A wonderful MG book

All MG enthusiasts, but especially fans of the Oxford and Abingdon products, are advised to aquire Oxford to Abingdon by R J Barraclough and P L Jennings (Myrtle Publishing, £65 plus £8 P&P tel: 01597 840294).

This remarkable book weighs over 7lb but is not just for strengthened coffee-tables. It represents years of painstaking research by MG owners Robin Barraclough and Phil Jennings and covers real MG sportscars, i.e those commencing with the 14/28 model, which leads into astonishingly complete coverage of all the Abingdon-built cars. The book is a credit to these British sporting cars, produced on high quality art paper, an 873-page compendium of rare pictures, invaluable tables, most interesting accounts of the factory and Cecil Kimber and with answers to questions such as which was the true Not MG, what are the differences between a bullnose Morris Oxford and a bullnose MG, and tables listing competition successes, production and dispatch dates and another of all the Carbodies coachwork on MG chassis. This is backed by reproductions of sales brochures, handbooks, and a splendid selection of period advertisements, including front covers from The Autocar. Other pages cover MG patents and trademarks, specifications, tuning methods, etc.

This incredible offering is supported by fine photographs and is divided into seven parts for easy reference, fully indexed. I thought I’d seen them all but this history has taken my breath away, not only while lifting it up. The price is modest in relation to so much that is included, up to the M-type and Sixes.