[Zmagnette] Another kind of Magnette...

Sun Mar 30 09:40:09 MDT 2014

i saw this car at limerock racing in the vintage festival very cool.

On Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 12:22 AM, Steve Hanegan
<steve at betterwitnesses.com>wrote:

> Ah so... if this is the same car that has been in the Simeone Museum for
> several years, it is BLT 703, AKA K3027, a 1934 MG K-3 Magnette. In 1934 it
> was entered in The  B.A.R.C. Brooklands handicaps with C.E.C. Martin at the
> helm where it finished unplaced. Then it competed in the International
> Trophy driven by R.H. Eccles where it finished 17th. In May '34, this car
> competed in the Mannin Beg (again with R.H. Ecles) where it finished 5th,
> June saw the British Empire Trophy where it retired. the glory came in June
> at the fabled 24 Heurs du LeMans, where this car finished 4th driven by
> R.H. Eccles, E.H. Frazier and C.E.C. Martin. K3027 rounded out the year
> with a 3rd in the B.A.R.C. August meeting, 7th in the B.R.D.C. 500 mile
> race and 6th in the Nuffield Trophy run at Donnington.  BLT 703 did well
> for itself in 1935, competing in 4 international events fitted with a
> single seat body. The car disappeared during 1936, returned again in '37
> for Donnington, the Cork GP, Ulster Trophy races and the Whetherby Speed
> Trials where it was consistently in the top 5 finishers with a 1st in Cork.
> The car was run in some local minor hill climbs after the war and had a
> couple of very notable seasons in '47 & '48 before submerging into
> obscurity again.
>
> This K-3 ended up in 1953 with a chap by the name of R.N. Frostwick, who
> crashed it. The next "surfacing" was in 1968 when it sold to Bill Loven in
> Canada. In roughly 1980, it was seen in a restoration shop in Chicago. It
> was during this time that (it is believed) the chassis was once again
> re-united with its' proper engine, pre-selector gear box and a "correct"
>  '34 "boat-tail" K-3 body - and its' original registration number. Dr.
> Simeone bought the car in the late 1990s and
> repaired/refreshed/re-assembled it back to fighting trim. Interestingly,
> though the car was once again roadworthy in Dr. Simeone's keeping, and, was
> taken for the occasional track romp in some vintage and exhibition events,
> notice and notification did not filter back to the MG Car Club and the
> Triple M Register until late in 2010 and early 2011.
>
> When I was in Philadelphia in 2011, I had the extreme good fortune to
> notice the nose of this car poking out from behind some rather exquisite
> big blower Bentleys in the back of the museum's shop. Needless to say, I
> nearly wet myself when I noticed what was under that wonderful radiator
> cap! I spent well over an hour talking with the mechanic and Dr. Simeone
> about this car and its' history. This K-3 is absolutely amazing in its'
> originality - especially given the history of this pure race car - many
> days of being ridden hard and put away wet. Everything is there - from the
> Marshall supercharger to that unbelievably sweet 6, to the original body
> that was even reunited wearing its' original coat of paint. Like almost all
> of the cars in Dr. Simeone's museum, this car is refurbished and refreshed
> - but not restored. It is oily and dirty and a bit grungy around the
> corners, but, when that lusty supercharged 6 is warm and at 5000 RPM, the
> smell of Castrol R and the sound of the Brooklands fish tail exhaust is
> totally unlike any other symphony - absolutely makes the hairs on the back
> of your neck stand at attention! I had the enormous good fortune to show up
> as the car was being prepped for an outing in some vintage competition (I
> forget now - Lime Rock?) - I had a very exciting and animated telephone
> conversation with one Peter Green of the Triple M register whilst in Philly
> after visiting the museum talking about this car and its' history!
>
> This is one of the 33 K-3s (including prototypes) built. Pushing 150+ BHP
> from just under 1100 ccs displacement, these cars are stable and sturdy  -
> and capable of touching 130 mph on todays roads... this is one of the 4
> models of MG (M, C, J being the others) that catapulted this small firm in
> Abingdon to world prominence in the heyday... this car was the slayer of
> giants and the scourge of the Maseratis/Alfas and Mercedes of the day...
> AND: Less than 20 weeks from concept sketch to finished and tested race
> car! They don't build 'em like they used to...
>
>
>
>
>
> If ever you are in Philadelphia near the airport... you absolutely OWE it
> to yourself to visit the Simeone Museum! The cars are exquisite; it is
> quite possibly the only place on the planet where a *real* MG K-3
> Magnette would even remotely be considered "ordinary".
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X43rQ32scvM
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEhup4mRy3o
>
> Steve H.
>
>
> On Mar 28, 2014, at 7:16 PM, Allen Bachelder <bachldrs at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I have been corrected: this is the K2 Le Mans car.  The smoke comes mostly
> from the supercharger.
>
> Allen
>
> On Mar 28, 2014, at 6:03 PM, Allen Bachelder wrote:
>
> Just a few seconds of incredible sight and sound at the Simeone Museum
> back when I visited in June of 2008.  I had forgotten I had this. ' Believe
> this Magnette would be called a K3.
>
> FWIW,
> Allen
> ******************************************************************
>
> *Allen & Florrie Bachelder       =iii=<Spring Creek Home for Wayward MGs*
> *'57 ZB, '65 B, '69 C/GT, '73 B/GT*
> *North Street, MI 48049, USA*
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> <http://www.mgexperience.net/member/bachldrs>*
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