MG Car Club of South Australia
1932 MG Le Mans toVictor Harbor by .. Bob Schapel
W a y n e Hough ’ s magnificent photo of the 1932 MG on the cover of last month ’ s magazine , grabbed my attention . The photo gave me a few clues , but a bit of research confirmed that it was the car once owned by my father , Lou , about 75 years ago . This car won its class at Le Mans ! I remember Lou ’ s stories and have read about its early history in John Thornley ’ s book , “ MAINTAINING THE BREED ”. The car started life as a C-Type in 1932 , having chassis number C0291 . As such , it was designed for oval track racing , such as Montlhery and Brooklands , where brakes and gears were little used . In fact “ Montlhery Midget ” was Thornley ’ s title for his chapter on C- Types . The car originally had 8 ” brakes , a pointy tail and perhaps a number 6 Powerplus supercharger . Sadly , the owner Harry Leeson , was killed while racing a C-Type ( presumably this car ) in
30 the 1932 “ JCC 1000 Mile Race ” at Brooklands . Early in 1933 , the car was bought by race-drivers , John Ford and Maurice Baumer . They had it modified by the MG factory , to J4 specifications , so it would suit road racing at Le Mans and “ Mannin Beg ” ( Isle of Man ) later that year . I distinctly remember Lou telling me that the changes included a large capacity slab fuel tank in place of the pointy tail , 12 inch brakes , a Laystall crankshaft and the bigger ( number-8 Powerplus ) supercharger . John Thornley , who was Director and General Manager of the MG Company , actually calls the car a J4 in his book . He states ( in the chapter about J-Types ) that Ford and Baumer took their J4 to 6th place at Le Mans and 3 rd place at Mannin Beg in 1933 . Anders Ditlev Clausager also calls the car “ The supercharged MG J4 Midget ” in his book titled “ Le Mans ”. I understand why Lou often called the car “ The J4 Prototype ”. A class win and sixth place outright at Le Mans , was quite an achievement for the 750cc MG . Nuvolari , in his only Le Mans race , drove the winning 2.3 litre supercharged Alfa , followed by two similar cars in second and third places . Fourth was a 1.1 litre Riley and fifth a 1.5 litre Aston Martin . I don ’ t know any C0291 history during 1934 , however , Ford and Baumer , both went on to race K3 Magnettes . Baumer bought K3 028 in 1934 and Ford bought K3 027 in 1935 . In about 1935 , John Dutton , whose family owned Anlaby Station near Kapunda , bought C0291 and a Vauxhall 30 / 98 in England . He shipped both cars to Adelaide and planned to select one to drive at Victor Harbor in the South Australian Centenary Grand Prix on 26 th December