MG Car Club of South Australia
How the love of MG cars defined my life
From...Peter Auld
I
The Morris was of course a poor man’s
MG. We made it road worthy and at 16
drove that for nearly 12 months until I
spotted a sad looking MG. Never realis-
ing the importance of the decision to
buy it would have on my life I forked out
50 pounds and my Morris and began
my motoring dreams with a 1931 F
Type Magna one of only 2 in SA I found
out many years later.
Buying parts created a few problems for
me until I met Malcolm Caire at Motors
limited . He promptly invited me to join
the recently formed MG Car Club of SA.
I joined in 1958 at the age of 17 and
given the membership no.123 (that I
would dearly love to have again) having
lost it later during a brief o/seas stint
with working commitments and family
growth .
During the early years the F was not all
that reliable and many a time would
break down just before a meeting just to
spite me !! I had 3 or 4 fuel pumps in
t is amazing how, when faced with
adversity in your life and you are
given the time to reflect you tend to see
things a little clearer.
This year being my 77th It dawned on
me just how much of my life has been
and continues to be influenced by MG
cars .Certainly the last 70 years !!
How can that be?
At the age of 7 back in 1948 school holi-
days usually meant finding some way to
keep me amused by keeping out of mis-
chief at my parents workplace or farmed
out to relatives.
One of my uncles was a transport driver
so I found myself under his care at the
time just riding the cab to see where it
takes me.
On this wonderful day in 1948 we were
picking up cars from Outer Harbor to
deliver them to what was probably Mo-
tors Limited in the city. I recall we only
carried 2 cars at a time but my uncle
suggested we have a quick spin down
the esplanade in one
of the cars……Well
what could it be? an
MGTC brand new not
yet delivered or regis-
tered to give me a
thrill . Well it did that
and set the course of
my life and my motor-
ing future.
Fast forward 8 years
and at 15 looking to
get my first car. And
with my parents help
of course we found a
1937 Morris 8/40 sit-
ting on a gravel heap
behind a motorcycle
shop in Gouger St .
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