MG Car Club of South Australia
T
THE OHLMEYER SHORT CHASSIS MGs By .. Bob Schapel
he idea of shortening the chassis when building a T-Type special , originated in South Australia . It was the brainchild of Tony ( Anthony ) Ohlmeyer , a very well-known and respected motor engineer , who specialised in MGs . He raced his own TA , and many other drivers got him to do their race car preparation because he had a reputation as a mechanical and tuning perfectionist . Tony calculated the wheelbase to track ratio of the best-handling cars of the era and concluded that a TA / TB / TC chassis had to be shortened about 6.5 inches to achieve that same ratio . He shortened about eight chassis during the 40s and 50s and they all became successful on the track or road . Tony shortened his own TC engined TA , The Tom Stevens race TA / TC ( aka “ TB ”), the David Harvey / Jack Brabham / Jack Johnson / Ray Lewis / John Gillett s / c race TC , the Jack Johnson / Lou Molina / Anton Molina race TC , The Steve Tillett / John Ellis race TC , the Bill Schapel / Georgie Howman race TC ( shown ) and the David Raglass s / c road TC . ( Jack Johnson owned two of the cars .) Apart from those shortened by Tony , several other MG racers had their chassis shortened following Tony ’ s formula .
10
The Graham Nicolle , Paul Dallwitz and Bob Schapel TC specials were shortened by Geoff Wheaton , Brian Wright and John Bateman respectively . There is no visual evidence of where a genuine Ohlmeyer chassis has been shortened . Tony cut the 6.5 ” piece out of the box-section , on an angle , after removing a crossmember . He then welded the join , using strips of the waste piece , as welding rods . This was to ensure the steel was an exact match because pre-war chassis were 5 % nickel and TCs were mild steel . He then ground the weld off perfectly and re-fitted the cross-member so that rivets / bolts were either side of the join . Jack Brabham acquired his race TC in 1953 as part of a deal involving other cars . He had his TC at a N . S . W . race meeting and a standard length TC was parked alongside . Jack noticed the difference in length of the cars , and after thoroughly inspecting underneath his own , declared that it had a special factory chassis . Tony Ohlmeyer witnessed the whole episode . When Tony told me the story , I asked if he told Jack why his car was shorter . Tony grinned as he said , “ No I just stood back and smiled .” The MG Competition Champion honour board , which Tony donated , and a photo of his TA , racing at Lobethal ( before it was shortened and fitted with a TC engine ) hang on our clubroom walls . It would be interesting to get out a tape measure and calculator to see what the wheelbase to track ratio is for later MGs , from TDs to MGBs and beyond .