Roll back 100 years of vehicle history with the first Australian MG Centenary event, as 100 stunning historic MG’s take over the grounds of the National Museum of Australia (NMA) on Saturday 30 September.

The Canberra MG Rally 2023 celebrates the craftsmanship of the Pre-War MG Register, MG T Type and MG Y Type vehicles. From 9am to 2pm, visitors will be able to see the stunning cars up close, talk to their owners about the history, and see If they can find all 100 displayed across the grounds; the car park will be kept free for visitor parking.

Hosted by the Canberra MG Car Club, the vehicles on display will be from across the country. A handful of the cars will be from Canberra, with others driving or being freighted from places like Sydney, South Australia and Victoria.

“Part of the problem is the owner is getting a bit ancient, while the car would happily drive safely from Sydney to Canberra, the owners are sort of feeling a bit unsure. Worse than that, the owners’ wives are usually adamant they are not going to drive 300 kilometres in that crappy old car,” smiles Malcolm Robertson, committee member of the Canberra MG Car Club.

Cars on the roster include rare models like the MG K3, two of only 33 built, and the MG Q Type, one of only nine, a racing vehicle produced in 1934.

“A very small motor but it is one of those that produced fantastic horsepower, it held the record for the amount of horsepower that it produced,” says Kent Brown, club vice president.

Visitors will be able to have their say and vote for their favourite vehicle in the three categories and will go in with the chance to win a prize.

A full weekend of activities for the MG car club members kicks off on Friday with lunches, dinners, runs, and displays. The public will have two chances to see the cars up close: the main Centenary of MG event on Saturday at the NMA, and then on Sunday, the group will do a social run finishing at Queanbeyan Park around lunchtime. While not an official visitor event, they are more than happy to talk about their cars with any interested members of the public.

“There’s a real interest in the cars by the public when they see something a little bit special or out of the ordinary,” says Kent.

“It’s not often that you go to a petrol station where someone doesn’t come up and say hello,” says Ewan Ward, club secretary.

In the 1920s, the Morris car company opened an additional branch known as Morris Garages for people to take their cars to get serviced. Managing the garages was Cecil Kimber, a motorsport enthusiast who completely changed the trajectory of the vehicles coming in.

“He took Mr Morris’s boring old Morrises that the mum and dads were driving around, and he tweaked them up, he did nice things. He painted them interesting colours, he redesigned the coachwork, he hotted them up a little bit,” says Malcolm.

By the late 1930s, MGs had established themselves as record-breaking racers and the ‘it’ car to own. Malcolm says after the mid-1950s, the designs started changing to be sleeker and while the interest and charm remained for some, this event focuses on those early models.

“They were an iconic car in their day, today is not quite the same. We are celebrating 100 years of MG manufacturing even though our interest is pre-1955. We are sympathetic to the fact that the MG name is living on that don’t have a great deal of MG DNA in them … If they weren’t there, we wouldn’t be celebrating 100 years,” says Malcolm.

For many, their first exposure was to one of the slightly later models, like the MG B which was produced between 1962 and 1980.

“They were assembled here in Sydney … Those cars were very popular, they were quite civilized, you could wind up the windows and put a hood on it,” says Kent.

Love at first sight

He was ten years old in around 1954-55 and on the way to Sydney when Malcolm first spotted an MG, from the back seat of his father’s Vanguard station wagon.

“This really sleek, low-slung cream-coloured car pulled up alongside us at the traffic lights and it had this little badge on the side that said TF 1500 and I thought ‘That is just the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen’. I vowed to myself that when I was old enough and had enough money, that was what I was going to get,” he smiles.

Around 21 years of age, Malcolm bought his first MG, a TF 1500 for 350 quid, which was about six months of wages for the average worker. Keeping it for 25 years until life got in the way, he now owns seven cars including four MG’s and one Morris.

Kent’s father was an enthusiastic car magazine collector, lining the bookshelves with countless editions. Particularly interested in racing, Kent was hankering for an MG; he says after the war people upgraded the MG TC, often referred to as specials.

“We had a meeting at Wakefield Park about 25 years ago now; there would have been 60 of these specials, I’m sure they are still in garages around the place … I bought a special that had a Holden motor in it, it went well,” says Kent.

Kent also bought an MG TF 1500 when he was around 22 and his interest has remained with him, still racing MGs. Kent owns seven cars – four and a half of those being an MG variety.

“There’s a shed full of panels and parts and engines and gearboxes and a whole chassis because the chassis on these cars aren’t like today’s cars, they were a single piece that you would build everything on,” he says.

For Ewan, he was always interested in tinkering with vehicles then in 1980 his wife mentioned their neighbour had a car for sale.

“I bought this car in a million pieces and then moved it on a trailer to Adelaide in not quite so many pieces, I bolted some together and then proceeded to start work on it. I got posted overseas so it got put into storage in 1982 and it got moved around from storage to storage. It’s still in my shed, still not finished,” smiles Ewan.

Wanting a historic car that he could take on the road without all the restoration work involved, Ewan hit the car ads, stumbling across an MG Y Type, the same as the one in his shed. Two of Ewan’s six cars are MGs.

“I wanted to get back into MGs and the quickest way to do that is to buy one that’s already going and registered,” he smiles.

Canberra MG Car Club

Of the 270 members, the majority are men. There are some female members and a number of wives also get involved. The men say thet have a smattering of people in their 30s, a few more in their 40s with those aged 50 to 70 making up the lion’s share.

Some vehicles have been kept the same as the day they were manufactured, others have had a slight makeover, some a touch more work, and then there are those that have been altered into specials. All are valid and welcome.

An official club meeting happens each month except January. Members are also invited to meet up each Sunday for breakfast in Kingston and Tuesday morning in Weston for coffee. Several weekend trips occur throughout the year, as well as a week-long tour usually in spring, and then there is the monthly club runs to a local regional town like Gunning or Gundaroo.

A recent survey of club members showed that one of the most valued offerings was the workshops. Heading to a service facility on an occasional Saturday morning, cars are hoisted, and someone will help teach members how to maintain their vehicles. 

“We taught them in this case [last workshop] about classic car ignition systems … It’s an education for club members about looking after their cars, what to look for, how to fix things, and understand how things work,” says Kent.

Along with the events, outings and education, it is the friendships made through the club that the men appreciate. Kent says by and large everyone gets on well and is willing to help one another and offer advice.

“You can go anywhere in the world, you will find an MG car club and in that MG car club, you will find someone who will sleep on the couch while you sleep in their bed and they will put their car in the street so your MG can park in the garage,” says Malcolm.

Connecting over a common interest whether it be driving or tinkering with their cars, having people to connect with is what life is about, Ewan says. Particularly as people approach retirement, it is essential to find something that you love.

“Whether it be golf, whether it be basket weaving – we happen to have an interest in cars and more that keeps us occupied. I firmly believe that’s what keeps you active and interested,” says Ewan.

See the beauties in the Canberra MG Rally 2023 at the National Museum of Canberra on Saturday 30 September 9am-2pm; mgcccanberra.org.au

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