NEWS AND VIEWS
Well an interesting last few months and some real summer weather at least here in the UK. PreWar Prescott back in July turned out to be as good as usual maybe even better with so many extra MGs there! We had six Ds there and a couple of D owners without their cars. Highlight was the appearance of Vincent Dransart’s D0456 from France looking resplendent in its much admired grey and maroon colour scheme. The restoration has taken about 10 years and a glass of champagne was enjoyed celebrating this and the car making it to Prescott!
Earlier in the month the ‘Summer Gathering’ was held which unfortunately I didn’t get to but the Group was well represented by Digby Gibbs in D0377 pictured here with daughter Jo doing the clever bits!
On the racing front the meeting at VSCC Cadwell Park was another triumph for Triple M Racing and Ds were represented by Chris Edmundson (80) and Onno Konemann (105) pictured here.
Super pictures as usual from photographer Colin Murrell (D0485). Onno has posted a super video of his next race which was in the wet and can be found at https://youtube/anKZV3qNJ58. Well worth a watch.
Thanks to Cathelijine Spoelstra for another period picture of the D. Obviously from a report or catalogue of the 1931 Motor Show at Olympia that year. Most Brits will recall that Motor Shows were usually held at Earls Court in London – but that exhibition hall didn’t open until 1937.
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THOSE EX120 LOOKALIKES AGAIN
Back in Dispatch 61 I covered the story of the 2 EX120 lookalikes initially by Nigel Musselwhite. Well the picture below was posted on the Triple M Register Forum in August by Roger Cadogan which shows one of the cars in the mid-seventies at Silverstone. On the Forum I suggested that this was definitely D0460 but on reflection it could be Nigel’s first off on the un-numbered D chassis; the body eventually coming back to be put on D0460.
The un-numbered chassis was then rebodied closer to the actual EX120 by others and is now in Japan. Whilst still on the subject of the EX120 I recently bought 3 pages (6 sides) from Ebay, which had been pulled out of a book, it recounts the story of G. E. T. Eyston’s 1931 record attempt at the Montlhery circuit where the car caught fire but he was so determined to finish the run that he only just managed to escape in time after stopping; even then he was taken to hospital in Paris for treatment. Ironically, he didn’t need the extra run as he had already broken the 100 mph record but wanted to go on further.
And further on it has the more well known picture of the car after the fire had been put out. Eyston is second from left, Cecil Kimber is fourth, leaning on the car. The article/chapter starts on page 57 and ends on page 62; unfortunately the title of the book isn’t on any of the pages but if anyone knows which book it is from I’d be pleased to hear from them!
BITS AND PIECES
The petrol tank on D0311 had been ‘weeping’ for some time and had been repaired at least twice before I had acquired the car in 1991 so I decided to get a new one! Steve Gilbert made a super one for me in stainless steel, pictured here, for a very reasonable £350 plus packing plus carriage.
I noted to that the gauze filter on the end of the reserve had seen better days and Bill kindly made me a new one! Pictured here along with the main /reserve set up as shown in the factory manual for the D Type – I suspect this was just a pre-production mock-up as the filler neck is in completely the wrong position to that on production cars.
To ensure all the muck was out of the fuel pipes before fitting the new tank I made up an adaptor from an old inner tube valve. Cut the valve holder from the tube enough to get it into a standard ¼ BSP union nut; attach this to double ended union – the bit of rubber left from the inner tube makes a good seal when these are tightened up. The union can then be put onto the fuel pipes at the pump end and blown through with a standard foot tyre pump.
Worked well for me! By the way in case you’re not aware, all pipe fittings and many other bits and pieces are available from www.vintageandclassicspares.co.uk. This is a first class website and for those who prefer a catalogue theirs is 74 page A4 size and very good value at £2.
