Don
Hayter's book on the MGB
Don Hayter's MGB Story - The birth
of the MGB in MG's Abingdon Design & Development Office
(Those Were the Days...)
The 96 page paperback, with 76 colour and black & white
photos:
• Features models and prototypes from 1956 to 1980
• Traces the development of the MGB from conception to
production
• Details the challenges and restraints on the MGB design
teams
• Covers the effects of USA safety legislation on the MGB
• Has behind the scenes anecdotes from MG Design &
Development
• Recalls a personal account of Rally team back-up in the
Liege rallies
• Provides background to the MG record breakers
• Includes a personal account of the MG Design Department
closure
• Features photographs previously unseen outside the MG
Design & Development department.
Veloce Publishing
For further information from the publisher - price shown as
£14.99 plus postage. More
Amazon
You can pre-order the book through Amazon now and they say they
will deliver it to you when it arrives in stock at £12.74
delivered free in the UK. Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
Gift-wrap available. More
Development of the V8 at Abingdon -
Don Hayter's recollections
A transcript of Don Hayter's talk to a group of MGV8 enthusiasts
in 2002 on the development of the V8 engined MGB is available
on CD. More
Posted: 180412
|
 |
Don
Hayter's book on the MGB Story is due to
be released in August 2012 as an illustrated 96
page paperback published by Veloce. |
The
book covers models and prototypes from 1956 to the
close of the MG plant in 1980. It features Don Hayter's
behind the scenes anecdotes and personal accounts
of MG in its heyday. The RRP is £14.99 with
Amazon offering it at £12.74.
This eagerly awaited book
cover the inside story of the MG Design office,
from 1956 until its closure in 1980. Explaining
how the various models were drawn, planned, and
developed by the small team of engineers, it also
shows how the input and control changed from Morris,
Wolseley, Riley Group, Austin-Morris, and Austin
Rover. The effects of the Triumph-Austin merger
are detailed in model changes, alongside the effects
of safety legislation, mainly imposed by the United
States. Trying to remain as individual as possible
during this period, MG developed record breakers
and a unique Competition Department. Special cars
were built and tested, and prototypes for the MGB
replacement were drawn up all in parallel with the
development of MG production cars using engines
from any part of the company. The continuing support
of the American market was essential and much valued,
but the Company's market support prioritised the
TR7 a decision that, ultimately, led to the closure
of a successful, happy company. |
 |
Don
Hayter was educated at
Abingdon School, Oxford, winning the Bennett Scholarship
to Pembroke College. With the outbreak of the Second
World War he decided to take an apprenticeship in
aircraft design at the Pressed Steel Company at
Cowley. |
| Don
attended Oxford Technical College and attained a
Higher National Certificate in Metallurgy and Engineering.
He worked at various aircraft manufacturers before
moving into the car industry after the war. He worked
on many cars, including the MG Magnette, in 1954
he moved to Aston Martin
in Feltham, working on the design for the DB2/4
and the Lagonda, before moving back to MG's Design
& Development department. Promoted to Chief
Design & Development Engineer in 1973, he was
responsible for the design of the MGB body, and
stayed with MG until the closure of its factory
in 1980. Don remains passionately enthusiastic about
this iconic car and still runs one today - an MGB
V8 Roadster conversion. |
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