Chassis Number: 2/6458
Engine Number: JA9404
Colour: Black
1929 MG 18-80 Two Seat & Dickey - the very first of many 6-cylinder model MGs ... NOW SOLD
A striking sporty vintage MG introduced at the end of the vintage period. Rare and desirable, complete with correct Jaeger chronometric speedo and rev counter.
NB : The present owner always intended to keep this car forever - hence the incredible and rare spares package included in the sale - but our client has purchased another vintage sports car and so his beloved MG has to go to a new home...
Quality 6-cylinder vintage MG
Fabulous quality VINTAGE MG - 2 1/2-litre OHC straight six cylinder engine. Robust, high quality upmarket MG, marketed alongside the sole other model, the MG Midget
Completely restored to the highest standards by the present owner - he acquired this most original example from the previous owner as a barn-find in 2002, having been owned by the single previous owner from 1955 - some 47 years standing in unmolested condition!
SEE & HEAR THIS MG ENGINE RUNNING : https://youtu.be/wEV2eJMZWjg
SEE THE JAEGER CHRONOMETRIC REV COUNTER WORKING / CHECK OIL PRESSURE / SEE DYNAMO CHARGING : https://youtu.be/r6bkJMNHGMs
What better starting point to restore, than an untouched car, just 26 years old when put away in 1955...?
A car with a big attraction today when attempting to compare the MG 18-80 to almost any similar car make of the day - there really was nothing to compare it with - be it AC, Austin, Lagonda, Lea Francis, Riley, etc.,
The owner was intending to keep this car well into the future and had no plans to sell, acquiring many spares along the way as insurance - all spares - listed below - included in the sale...
The sole reason for the sale is that the owner has recently acquired another vintage car and so very reluctantly is offering this MG for sale - not able to justify keeping the two - prepared to the highest standard
There are circa thirty surviving Mk1 MG 18-80s. This car has had just on £9000 alone spent on the upholstery, carpets and new hood and side-screens; I can confirm that with the weather equipment in place the car is as water tight and cosy as a saloon.
The 18-80 is a very capable and confident car on the road with the torquey 2468cc Six Cylinder OHC twin SU engine. The smooth and quiet ride means it can cruise all day at 60mph making it an ideal long distance touring car. Indeed the owner has enjoyed continental holidays in company with a Speed Model example
For further information - the 1928 annoucement of the MG Six by The Autocar is published here:http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/history/pdf/18-80mk1_autocar.pdf
The official salesman's 1930 sales patter is included with the car and reads : "The MG Six Sports is one of the finest cars of its class. The careful choosing of the ratios of three speed gearbox provide a performance that is the envy of many four speed productions. In the hands of a good driver there are few cars that can hold their own with this model on a give and take road. High speeds are rendered perfectly safe by the wonderful road holding. Thanks to the smoothness of the silken 6-cylinder engine the top gear performance is phenomenal and is not even excelled by the large engined and low geared American cars. This is no idle boast - you only have to try the car to be convinced of this. Wonderful steering and a low chassis line contributes to produce a car that is essentially 'road worthy' without which mere speed is useless and only dangerous. Other chassis details of note are the shackling of the front springs at the forward end ensuring that the axle, in its rise and fall, describes almost the same arc as the steering drag link. Also the way the shackle plates are supported by 'cheeks' or dumb iron extensions, is just one of the many little points that help to give that perfection of handling and steering. The reserve oil tank, which obviates the necessity of carrying a messy tin of one's favourite oil loose in the car when on a long tour, is carried in the dash and the oil fed by a pipe to the oil filler tube to the sump. The body styles available on the MG Six are, by universal consent, as beautiful in line and finish as anything on the road."
Such was the fame of aviator Amy Johnson, as illustrated here – who flew on her solo flight in her de Havilland Gipsy Moth to Australia in 1929 – Sir William Morris - later Lord Nuffield - presented Amy Johnson with a brand new 1929 MG 18-80 Mk1 Saloon. The radiator mascot is a model of her Gipsy Moth – this mascot passing through the hands of the present owner of the MG I am offering here for sale!
