BRIEF HtSTORY OF PRX 707
Editoc Nick Cox
SEC'S JOlTING'S
In this supplement we have an account
from Dr. David Croisdale - Appleby
about his latest aquisition, Phi1 Richer's
old car the 'Ex Rally Car, Pm 707.
There is a short history of the car
that Phi1 wrote about a few years ago.
Also a number of photo's showing the
modifications done to the car.
As mentioned in July's "Safety
Fast", we are about to computerise our
records, and lan and Sue Bowen have
kindly volunterred to put the records
together. l must first of all thank them for
doing this; they have spent many hours
writing the programmes. So please can
you help us to help you by either telling
us if your register details have changed
or if you are a new owner of a Twin Cam
or Deluxe.
Then there is a letter from Stan
Rasmussen in Canada telling us about
his Roadster YD3 760.
Lastly l have included a newsletter
from Jeff Wicks, the Deluxe Register,
with an article from lan Prior on his 1961
Sebring Deluxe Coupe. This appearedin
'Chris Harvey's Book "The M.G.A.B.C.
so l have only included a part of the
account.
Dear Nick
l am delighted to tell you that l have
obtained the ex-works twin-cam PRX
707,YDI 528 from Phil Richer. It is my
intention to carefully and meticulously
restore it to its Rome-Liege-Rome Rally
specification, as frequently referencedin
MG history. PRX is, l believe, the only
works entered, as opposed to just works
prepared and assisted, Twin Cam.
As Phil said when he finally parted
with it, "Well l saved it, you can
campaign it and show it," and indeed it is
my intention when the restoration is
complete to ensure its presence at Twin
Cam, and MGA events and campaign it
in appropriate historic rallies.
l should be grateful for all possible
information, factual, annecdotal or
photographic, referring to the car, at any
stage of its life; might l ask you to put a
piece to this effect in 'Safety Fast'?
The restoration will involve the
retention of all original parts and l hope
to follow the fine example set by the
Roger Oaniell's cars. Peter Wood is
working with me on its restoration.
Yours sincerely
Dr David Croisdale-Appleby
Phil Richer
YDl.528 the factory entered 1958 LiegeRome-Liege Rally car driven by the late
John Gott came 9th overall. John Milne
an enthusiast for the marque ordered a
Twin Cam when he heard that one was
on the way, but also requested that all
the niceties normally too expensive to
incorporate on a production engine be
included, so a visit to the Competition
Dept. during the production period was
arranged. The results proved very
pleasing and the factory asked John if
they may use it in the Rally. Mods. that
were still evident when the car was
saved from being split in 1976 includeda
No. 2 exhaust cam and tappet buckets
with rebated working surface and large
valve cylinder head. There is also
evidence that the fuel pump was
positioned behindthe driver's seat and a
15gl. tank is fitted that meant the boot
floor was removed. The Dip switch was
brought up to the dashboard, probably
by John Gott's request. Produced
between 16th. June and 22nd. August
1958 the record indicated the body was
sprayed in Orient Red, but John Milne
advised soon after the car's rebuild
spray that it was originally pale blue, it
also recorded red trim but the seats are
black. However the car lefl Abingdon on
the official completion day so it seems a
few things were put right before John
took delivery, when de-luxe seats,
heater, oil cooler and a black tonneau
were part of the package.
Name
Street
Address
Postcode
Country
Phone-No
Group-No
Bodytype
lan &Sue Bowen
Thatched Cottage,
The Street
Bredhurst, Gillingham, Kent.
ME7 3JY
England
Medway373918
90
COUPE
PRX 707 during Phils ownership.
PRX 707's dash board showing it's modit7ed dash with dronometric rev
counter extra Ammeter and fumer forward steering wheel to give more
mm.
SAFETY FAST
-October 1987
Chas-pre YMl
Chas-No 2062
Eng-pref 16/GB/U
Eng-No
1683
Date made 18th June 1959
Buy date 9th Sept 1968
Bodycol OR
Trimcol
red
Extras
adj col, d/l seats, seat belts,
2nd hom, heater, Ilrack, oil
cooler, anti-roll bar, h/lamp
flasher
Pre-owns UlverleyGarage, Olton 1959,
S.H. Richardson&Sons
1968
Comments Complete 14yr rebuild
1972-1986
Reg-No 8228AC
As you will have seen in July's "Safety
PRX 707 had a special header tank with
Fast!", we are attempting to collate
information on Twin Cams and De-luxes extra water passages in the head.
to update the Group's recordswhich are
now, in their published form, nearly l 0
years old.
