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Former MG staff member with an RV8 today looks back | |
| Cedric
Talbot (RV8 - Oxford Blue 1716) recalls "my days in MG Development
were well before either of the V8 models, being 1966-68. We were working
on mostly the MGC, but also the Midget and MGB for the US market.
The new safety and emission standards came in for 1968 model year
and were so demanding that we (and much of the motor industry) wondered
if we could ever meet them without ruining the cars’ appeal.
Cameras were strictly not allowed in the works or, of course, at MIRA where much of the testing was done. Sadly I have no photos at all of that time. I recall we did get a Costello V8 in for evaluation and I saw the brief report that was produced. Naturally ‘not invented here’ but the criticisms were quite minor - steering column UJ too close to the exhaust and that sort of thing. No doubt it spurred us on to develop the ‘in house’ model. British Leyland only started in |
May 1968 so there was
no access to Rover engines until then. BMC merged with Jaguar in
1966 and Syd Enever did get a Daimler 2.5 V8 to try in the MGB but
it just didn’t fit. It was too tall and the sump was too deep,
so without massive retooling it was a non-starter. |
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