo Keith writes: “…It looks to me very like the Firle Hillclimb about halfway up. The old track went up Firle Bostal from the village up to the top of the downs. Today the verges have become adorned with low scrub bushes which blocks the view of the weald below but there is a corner I have found on Google street map that seems to correspond to your photo shot. Having been up there fairly recently the view above the bushes is pretty much identical. Firle itself is only a short drive out of Brtighton so I think it all links together.”

Wolseley Hornet Specials no.86

By Triple M corner

EPO 192 is a 1932 Wolseley Hornet Special which is carrying a 1938 West Sussex registration. All that is known about this post-war image is that it was taken in the South Downs at a trial organised by the Brighton & Hove Motor Club probably in the late forties or early fifties.

Triple M corner no.318

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

This is a much travelled 1930 Cumberland registered MG Midget (RM 7401). In Triple M corner no. 151 it was photographed in Queensland, Australia sometime in 1934. On this occasion (image undated, although probably earlier) it is pictured on its way to the Great St. Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps. There is much to discover behind this car’s story…

Triple M corner no.317

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

The presence of the post-war Morris Minor convertible helps date this image as being taken sometime in the very late fifties or early sixties. It looks like one of the cars featured, a 1931 East Sussex MG Midget (PN 9544) has not survived as it is not recorded on the current DVLA database. However, OY 1932, a late 1931 Croydon registered car has survived and has been in the same ownership for over a decade. If this photo was taken prior to the introduction of the 10-year-test then its likely that PN 9544 became a victim of that new legislation.  The clothes worn by the two young men in what looks like a middle-class suburban setting may strike a familiar chord with one or two forumists.

Triple M corner no.316

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

For a short period in the mid-thirties the village of Chalfont-St-Peter in Buckinghamshire hosted a hill climb event organised by the Bugatti Owners’ Club. Noted photographer Bill Brunell attended at least one of these events and in 1935 took a sequence of photographs of the competing cars, including the closer image of 1930 MG M Type Midget (RX 7455) seen here. The course was set out on an area known as Chalfont Heights which today is a private estate of upmarket houses. On that day in 1935 the car was driven by E.G. Wardrop while earlier in its competition career (which included the 1930 MCC London-Land’s End) it had been driven by C.A. Shelbourne. (More distant photo appears here courtesy of Motorsport Images. Their reference being: LAT Plate C0240)

Triple M corner no.315

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

This eclectic gathering of early thirties cars includes an Oxford registered MG Midget (WL 8418). Strangely, it carries a late 1929 Oxford CBC registration, yet according to records 2M/1167 (the car associated with that registration) wasn’t built until 5th March 1930? Was this gathering a car club meeting or simply a photograph of the occupants of a pub car park? The manner in which the vehicles are parked and that the setting was considered worthy of a photograph, suggests the former.

Triple M corner no.314

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

GH 1733 was first registered in South West London in July 1930, and was probably supplied by Jarvis of Wimbledon who were the main MG agent in that area. There are only a few personal touches to be seen on this car, the Stadium Autoscope drivers mirror, the front mud flaps and the positioning of the tax-disk holder. Other than that, the car looks absolutely standard with not even a badge adorning the front cross-member. The driver’s flat cap was also de rigueur at that time.

Triple M corner no.313

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

KJ 1592 is a 1931 season MG M Type Midget (2M-2111). It was built in September 1930 although not registered in Kent until the middle of 1931. As can be seen, the photo was taken on a very wet late autumn or winters day, the marquee suggesting that an event was taking place. That the car had been driven over muddy terrain is also evident and the lack of a hood in place may indicate its participation in a trial.  (This is one of a number of recently acquired photographs that were originally collected by the late Tim Harding)

Wolseley Hornet Specials no.85

By Triple M corner

This shot was taken on May 15th 1937 during the running of the MCC London-Edinburgh Trial.  While the location can only be guessed at, the car and its driver can be positively identified thanks to Donald Cowbourne’s book, British Trial Drivers – Their Cars and Awards 1929-1939. The 1932  Eustace Watkins Wolseley Hornet Daytona Special (AKE 691) was being driven that day by L.B.B. Baker who went on to win a Silver Award. (This LAT collection photograph C11525, appears here courtesy of Motorsport Images)

Triple M corner no.312

By Triple M corner

The Triple M series of MG’s all belong to a family of models that commenced with the 1929 MG Midget and continued through to the mid-thirties via a long string of four and six cylinder OHC engined cars that forged the marques identity.

Throughout the twenties and thirties Capt. G.E.T. Eyston was an inveterate circuit and road racing competitor and also a three-times world landspeed record breaker. In 1933 he commissioned the building of a special bodied MG K3 Magnette in which he successfully competed for two years. The K3 Magnette was nicknamed the ‘Humbug’ due to its contrasting horizontal lines and it was in this car that he broke twelve endurance speed records at the French Montlhery circuit. The under-the-skin photo was taken during the construction of the car, while the at speed shot was taken during a record breaking attempt. (Lower image is an LAT photoscan courtesy of Motorsport Images)

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