Because of the large numbers of
Twin Cams and De-luxes still in
existence, the use of a computer is the
most practical method and this opens up
all sorts of possiblities for analysing the
exact situation regarding these cars.
It would be appreciatedif you would
send to us, address as above, details of
yourself and your car(s) using our
example above as a guide. Addresses
and telephone numbers will, of course,
be kept confidential.
Bodycol(our)options are: orient red;
chariot red; ZB red; alamo beige; old
English white; dove grey; glacier blue;
mineral blue; iris blue; black; ash green; 7he long range tank in the boot.
dark green; BRG; woodland green;
car away for safe keeping. One the better
special (non standard colour, please be
things I've done, and glad of it now in the
specific).
present light of things. l was fortunate in
Trimcol(our) options are: red; grey;
being able to buy an original shop
black; green; beige; special (as above).
manual at the same time from the dealer
Extras should be factory-available
who had sold the car to the original
optional extras.
owner, a Doctor. As near as we could
With thanks in anticipation of your help,
determine l was the third owner. The
(fan & Sue Bowen)
Manual, AKD 926A has since helpedwith
the straightening of the frame with the
Chassis No. YD3 760
specs provided. l am now in the slow and
Body No. 61246
difficult
process of gathering up needed
Engine No. 16 G U 444
parts for a total rebuild. Having never
Colour Old English White Black Hood
had the privilege of driving a Twin Cam
Black interior.
before, the anticipation is getting to be a
This car was purchasedjust over 20
potential hazard in the proper and
years ago in a wrecking yard, hauled
completejob to be done.
home and stored away until time and
Yours truly
money would allow rebuilding and
Stan Rasmussen
restoration. A front end collision had
Alberta, ca"id;.
pretty well finished the front end
TO6 OJO
bodywork including bumper, grille,
fenders, and bonnet surround. The
radiator and distributor were also write
off's, and the frame was also bent and
the windshield broken. Other than that it has taken rather longerthan planned due
was still aTwin Cam, never had been too to our move to Hong Kong. The last
many around and lknew l wasn't likely to (first!) newsletter brought several replies
see many more either. So l dug up the from owners. Michael Knowlden, the last
present equivilent of £32.00 and put the known owner of 91240, wrote to advise
;AFETY FAST
-October 1987
that he had in fact sold the car in l973
and has been trying to establish its
present whereabouts. Can anyone else
help on this one? John Kelly, owner of
one of the 1962 Sebring coupes wrote to
correct his car number to 106075. The
car has been raced in various vintage
campaigns for almost l 0 years and J O
now ~ l a n an
s extensive restoration. Rick
~ r e e nof the North American MGA
Register also wrote with several
additions to the list.
The register relies on the
enthusiasm of owners and others for
expansion. Since the last newsletter in
December l985 the list has grown from
65 to 81 cars. Information on cars has
come from many sources but several are
particularly worthy of mention. Anders
Ditlev Clausager, the Archivist of British
Motor Industry Heritage Trust (some
mouthful!) has factory information to
authenticate
the
Deluxe
and
consequently has been our most
prodigious source of new entries. We are
fortunate that firstly Leyeland retained
the factory records and secondly
established the Trust to make
Twin
~
information available to enthusiasts.
MGs are only a small part of Anders'
responsibility but he has been
particularly helpful with
Deluxe
information. (If you would like a detailed
specification of your car as it left the
factory please write to Anders Diilev
Clausager, Archivist, BMIHT, Castle
Road, Studley, Warwickshire, B80 7AJ,
United Kingdom enclosing payment of
£or US $5 per car.)
Since 63Y0 of Deluxes were
originally exported to the American
market, the US remains the most likely
source of new addiiions. We are
fortunate to have Rick Green as a Deluxe
owner as well as the secretary of the
NAMGAR. Rick is a real enthusiast and
has added many Deluxes to our list. Phil
Richer, until recently the MGCC Twin
Cam Registrar, was also a good source
of cars as Deluxe owners are offered
special membership of the Twin Cam
Register. Phil remains very active in the
MGCC and is now responsible for
overseas members. Many others have
contributed and hopefully will continue
to do so - any informationat all is helpful,
be it fact or rumour.
A copy of the latest Deluxe list is
enclosed together with lan Prior's tale of
"GHD l00148" - the 1961 Sebring car.
His purchase is the stuff of which MG
enthusiasts' dreams are made- lan's
article was used by Chris H m e y in his
book "MG: The A, B &Cn.
The next newsletter is planned to be
ready within a couple of months.
However, l hope to hear from many of
you before then. if anyone missed the
first newsletter and would like a copy
please drop me a note.
