MG Car Club of South Australia
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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.
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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.