The pre war MG REgister had some pics of old MGs and asked people if they could identify, cars owners, models etc. I was surprised to find this amongst them
What appears to be an SS1 or SS2 coupe body on a pre war MG KN
I doubt the factory did this. But it looks competent enough.
Coincidentally it was a K Type MG chassis that Goldie Gardners 4 cylinder Jaguar powered record breaking car was built on
Nice looking car: wasnt aware any Jag 4-banger saw any use, in anger.
The Jaguar 4 cylinder twin cam engine was used in the Goldie Gardner MG that set a class world record of over 170 mph.
And someone later got on e and installed it in a Mini Minor for racing
Had not a CLUE about that!
Thanks, Eddles!
Looks like quite a clever melding of parts. Are those MkV running board strips?
The four cylinder block with hemi head was a surprising choice for a record breaking car when you consider how the head was bolted down!
Peter
The Mg went for various records , all based on capacity
the Jaguar engine was only used for the appropriate capacity record, 2 litres possibly
I don’t now any details of the Mg or what was done,
Just a look-a-like or another SS creation, this time on a BSA??
Peter
With small, modern engine and drivetrain, what a fun lil toy that would be!
Greetings All,
Ed, I’ve read that as well. Having owned an MG Twin Cam, I was pretty sure that wasn’t the engine he used.
So why does MG get the credit for a speed record?
Could CItroen put in a Ferrari engine and capture the record for Citroen?
My MG friends were less than pleased when I pointed out the same thing a few years back.
Bob
Well as usual there’s a story. Gardner had set various land speed records for MG. with factory backing , Bu for what ever reasons there was some falling out and for the 2 litre class Mg wasn’t helping but Jaguar saw a chance for some good publicity.
It was the same car , an MG but engines were changed for various cubic capacity records. I don’t think there has been a set protocol. In FI Coopers had "Cooper Climax " and Sir Jack called them REpco Brabham [ with the engine maker last] But Craig Breedlove didn’t list the engine in his Spiriit of America. in the title. Jaguar did goon and run ads focused on th e Gardner record so obviously they weren’t comlaining.
Here is an engine that BSA needs. 
As I recall, BSA and Lanchester car production became somehow part of the Jaguar family when Sir William bought Daimler.
And another one…
Not very obvious in the drawing is the fact that cylinder head studs could not be placed in the same locations as in the OHV engine and were simply screwed into drillings in the top deck that had no reinforcement like the OHV studs.
Terry Larson has a spare one…
I suppose this wasn’t done with the intention of being in production but as a tryout for gas flows and the like
Possible the twin cam 4 in the BSA might be a waste, It would be interesting if someone recreated an XK100 with one… or the Gardner car
People do heroic projects. Neville Swales has recreated the XJ13,proper 4 cam engine and all, but as it was originally built , not the modified version Jag put out to promote the V12 E Type…
BSA had been around for along time , My father had a BSA Scout , a 4 seater sports car , front wheel drive with the gear lever in the dash, Citroen Traction Avante style.
The name is from Birmingham Small Arms and they also made bicycles. I had one for a few years but they brought in compulsory helmet laws and so I sold it.
Hi,
Hoffman used it for marketing in 1949 and early 1950 (I have a copy somewhere) and then I think somebody made a new LSR.
Cheers!
Jaguar actually had ad copy and placed 1/4 page ads for the XK100 in Speed Age back in the 50’s.
Guessing if they placed ads, they were serious.
Surprised they withdrew. Seems like really bad marketing to me.
The history books generally attribute the cancellation of the XK100 to:
It was under consideration for the small saloon which eventually became the Mark 1, probably why there are more than one or two surviving examples. But they never did solve that vibration, which would have been unacceptable in a luxury saloon.
I once had an '89 Volvo 740 with a 2.4L DOHC 4 and the way Volvo solved the vibration problem was two counter rotating shafts down parallel to the crankshaft. I believe Porsche also did that with an over 2 litre DOHC 4.
It was also realised that tooling would be cheaper to make a de-stroked 6, as most tooling would be common, that for a 4 cylinder engine… And a six was considered to have more prestige thana 4. Although Jaguar had always had a 4 cylinder model up to the end of the Mk IV.
I have an interesting speedo. A MK I speedo that has gear change points marked on it.
A cheap version of the MK 1 was made and among price cutting measures[ vynil seatsetc, the tacho was eliminated and change points printed on the speedo. Which is what they also did with SS1 s and SS2s.
I thik a cheap 2.8 XJ 6 was also produced. in the same vein.
A bit OT but a day or two ago I was watching a Mad Max film featuring a massive weaponised tanker and the main instrument on its dash was a MkV rev counter!
Peter
.jpg)