Jeff Wicks
MG Deluxe Registrar
House 5 Bella Vista
Lot 232 DD229
Silverstrand
Clearwater Bay NT
HONG KONG
My research into the car's complete
specificationand history has been so far
successf~~l,
but by no means complete.
However, the story so far is as follows.
GHD 100148 is an ex-Works M.G.
M.G.A. coupe which competed with
great success in the 1961 Sebnng 12
hour endurance race held on March 25th
of that year. One of two especially built in
Abingdon in late l960 - early 1961, it
came first in its class for GT cars up to
1600cc, and 14th overall completing l 7 5
laps of the 5.2 mile course. Carrying
number 44, the car was driven by two
Americans - James Parkinson and Jack
Flaherty. The sister car, number 43,
driven by Peter Riley and John Whitmore
completed 173 laps finishing 16th overall
and second in class. Opposition came
from 4 Sunbeam Alpines, the highest
placed finishing 17th, completing l71
laps and 2 Elvasthefastestfinishing34th
with l 4 7 laps completed. It is interesting
to note that the fastest TR3 managed
only l 5 2 laps whilst the winning Ferrari
driven by Phil Hill covered 208 laps.
MG's didn't do so well in 1962, being
beaten by Sunbeam Alpine and Porsche
-so it looks as though GHD l00148 was
the last successful MGA works car
produced.
When in England l called at the MG
factory, Special Tuning and also at
Leyland Historic vehicles. Unfortunately,
Special Tuning destroyed all their
records in l970 when they closed down
temporarily. However, l talked to a chap
who had been an apprentice in l960 and
remembers working on the cars. Marcus
Chambers, the Team Manager at time
didn't keep many recordseither, but was
able to answer a few of my questions.
Apparently the motors were prepared by
Engines Branch at Coventry under Eddie
Maher, but the cars themselves were
built up at Abingdon.
The Royal Motor Museum at
Beaulieu has an excellent library with
very helpful staff who were able to
provide copies of Autocar and other
magazines with race descriptions and a
few very useful photos. incidentally, they
had many photos of MG's filed away
which would be of great interest to MG
fans.
Apart from the l961 race
information, l knowa small amount of the
cars history. After the race, the team cars
were offered for sale by a local M.G.
dealer. GHD 100148 was purchased by
Richard Robson who campaigned it in
sports car races for the following few
years until it became uncompetitive. It
was then registered for road use in Feb
1966 and used until 1969 when it was
crashed by Robson's girlfriend. During
this period it had been kept in good
condition and was resprayed just before
the crash. l have been told it 'went like
the clappers' doing 50 in first, and 75in
second. With only 50000 miles on the
clock, the car was left out in the weather,
slowly deteriorating whilst a buyer was
sought. Finally in l974 a friend of
Robson, Don Loftus purchased the car
for $100, but it remained out in the
weather, slowly rusting away until we
rescued it from certain death.
The following is a list of the
modifications made from standard:
-twin cam chassis - disc brakes all round
- anti roll bar fitted to front
- front suspension drilled for less
unsprung weight
- extra fluid reservoirs placed in the
engine compartment feeding front
shocker rear adjustable shockers
- extra chassis members across back,
behind the fuel tank
- 1588cc push rod motor
- extractor exhaust
- twin 13/4" carburettors
- head worked over with water passages
closed off between block and head
- extra water pipe between block and
head at rear
- special distributor and camshaft probably AEH 770
- rockers lightened and polished
l - other detailed engine modifications yet
1 to be investigated
- close ratio gearbox
1
- larger capacity radiator
- oil cooler
- 22gal fuel tank with quick release cap
- twin SU fuel pumps in the boot
-single battery under bonnet cut into the
firewall
- extra cooling grills placed each side of
main grill
- air inlet duct in front of the windscreen,
with ducting to driver's feet
- large 5" diameter Smiths Chronomatic
Tachometer
- 2 - speed wipers
- no ignition switch
- extra switching for lighting to numbers
etc.
-wood rim steering wheel
- racing seats
- aluminium gearbox and transmission
tunnel covers
- aluminium floor behind seats
- pedals drilled
- window winders removed and all glass
except windscreen replaced with plexi
glass
- leather bonnet strap
- quick release bonnet catch with handle
protruding from grill
- no bumper bars - extra splash panel in
front
- 2 extra driving lights mounted low
down
- plastic covers over headlights
- light on roof
- light on each side in front of doors to
illuminate numbers
- rear lights placed in MK l1 position, but
lower down with four individual lights
used
lan has found that on the rear of the car it
carried registrationPRX 89.
Does anyone know if the Sebring
Cars were registered for road use in this
country.
Twin c a i