MG Car Club of South Australia
Lou wrote to the MG Factory for infor-
mation about the car. The reply he re-
ceived was the source of his detailed
knowledge of the 1933 factory upgrade.
I remember Lou telling me that every
time “M.G.” was mentioned in the fac-
tory letter, a single key was used, and it
typed the octagonal MG logo. He
passed the letter on to a subsequent
owner, Gavin Sandford-Morgan. Lou
told me that he since asked if the letter,
or a copy, could be returned to him, but
unfortunately, that never eventuated.
Gavin Sandford-Morgan bought C0291
in 1947 (I think directly from Lou) and
sold it about a year later. Gavin bought
it again in 1965 and after several years,
restored it to magnificent condition, with
a pointy tailed body. In about 1999 the
son of Ford and Baumer’s mechanic
sought to find the whereabouts of the
car which his father helped maintain. He
eventually traced it to Gavin in early
2000. Russell Garth, our own Register
Secretary at the time, was one of the
links in the Englishman’s successful
search. Gavin sold C0291 back to the
U.K. in about 2001. I notice that its Eng-
lish registration number, JK2340, is the
same now as it was in 1933.
You might have noticed that I have not
called the car a “C-Type” or a “J4” since
mentioning its 1933 upgrade. I have
referred to it by the chassis number,
C0291. That is because I now pose
questions for our philosophers to dis-
cuss. Is the car a C-Type or a J4?
Should the car have been rebuilt as a
pointy tailed C-Type, as it was for a few
months after its first emergence from the
MG factory? …Or should it have been
rebuilt as a slab-tank J4 as it was for the
next sixty years, during which it forged
most of its history? I imagine this issue
would have been a dilemma for Gavin
Sandford-Morgan. These are “historical
continuity” issues (Thanks Terry Wright
for that terminology) for which there
might be no definitive answers. Gavin
chose the pointy tail option and the car
is commonly referred to as a “C-Type”
….. But I do notice that the photo on the
cover of last month’s magazine shows
that it still has the 12 inch brakes of the
J4.
Two Club members spotted at the recent V8 Super Car Event at The Bend
on the Friday practice day, Neil Stagg on the right, can’t place the other bloke,
That’s the 100 room Rydges Hotel above the pit lane garages in the background
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