The ex-Bellevue Garage, 'Wilkie' Wilkinson, Charles Mortimer
1935 MG Magnette NA 1½-Litre Monoposto Racing Special
Chassis no. 0756
Engine no. 869134

'It is not surprising that with the makers' knowledge of racing... it should be capable of giving as high a speed as 80mph. What comes as a revelation is the ease with which on Brooklands that speed is reached and held. The rev needle hovering between the 5,000 and 5,500 marks, the whole mechanism feeling as one, and with no sense of adventure attached to such speeds.' –
'The Autocar' on the N-type Magnette.

Small-capacity six-cylinder cars were much in vogue in the early 1930s and MG had duly climbed aboard the bandwagon in 1931 with launch of the Magna 'F'. Maximum output of the Magna's 1,271cc Wolseley Hornet-based overhead-camshaft engine was later raised from a modest 37bhp to a much healthier 47 horsepower. An extensively revised and improved version of this 'KD' engine, tuned to produce 56bhp, was carried over to the 'NA' Magnette of 1934; the chassis too had come in for revision, being lighter than hitherto.

Owned in its early days by Bellevue Garage Ltd of Wandsworth, this N-Type Magnette was hired out by them to aspiring racers to compete at Brooklands during 1935 and 1936. Manager of Bellevue's racing subsidiary, W E 'Wilkie' Wilkinson then rebuilt the MG as an offset-bodied single-seater during the winter of 1936/37, equipping the engine with six Amal Carburettors.

A contemporary news item in 'The Sports Car' magazine, written by Bill Boddy, states that the chassis had been considerably lightened by extensive drilling of frame members, pedals, shock absorber brackets, etc, commenting that the body 'embodies some very fine panel-beating and a tail ending in a fine taper.' The engine had been linered down to under 1,100cc, and Boddy observed that in the preceding year, with a high axle ratio and a two-seater body, the MG had lapped at 108mph.

Wilkinson and the Evans brothers proceeded to race the modified Magnette with some success during the 1937 season. In August of that year the MG was advertised for sale in 'The Sports Car' magazine and by 1939 had been acquired by Charles Mortimer, an established Brooklands competitor on both two and four wheels, who refers to the car in his books 'Brooklands and Beyond' and 'With Hindsight' and who again competed at Brooklands with success. Mortimer sold the car during the war, and it then passed through the hands of Frank Kennington and John Marshall.

The next known owner was Basil de Lissa, who competed in the MG energetically between 1948 and 1950, including the first ever Goodwood race meeting in September '48 and again in 49 and 50, the Leinster Trophy meeting, the Manx Cup and the Stanmer Park hill climb. During de Lissa's ownership the car was looked after by the well known racing car constructor/driver Paul Emery, originator of the 'Emeryson' marque, who fitted it with a supercharger in 1949 and a more modern radiator cowl. De Lissa sold the car in 1950 to the MG specialist dealers Toulmin.

In the 1960s the car was acquired by a Mr H H Garrett of Birtley, County Durham. When Garrett sold it to Norman Hart in 1972, an inelegant two-seater glassfibre body had been fitted. Norman Hart corresponded with the MG Car Club and previous owners Wilkie Wilkinson, Charles Mortimer and Basil de Lissa to establish the car's history. In 1975 Norman Hart commenced its restoration, which included returning the MG to its pre-war specification complete with a replica offset body made by David Royle at Vintage Motor Car Restoration. Wilkie Wilkinson was reunited with the now-rebuilt MG in October 1981 when he drove it at the Croft circuit near Darlington, and again in 1982 when he drove it at the Brooklands Reunion.

The current owner purchased the car from Norman Hart in 2003, undertaking a complete restoration over the next two years in conjunction with marque specialists Baynton Jones. In the course of his original conversion, Wilkinson had fitted MG K-Type axles and K3 brakes, to which end both axles had to be narrowed. The front axle was cut and re-welded to achieve this, and during the rebuild was found to be sound. Nevertheless, it was deemed prudent to replace it with an exact copy. The car has alternated between the standard N-Type gearbox and a pre-selector during its career, and is currently fitted with the manual 'box.

Accompanying documentation consists of some bills relating to the most recent restoration; a copy of the car's Triple-M Register entry; various press cuttings; copies of correspondence from previous owners and VSCC Eligibility Form. A quantity of spares comes with the car to include a cylinder block (believed to be the cars original), Lucas racing magneto, gearbox (rebuilt), the original front axle, alternative Amal six-carburettor set-up, and a twin rear wheel set-up for sprints and hill climbs.

Since completion, the Magnette has been sprinted and hill-climbed successfully with impressive reliability. In 2013 it beat ERA 'R4D' at VSCC Brooklands Sprint and in 2014 set FTD at the VSCC's Curborough Sprint, beating ERA 'R14B' and a host of other doughty pre War racing cars in the process. Always in contention, not only in hill climbs and sprints but also circuit races, this very user friendly historic racing MG with period Brooklands and Goodwood history is completely ready to go.