WSM GT 402
The WSM GT
Last issue we looked at the background to the original WSM cars of the
1960s, and learned how the marque has returned with a run of brand new
Sanction 2 Sprites and Midgets. This month we talk to Lorraine NobleThompson, owner of the first GT road car from the new production run.
Interview & pictures: Simon Goldsworthy
26 MGE January 2014
www.mgenthusiast.com
orraine Noble-Thompson is no stranger to
MGs, having owned both Bs and Midgets in
the past. In fact, before deciding to order the
first GT from the new run of Sanction Two
WSMs, she had a very nice round wheelarch
Midget. Her partner is Doug Samuel, who
many readers will know from his fine
recreation of the BMC Competitions
Department transporter that was featured way back in the July
2007 issue of MGE, so we wondered whether a shared interest
in competition had been the catalyst for Lorraine to decide that
she really wanted a WSM?
L
Lorraine: Yes and no. I was very happy with my RWA Midget,
but Doug kept saying: ‘You want to put a different front and
back on that.’ That’s what sowed the seed, but I had no idea
what was available. So I went to the Healey Weekend, had a
close look at all the Sprite variants there and took plenty of
pictures. There were Ashleys, Lenhams... but I kept going back
to one that I thought was just a very nice and unusual looking
car. This was a WSM, though at the time I had never even
heard of them. It happened to be Clive Cox’s WSM, and I had a
picture of it pinned up next to my computer for ages. Douglas
was trying to steer me towards a Lenham front, but I preferred
the WSM. It had a smiley face, and that is what appealed.
becomes available. Besides, they are all used for racing, and I
didn’t want a race car, I wanted a road-going one that I could
maybe use for a bit of sprinting now and again. Then I heard
rumours that Paul and Tony were going to make another ten.
MGE: So why go for one of the new build cars instead of
simply buying one of the originals?
MGE: We should point out for those readers who missed last
month’s magazine that Paul Woolmer and Tony Wilson-Spratt
are the men behind the new WSM venture, and that Tony is the
son of Douglas Wilson-Spratt, the designer and driving force
behind the original WSM cars of the 1960s.
Lorraine: I thought I could never afford one of the originals,
and there are only six of them left anyway so it is rare that one
Lorraine: That’s right. We knew them anyway because Doug
had taken Paul’s Sebring Sprite, PMO 200, to Goodwood in
www.mgenthusiast.com
Above and
below:
Lorraine
NobleThompson had
to be patient
when she
decided to get
a WSM GT, but
it was well
worth the wait
and she is all
smiles now.
January 2014 MGE
27
wsm gt 402
Top: Forwardhinged bonnet
emphasises
similarity to
the E-type
when open.
Above: Oselli
1380cc engine
was taken from
Lorraine’s RWA
Midget.
Below: Douglas
Wilson-Spratt
was happy to
have his
signature on
Lorraine’s car.
his transporter. We now got to know
them better and I decided I really wanted
one of their new GTs. These are built
with a new bodyshell onto a rebuilt and
modified Sprite or Midget platform. Obviously I could have
used my Midget, but it was such a good car that I didn’t want
to cut it. That put the project on the back burner until we could
find a suitable car. Finally Paul called to say he’d found a 1972
restoration project that was ideal for our purposes.
MGE: These new builds have a large bespoke element in them,
so did you know at this point exactly what you wanted?
Lorraine: Not everything. I knew I wanted the GT for road use
– saying goodbye to my convertible was not an issue for me as
I’ve got a motorbike for when I want to get my hair blowing in
the wind! But while Paul started work on the build, I had to
decide on the colour. This proved surprisingly tricky, until a
chance comment from Douglas Wilson-Spratt helped me
decide. He’d come to Goodwood in, I think, 2008 and we were
sitting in the transporter chatting away about WSMs when he
said: ‘I’ve never seen a silver one.’
I liked the idea, and on that random comment the decision
was made. Then I had to choose what kind of silver. Don’t tell
anyone, but the shade I chose is actually a Hyundai colour! In
my defence, it is warm and creamy rather than harsh and tinny,
and it virtually matches a Jaguar shade from the 1960s, so I get
away with saying that is where it comes from.
When the guys building the car heard of my choice, they
were less than impressed and said they wouldn’t like it. But as
the paint went on, they had to admit that it worked and looked
good. And I must say that the comments we have received since
it has been finished are that the silver and the grey interior are
just spot on. Certainly I’m very pleased with the results because
although it is a girl’s car, it is not a girly car.