Work of recent interest carried out:-
New cam chain and Fabriol gear wheel fitted
New hood, side screens, upholstery and carpet (£9000). (Adjustable bench seat is absolutely correct & standard)
Re-tempered springs, new shackle pins, serviced shock absorbers
New wiring, all instrumentation serviced
Fuel gauge new sensor will be supplied
Marles steering box rebuilt
Dynamo serviced
Electronic ignition added
Correct period horn and other parts added
Hardened valves and valve seats fitted - no need for fuel additive
Radiator core flushed
Bluecol synthetic coolant to arrest internal deterioration
Gearbox bearings, prop shaft and torque tube rebuilt to include bearings
Rear axle banjo strengthened, new wheel bearings and seals, crack tested
Higher axle ratio fitted - new crownwheel and pinion - higher cruising speed
New glass to windscreen
New rev counter drive fitted
MG 18-80 SPARES INCLUDED WITH THE CAR, built up as insurance since the complete restoration :-
Head gaskets, new, two
Water manifold
Cam shaft cover
Rocker shaft plus rockers
Brake hub aluminium fins
Original chassis skirts showing body number
Bearings, shackle pins, etc, used
Pistons - Set of, good condition
Pistons, standard, new, for use with liners
Petrol tank sensor unit, unused, old stock
Valve springs plus original valves
Rear axle reinforcement tubes, new
Clutch plate centres – new
Clutch plates – new
Half shafts – new
Splined wheel hubs, 4, new – cost £1200
Water Pump and Dynamo drive assembly
Distributor drive
Crown wheel & pinions, used – matched – two sets
Brake shoes – two
Footwell toolbox lining – original
Rear axle casing - the original
Dynamo - find another !!
Distributor cap and rotor arm, correct long reach spark plugs and a number of other unused old stock bearings which are difficult to find
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Including a photo of our very same car for sale - The MG Guru page describes the 18-80 as follows:-
SEE https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/history/hs101.htm
"The first car which can truly be described as a new MG, rather than a modified Morris was the MG 18/80 of 1928 which had a purpose designed chassis and the first appearance of the traditional vertical MG grille. In October 1928 for the first time a stand was taken at the London Motor Show. Space again soon ran out and a search for a permanent home led to the lease of part an old leather factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in 1929, gradually taking over more space until production ended there in 1980. The managing director from 1930 to 1941 was Cecil Kimber."
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As featured in The Autocar of 17th August 1928, prior to the 1928 Motor Show where the very first Six-Cylinder MG – the ‘MG Six’ - was first shown, “the latest model MG is an entire departure from previous practice in a very interesting manner –
Equipped with an overhead camshaft and valves, this smooth running new 6-cylinder 2468cc engine had an ‘immense crankshaft held by massive bearings in a cast-iron crankcase, the whole thing just about as stiff as can be imagined; stiffness in these parts is three-quarters of the modern six cylinder engine’ The Autocar went on to state.
Likewise the new sports chassis was designed for stiffness by a box girder frame and made as rigid as possible, preventing movement between components by not allowing the new chassis to ‘whip or flex’ as in the past. Indeed this attention to detail also reflected on the new design of braking mechanism – ‘every care has been taken to prevent lost motion and to make the brake pedal feel as though it were directly attached to the hub brake cams’ – so that foot pedal pressure immediately gave the driver the assurance that the brake pedal was more directly in touch with the brake shoe operation – also without the chassis whip causing any split second delay with the brakes taking effect. To enable more efficient braking, two large diameter brake cross tubes were employed, together with all the brake actuation levers being triangulated rather than by means of thin flexing stampings. ‘Of compensation there is none, the designers believing that the most effective form of brakes has the minimum number of parts, and an independent adjustment for each pair of shoes, as well as a single adjustment below the floorboards to take up all four sets of shoes simultaneously. Servo shoes are used for the front axle, the axle beam being really stiff and strong. Extra shoes in the rear drums are operated by the fly-off race-bred hand brake to the right of the driver.
On the dashboard is a 2-gallon emergency fuel tank, feeding by gravity when the main pumped tank is exhausted. In addition there is a similarly positioned oil tank for ease in the event of topping up the sump by gravity feed. Who else thought of that idea?
For extra ventilation the full-width opening windscreen hinges from the top, adjustable by clamping two rods either side of the screen.
Dimensions
Wheelbase : 9’6”
Track : 4’0”
Weight : 24cwt 2qr
Suspension : Half-elliptic springs
Transmission : Three-speed & reverse
Engine 17.7hp six-cylinders 69 x 110mm (2468cc). Tax £18. Overhead valves and camshaft, detachable head, coil ignition
Wheels : Wire detachable
Tyres : 5.00 x 19"
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Although we attempt to ensure accuracy of any statement or detail, the customer must make his or her own judgement in purchasing this car. The purchaser of the above car understands that he or she is purchasing a historic motor car with components that are up to 92 years old and sold as a collector item. There is no warranty given or implied due to the age of the car.
Call 07973 731508
