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- Created on Sunday, 12 June 2016 20:31
- Written by Stephen Tickell
MGLive! 4-5 June 2016
Saturday dawned cold, cold enough for the central heating to forget it was officially summer. The journey from Northampton to Silverstone was completed in drizzly rainbut it did improve from lunchtime.
The Magnette Register stand was set out by Peter and Stephen with a new range of regalia for you to purchase and proudly wear. The register logo is discrete and the material is of a high quality. We also had reproduction parts on display together witha badge bar which fits between the fog lamps and requires no drilling, and an anti-rollbar which also bolts straight on using existing holes. Finally, for those fitting an MGB1800cc engine, an adaptor plate to fit a Magnette sump directly to the 'B' engine was available. This saves cutting the two sumps and welding them together. The star of the stand, however, was Anthony White's tin top ZA, a self-restoration which elicited many congratulations and not just from Magnette owners.
This year the theme was 'Heritage'. Well done to the Caledonian Centre for their original and comic idea (hope the baby thrives). Another stand featured a guardsman on sentry duty and he did not move all weekend (how did he do that?)
Outside, our dedicated parking area was filled on the Saturday. Nice to see John Taylor's Farina Magnette but it would like some more friends next year. Another car attracting a lot of attention was Ray Hunt's ZA with wire wheels, just as imposing as a 3.8 litre Jaguar. Saturday is the traditional day for the California Cup auto-test but this year we did not manage to scrape together a team – last year's stalwarts Paul recuperating from his long distance cycle ride for charity and Anthony's car being onthe stand.
As usual at MG Live we were overwhelmed with attractions. A new one this year was a restored Mobile Cinema. Built in 1967 it accommodates 22 in properly tiered cinema seats. One film showed Ken Wharton testing the Streamlined MG for LeMans. This was the predecessor of the MGA. Of real interest to us were a number of ZAs at Silverstone when they were new and being used by the team.
Sunday started foggy and cold but again changed to bright sun for the afternoon, much to the relief of our 2 Pride of Ownership entrants, Neil Hardy and Mike Laflin, whose immaculate cars shone in the sunshine. The best kept secret of the weekend was 'how do they keep the engine bay so clean?' For Neil Hardy the 170 mile trip to Silverstone was his first following a 2-year restoration.
The conversation in the Magnette parking area was about the forthcoming 20th International Magnette Day in Germany. It appears there will be a mass exit of Magnetteers by air and road. In addition one car and its intrepid crew were on their way to Portsmouth for a ferry trip to France, destination European Event of the Year.
In all 14 cars attended on the Saturday and 10 on Sunday.
Text and photos by John and Cynthia Harris