MGE: How long did the build take?
Lorraine: I didn’t realise it would take quite as long as it did,
but it ended up being about three years from start to finish.
That’s largely because everything was bespoke, and because
this was the first complete car from the new Sanction that the
guys had built – Ian Hulett’s car was 401 and that had been
finished, but he’d built it from the bodyshell they supplied.
MGE: And aside from the colour, what were some of the other
decisions you had to make?
Lorraine: I had pictures of the cars from the 1960s, and I
wanted it to be just like them. So initially I didn’t want door
locks or handles for example, but as it developed we thought it
really ought to have a bit more security than this or anybody
would be able to slide the window open, reach in and open the
door. So we got a couple of MGB GT tailgate locks and used
them on the doors. I’ve subsequently noticed from pictures that
some of the original WSMs did exactly the same thing too!
I also went for external door hinges – the Triumph Herald
boot hinges – which had been on the first of the original WSMs,
but not the last. I wanted it to look like a 1962 car, not a totally
new and updated concours version of the original. That’s why I
opted for sliding windows too.
Douglas Wilson-Spratt chose the wheels, as well as
suggesting the colour. I had the choice of wire wheels or
Minilites, and he said: ‘If you can get somebody to wash your
wire wheels all the time, go for them. If you can’t, go for
Minilites!’ Hence the Minilites. Douglas passed away in 2011,
but I do know that while he was still around he took a strong
28 MGE January 2014
www.mgenthusiast.com
interest in my car. It was a real pity that he didn’t live to see it
finished, but I’m sure he would have been pleased with how it
has turned out. It is as a tribute to him that the car is known as
the Douglas WSM. People always think that the name refers to
my Douglas, but it is really Wilson-Spratt. That’s his signature
on the back. He knew it was going on there. I wanted to do that
in his honour, and I got his signature for it just a few months
before he died.
MGE: You’ve got his signature on the dash too, and the whole
interior is beautifully matched to the car. What seats are they?
Lorraine: They are from a MkI Mazda MX5, and they
match the curve of the bodywork very well. I had the
interior trimmed by PJM, and chatted to them
about which grey to go for, what piping and
details like that. I could see what I wanted in
my mind’s eye, but it can be hard to put that
into words. In the end I left a lot of the final
decisions to Yvonne at PJM because she
has been doing it for years. If she said: ‘Oh
gosh, you don’t want that!’ then I believed
her. You have to trust people with more
experience in things like that.
Other details I wanted inside the car
included the knurled finish to the dash, which
I think other people have picked up on for their
WSMs. The front screen is electric, though that
doesn’t really show up when you look at it. This is
obviously not an authentic 1960s touch, but I didn’t want to
incorporate all of the ducts needed to bring hot air to the screen
for demisting. So while there is the basic Midget on/off heater,
there are not any screen vents. The rear screen is not heated, but
it seems to demist pretty quickly on its own. And besides, the
car is small enough that it is no problem to reach round at the
lights and wipe it clear if you need to.
MGE: You are obviously pleased with it, but what sort or
reaction has it received from others?
Lorraine: It has been great. I was
driving through the village a few days
back and this chap on his bike stopped
me to ask what it was. He said his wife
just loved it, but it does seem to appeal to
both men and women. On the back is a very
discreet WSM badge which is easy to miss, but I’m
fine with that because I like the mystery. Outside the cricket
match at Goodwood this year I was parked besides two
Ferraris and I’ve got pictures of the crowd huddled around my
little car. I thought: it’s only a Midget! But Douglas got the
shape just right. I’ve had lots of comparisons to a Ferrari 250, a
baby E-type, a Lotus Elan – none of which are cars you’d mind
being compared to. My Douglas on the other hand calls it a
plastic bath tub... Jealousy of course, because he might have a
nice engine in his car, but it is still an MGC body!
MGE: We have a feature planned on Douglas’ MGC GT next
issue so readers will be able to decide for themselves on that
point, but does the fibreglass construction mean it feels flimsy?
Lorraine: Not at all because it is thick, despite being relatively
lightweight. But if you have a fibreglass car, the best colour you
can choose is silver because it puts the thought of metal in your
mind. I was told that by somebody who makes fibreglass
bodies and who saw my car at Race Retro, and it is very true.
MGE: We know you are still getting used to the car and have
yet to have it tuned properly on a rolling road, but can you talk
us through the driving experience so far?
