What relationship was there between Car Nos and Engine Nos of MGBGTV8s at the MG Plant during production?

Robert Rose, with MGBGTV8 (Citron 1646), contacted the V8 Webmaster (Victor Smith) with a query following Rob's surprise on seeing what appeared to be a large gap between the Cowley Commission No 002326 and the Abingdon Chassis Number for the MGBGTV8 Citron 1587 when compared to the Commission No on his V8 (Citron 1646). He felt this would suggest that his bodyshell was stockpiled at Abingdon for quite a considerable time before his MGBGTV8 was built.

He felt if this was the case then presumably his bodyshell would not have been stored on
a transport trailer but on a trestle outside the MG Factory buildings as he had seen in photos of MGBGTs similarly stored at the MG Plant. He added "I do not know whether this simply a one off but it does appear to me at least unusual? Would it be possible to supply the build dates for this vehicle?"

Victor Smith responded "I do not have good or complete data for Commission Numbers for the MGBGTV8 model, but I recall the late Geoff Allen saying deliveries of bodyshells were kept stockpiled on a random basis outside the MG Plant and out in all weather!


However using a copy of the MG Factory records, I have put the Car No/VIN and Engine No data for groups of cars around Car No/VIN 1587 and 1646 in charts to illustrate the near random way the engines were taken out of the storeroom and on to the production line. Also when new supplies arrived they were usually simply packed into the storeroom. When you look at the data around 1646 I think the chart suggests a new batch of engines may have been put in the storeroom as the series of Engine Nos seem closer. The "build dates" are usually taken as the "Date Through Paint Finishing" which you can see on the copies of sections of the records that are available alongside.

Rob responded saying "Thank you a very comprehensive and interesting reply, all of which is greatly appreciated."

Posted: 221109

Above is an extract from a copy of the MG Factory production records for the MGBGTV8 model where you can see the entry for Citron 1646 with the engine number 4860 1567A has a "Date Through Paint Finishing" (the "Build Date") of 4th June 1974.

Below is a chart showing the Car Nos and Engine Nos for the cars near Citron 1646 from those Factory records.

The pattern of the Engine Nos above shows a tendency to follow the Car Nos with the exception of Blaze 1641 which has an Engine No 4860 0971A which suggests that a much earlier engine (0971) was taken out of the V8 engine storeroom, which had been put there from what must have been from a much earlier delivery of engines. Supplies of V8 engines were delivered to the MG Plant at Abingdon and then unloaded and packed into a storeroom, not necessarily in the order of their manufacture number. Then when engines were needed on the production line, the engines nearest the door of the storeroom were taken out and moved through to the production line. It's a little like the amusing comment in the Andrew Preview appearance in the Morecombe & Wise Show - the "right engines but not necessarily in the right order!".

An example of where a supply of engines seem to have been simply unloaded and packed into the storeroom on a more random basis and later engines removed through to the production line is illustrated by the chart below for MGBGTV8s made from production data around Citron 1510 with the Engine No 4860 1510A with a "Date Through Paint Finishing" (or "Build Date") of 19th April 1974. In the central section of the chart between Car Nos 1509 and 1517 the range in Engine Nos is only 23 in 10 engines and at either side of the chart a much greater variance.

You can see the pattern of the Car Nos and Engine Nos is more varied around Citron 1587 above in mid April 1974 than that for the cars built near Citron 1646 on the production line a few months later in early June 1974.
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