Well attended MG Era Day at Brooklands

This major event was organised by Jon Glover on behalf of the South East Centre of the MG Car Club. Ian Quarrington and Peter Berry report on the day.

Ian Quarrington mentioned "it was a cold day but the Club Office staff did an excellent job flying the flag for this prestigious MG Car Club event, having spent the previous day at Longbridge, so another long weekend for our hard working team".


MGBGTV8 Tundra 0896
The MGBGTV8 seen by Ian Quarrington and Debbie Brading is Tundra 0896 with a Franklin Crane cam, Janspeed multi exhaust manifold and pipe, restored and retrimmed in full leather with a new headlining and carpets. It was built on 5th November 1973 and three days later was despatched to Turners of Plymouth. It is registered with the V8 Database by Roger Drake from Hampshire.

Photos: Debbie Brading
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MGV8s seen at MG Era Day
Peter Berry mentions:

MGBGTV8 Black Tulip 0120
This car was registered by Joe Bannister in July 2008. It was built on 8th June 1973 and promptly despatched to BLMC Austin Morris at Longbridge as a public relations car. It was originally road tested by Motor Sport magazine in 1973 and by Autosport too. It was extensively restored to the original specification by the previous owner Richard Kelley. Article

MGBGTV8 Sandglow 2868
This car was probably the example registered by Philip James, a local MGV8 enthusiast and SE Centre member.

Photos: Peter Berry

Posted: 190414 & updated 190415
Ian Quarrington says he "attended the MG Era Day at Brooklands today where there was an excellent turn out of V8 Members' cars. There was a rare Tundra V8 which I had not seen before. Among an impressive row of RV8s was M22 MGR, which had belonged to the late John Bolt, but we were unable to locate the current owner. It still sports its V8 Register and MG Car Club badges.

Whilst there I was delighted to to be asked by Jon Glover, who organised the event on behalf of the South East Centre, to present two of the four awards for "car of the day" which was of course an honour for me to do".

< Alongside is a row of RV8s parked up on a section of the old track at Brooklands. In the foreground is a reimported RV8 with the front wheel arch blisters.






Peter Berry says "A good day was had by all at Brooklands yesterday. I fired up the V8 and headed off towards Esher, where I would meet two RV8 owning friends. One is an old school friend who’s had his car for 2.5 years now. I talked him into signing up with the MG Car Club at the event!

Overheating on the way to Brooklands
So being a cold morning (2 degrees in Bromley at 8am) I turned up the heater and set off towards the M25. About six miles into the journey I noticed the temperature gauge was dangerously high, with the needle at around the 4 o’clock position. I pulled over, lifted the bonnet and found nothing amiss. A stretch of dual carriageway lay ahead so I figured that if the needle dropped on that part of the journey I would be ok to turn onto the M25, where the temperature would surely drop. Luckily the temperature did reduce so I joined the M25, where the needle came to rest at a more normal seven o’clock position. However as soon as I left the motorway again the needle began to quickly climb once more. I made it to my destination without further drama and switched the engine off immediately. I thought about what had happened over a coffee and came to the conclusion that the my journey that day had one big difference. At the outset, I turned the heater on…. Now, I rarely drive the car in cold weather these days, so the heater valve remains closed for the vast majority of time. When the engine was out recently the coolant was obviously replaced. The heater valve stayed closed throughout and hence was not refilled when the coolant was replaced. Opening the valve simply drained the coolant from the engine into the heater matrix! When the temperature settled, I removed the radiator plug and found room for an additional three litres of water in the radiator!! Needless to say, the remainder of the day’s driving saw the needle at seven o’clock with very little fluctuation. Happy days!

Plenty of MGV8s at the event
The MG Era day at Brooklands was well attended with (I think) nine RV8s present - two belonging to friends of mine. The BV8s were more difficult to count as we seemed to be fairly well spaced out, rather than parked up in a single location. I would estimate a similar number to the RV8s with two Teal Blue cars (one being mine) the Tundra one (mentioned above) and a few others. I recall an unusual green car, which I believe I’ve seen before, although I don’t think this is a factory colour. (GOF… something or other?)

A rare rubber bumper Sandglow example put in an appearance and the Black Tulip ex-demonstrator HOH 932L (once owned by Geoff Allen?) was also present.

A rather smart Damask example (or was it slightly lighter?) with Offenhauser carb, bonnet vents and sporting a 4.0 badge below the V8 front wing badge was also there. However this may not have been a Factory car. The Test Hill session at 15.00 was good to watch. A V8 Roadster made short work of The Hill with pops and bangs aplenty at the top. Apart from the cold weather (although I still managed to obtain a wind burn to the face!) it was a most enjoyable day".