Lorraine: I had a 1380cc Oselli engine with a Toyota five speed
gearbox in my RWA Midget, so I kept those for the WSM and
replaced them with a standard engine and box before selling
the Midget to make room for the WSM project. The engine
had a race cam in, but we have since changed that for a fast
road cam which is less extreme and so more suited to road use.
A couple of weeks ago we also put in a taller 3.7:1 diff. Now it
sits easily at 70mph in fifth, but still pulls strongly up hills;
previously this torque had been wasted by over-revving.
I wanted the exhaust to sound racey, but in the end we’ve
fitted a standard Midget pipe with a chrome tailpiece.
Originally I tried a tailpiece that I’d found along with the
mirrors when I was clearing out my dad’s shed after he’d passed
away. I thought having them on my car would be a nice touch,
but the tailpiece was curved down and the exhaust beat
sounded funny when it bounced off the road, so I have replaced
that with a straight pipe. It now sounds purposeful without
being too intrusive.
There is a little lumpiness at idle from the tuned engine that
hints at its race potential and it is a bit noisy on a run, but
nowhere near as noisy as people told me it would be. You get
www.mgenthusiast.com
Above: The
interior has
been
beautifully
coordinated to
the car’s
exterior by
PJM to
Lorraine’s
design and it
looks pure
quality.
Inset: Five
speed gearbox
and taller back
axle make this
car a small but
capable tourer.
Left: The car
carries its
identity on its
boot lid, but
the badging
has been kept
discreet, partly
because
Lorraine likes
the mystery
that surrounds
the car when
people try and
figure out
what it is.
Bottom: The
bonnet
catches were a
straight lift
from the
Triumph
Herald, while
the door
hinges used to
control a
Herald’s boot.
The nicely
period bullet
door mirrors
came from
Lorraine’s
father.
January 2014 MGE 29
wsm gt 402
Above: From
this angle, the
WSM’s delicate
lines look
surprisingly
muscular.
Below: Despite
being offered
serious money
Lorraine is not
selling her
WSM – she
wants to drive
it instead!
used to it anyway, and I can still hear my radio. It’s not like a
modern car, but if I’d wanted that, I would have gone out and
bought a modern car and saved myself three years of waiting.
And that carries through to the whole design as it has all the
quirks of the original as standard. Some people expect that if
they are having a car built from scratch then it is going to be
like a modern car, but that was never my intention.
The seating position is typical Midget and very low to the
ground, but the cabin is probably more spacious than the
standard car now that it has hollow door shells rather than
winding windows. It feels lighter than a Midget, and the faster
you go, the lighter the front gets as the nose lifts a fraction. It
could do with a chin spoiler, but that would spoil the looks. It’s
not a problem, just a matter of getting used to it at speed, or
perhaps adding a little weight to the nose. It picks up side
winds too, but again you get used to it and that is inevitable in a
small car. The back suspension is on semi-elliptics, so it is a little
more comfortable than the racing versions with their quarterelliptic springs. We were going to fit Marina brakes, but the
WSM is so light that they’d be constantly locking so we have
stuck with the standard set-up, but with better pads.
MGE: Where did the registration number come from?
Lorraine: That was from an Austin A40 that we used to own,
but which we sold on and now stars in TV programmes such as
George Gently. We kept the plate because it was a 1962
number and had the letters WU for Wuzzum, so it all seemed to
match. It just adds a period touch to the car, without meaning
that I had to use a 1962 car as the base – that would have been
more of a shame, and far more expensive.
MGE: Is there anything that, with hindsight, you now feel you
should have done differently?
Lorraine: Not me, but Douglas says I should have bought a
Porsche! Every time we pass a car he says I could have had two
of those, one of those... I’m not telling how much it cost in
total, but though the costs did spiral, I’m over that now. People
have come up to me at shows and offered me a considerable
sum to buy it, but it is not for sale.
MGE: Perhaps you could sort out the lightness at speed by
fitting a pair of the 1500 Midget’s heavy rubber bumpers to
each end to weigh it down?
Lorraine: Er, no, I don’t think so. The thing about this car is
that it is always pleased to see you because of its smiley face.
When people ask me what it is, I say it is a Midget with attitude.
You have to know how to deal with it, but that is the same for
any Midget, and indeed any old car. It has taken about five
years altogether from first thoughts to finished vehicle, so it is
something of a relief to find that I like it so much.
30 MGE January 2014
www.mgenthusiast.com