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- Created on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 17:46
- Written by Guenni
MG Live - 15th & 16th June 2013
As you know by now, 2013 marks the 60th anniversary since the launch of the Z series Magnette & things are certainly shaping up very well ahead of the main anniversary event itself.
At MG Live, we had a total of 28 different cars attending across the weekend which is more than we have had at the Silverstone event since 2005!
All models were represented with a good number of ZA, ZB & ZB Varitone Magnettes present, but also an example of a Farina Mk3 attended over both days which was owned by a young Dutch family, and a very tidy Mk4 on the Sunday. It's a very long time since all five models have been represented at one of our events all at the same time.
Of particular note was the superb ZBV belonging to Magnette returnee Colin Goldsworthy. His car was in pride of place outside the main marquee & attracted a lot of attention. A few months ago, Colin managed to persuade register committee member Alan Slack to down size his Magnette stable by selling him the ZBV even though Alan had not been looking to sell! Colin will be the first to admit that Alan did a superb job on the restoration of the car, but Colin had a 31 point plan of things he wished to do on the car to further enhance it, all of which had been ticked off the list in time for MG Live. Welcome back Colin, we know the car is in safe hands as this car now brings Colin's total Magnette ownership over many years to 5 ZBV's and 3 ZB's. Maybe you can persuade Alan to sell his ZA at some point Colin to redress the balance somewhat!
A car that was returning after several years absence was the Steel blue ZB of the late Pat Gedney. After Pat had finished his 21 year restoration of the car, it won many top awards such was the quality of the restoration. The car then became part of the Lord Harris collection (he of Harris carpets fame) before being eventually sold on again finally ending up with Richard & Andrea Kingswell who are delighted with the car.
Another very interesting car was the ZBV with a genuine period Alexander tuning conversion kit fitted which was for sale by a dealer in Trader's City at £11,950. An elderly gentleman had already visited our register stand twice to see if we know of any cars for sale before returning again later in the morning with a large smile & a small laminated card which was the "For Sale" card from the car - he had bought it! This speed of sale reflects just how popular our cars are at the moment. Welcome to the fold Mr Moss (no, not that one!) I'm sure that you will not be disappointed with your purchase.
Still on period converted cars, it was very nice to see that Dominic Taylor-Lane who is the son-in-law of the late Peter Tothill has now got the HRG Derrington Cross Flow Head car completed that Peter had nearly finished before his untimely death. Again, this car caused a lot of interest as it is a credit to the hard work that both Peter & Dominic have put in to the car. It was very nice to see it at it's first event since it's completion.
At the other end of the scale, Mark Fishpool arrived with his very newly acquired genuine barn find dark green ZB. He had literally refurbished the brakes & clutch hydraulics, polished it up , got an MOT and driven it to the event from Peterborough. The car looks to be very original having been hidden away for many years. It was not previously known to the register. The car caused a lot of interest generally both from the Magnette & non Magnette fraternity. It is promised a full respray shortly.
Register Secretary, John Harris had arranged a special parade of a few cars in the arena on Sunday with each owner being invited to tell the audience some details of their car. The ZA of John Iles and the ZBV's of John & Cynthia Harris, Stephen Tickell, Alan Dakeyne, Barrie & Sheila Hope and Andrew McGee were duly paraded with some interesting facts related. A big thanks to all those participating.
In summary, a thoroughly enjoyable event which bodes well for the big anniversary event over the weekend of 9-11th August - miss it at your peril in what's turning out to be a very good year for the Magnette.
text Peter Martin
photos Cynthia Harris and Stephen Tickell
photos Cynthia Harris and Stephen Tickell
