2 replies to this topic

[rbm]

Any one got any info on the Horton offset MG that took part in the 1932 500 mile race?
I'm struggling to find any info at all, what was it based on?
as it is called a midget I assume it was a 4 cylinder and from the race report on the Brooklands site assume it was blown.

[Vitesse2]

Ron Horton took delivery of his C-Type Midget in mid-1931. I believe his first race with it was the 1931 TT, when he was entered as part of Goldie Gardner's three-car team. In 1932 the car was rebodied as an offset single-seater by Jensen of Wolverhampton, first appearing in this form at the BARC Autumn Meeting at Brooklands. Its performance was considerably improved, winning an Outer Circuit race at 104.47mph and lapping at 107.80mph.

As you presumably know, Horton won the 1932 500 with Jack Bartlett. He also won the 800cc class in the 1933 Avusrennen, beating Sid Barnes' works Austin. Horton acquired a K3 Magnette in 1933, but retained the Midget, which Charles Brackenbury drove in the 1933 500.

There's a picture of the car taken in the 1934 Empire Trophy in the LAT archive:

http://cache.latphot...3280114_PVW.jpg

and there are others of it in the 1932 500 on page 70 of Mike Allison and Peter Browning's book "Works MGs" and page 293 of Bill Boddy's "Brooklands".

[Vitesse2]

Two further pictures of the car appear on page 34 of David Venables' "Racing 1500s" and on page 87 of the 1998 edition of F Wilson McComb's "MG by McComb". The first is a side-on shot taken during a Brooklands event, emphasising the long pointed tail, which can also be seen to advantage in the second: this is a static shot from above and behind which clearly shows that the whole of the body was offset to the driver's right.

McComb also says that it lapped at 115.29mph in that Autumn Meeting. This is confirmed in the race report in The Times - both lap speeds are correct, set up in separate races.