December 2018
a lot of input during these activities. As
far as I know, new reprints of the book
are not available but there are many sec-
ond-hand examples available on EBay,
mostly priced between $30 and $100.
Note that it was reprinted in 1951 but the
revised edition, which includes an extra
20 or so pages, including the MGA com-
ponent, was printed in 1956.
John Thornley OBE was General Man-
ager of the MG Car Company from 1948
and Director from 1956 until 1969. He
was also one of the founders of the MG
Car Club in England. His name, as
chairman, was on the letterhead of the
1976 correspondence I mentioned last
month.
(The President was Capt.
George Eyston OBE, whom I mentioned
above.) Thornley was certainly in a good
position to see the workings of the MG
racing department. It is interesting to
read about the way the race cars were
constantly being modified to suit the pur-
pose or to overcome problems. I don’t
think the word “originality” was in their
vocabulary!
“The Red Car” is a novel which was first
published in 1954. It is a story about a
young American chap who fell in love
with a crashed MG TC. Issues such as
local trends, unsupportive parents, and
lack of money and expertise, all op-
posed his desire to own it. TDs, TFs
and several other makes of cars are
also mentioned in the book. It includes
a bit of low level competition which, I
have since found, bears some resem-
blance to incidents in the authors experi-
ence. The book is probably aimed at
younger readers, so perhaps that is why
I enjoy it so much!
Don Stanford
owned a TC
himself.
He
has
been
quoted as say-
ing that it was
an irresistible
little car which
gave him sev-
eral years of
pure motoring
pleasure.
He
mentioned,
“beating
off
girls with a stick”, when he drove it! I
think the book begs a sequel, but Don
Stanford died in the 1990s. He was
born one hundred years ago, in 1918.
“From The Frame Up” has reprints avail-
able for $18.50 US. Stanford’s book
should not be confused with another, by
Marcy Dermansky, having the same title
but no relevance to MGs.
Thornley’s fact and Stanford’s fiction
both epitomise the MG sporting and
competition philosophy, which began
with Cecil Kimber and continues today.
Over the years, this philosophy has cer-
tainly been maintained strongly by MG
owners.
It mirrors our motto ….
“SAFETY FAST”.
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