Lot Ended
Description
From a deceased estate; current owner 12 years; various upgrades; race
history; 1998 FIA Papers; a fascinating J2 with an interesting history that runs
beautifully
Considered by
many enthusiasts to be the pinnacle of pre-war MG Midgets, the minimalist J-Type
was launched in 1932 and remained in production for just two
years.
Four versions were
offered, the J1 four-seater, the J2 two-seater sports, and the J3 and J4 racers.
The J2 was by far the most popular, accounting for 2,083 of the 2,463 J-Types
produced in total.
The J2 was powered
by a twin-carb 847cc four-cylinder ohc crossflow engine that produced 36bhp and
was good for a top speed of 65mph. Drive went to the rear wheels via a
four-speed non-synchromesh gearbox with cable-operated drum brakes all round.
The chassis was from the D-Type with suspension by half-elliptic springs and
Hartford friction shock absorbers with rigid front and rear
axles.
The earliest cars had
cycle-type front wings (as here) but these were replaced with more streamlined
swept wings on later models. Other rakish design features included a
rear-mounted slab fuel tank, cutaway doors, fold flat windshield and octagonal
dash instruments. The car cost £199 at launch, twice the price of a contemporary
Morris Minor.
This 1932 two-seater J2
comes with a large and interesting history file which will keep the next owner
happily absorbed for hours. Copies of factory records show that it left the
works in September 1932 painted grey and was supplied new via University Motors
to first owner Mr HWM Iredell of Rickmansworth.
There is a fair amount of history up to 1938 but the trail then goes
cold for 50+ years, the suggestion being that it may have gone to America. The
story picks up again in 1994 when the car was reputedly fully restored. In 1995
it was acquired by a Wolfram Schmitz of Germany who had spotted it on Barry
Walker’s stand at Techno Classica, the invoice showing that he paid £49,000 so
the restoration must have been a top quality job.
Schmitz kept it for 12 years and used it for Historic Racing,
with FIA Papers issued in 1998. Correspondence states that it was raced at the
Eifel Klassik at the Nurburgring in the late 1990s/early 2000s and on various
Triple M Rallies in Luxembourg.
In 2002 the
engine was rebuilt with various performance upgrades including racing pistons,
high tensile con rods, lightened flywheel and a new counterbalanced steel
crankshaft made by Nuyts of Belgium with modern shell bearings. German invoices
imply that this cost well over 14,000 DM in parts alone.
It was clearly a meticulous job and there are many pages of
engineering drawings, calculations, power curves, notes and photos which are
hard to decipher if, like some of us, you don’t have a PHD in Engineering and
your knowledge of German is limited to what you remember from the
Commando comics of your youth – phrases like ‘Achtung Spitfeuer
attack!’ and ‘Hande hoch, Englander schweinhund!’ may have their
uses but not in these circumstances...
The
next owner was Peter Van Den Broek of Holland who acquired it in 2007 and
had the engine overhauled in 2008 at a cost of 5,000 Euros,
seemingly retaining the uprated components. There is also mention of 12” brakes
fitted by Ludo Brynkans of Antwerp and various references to a Marshall 75
supercharger, though whether this was ever actually fitted isn’t clear and it
certainly isn't on the car today. If you copy
and paste this link into your browser you can see various photos of the car
while it was in Holland (registration number AM-32-63):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/66938321@N03/albums/72157635264900335/
In March 2010 the J2 appeared at a Coys Auction in London
where it was described as being ‘in perfect condition’ and was sold for £31,750.
It next appeared in a Brightwells auction in 2013 at which point it was still on
its Dutch number plates but had no history file, the current owner
acquiring it at the auction for £25,000 and getting it reunited with its
original MG 1874 number plate which is transferable, according to the
V5C.
He spent several years piecing together the
history outlined above, as detailed in many emails on file. There are various
invoices for subsequent upkeep and new parts fitted, along with correspondence
from the owner stating how quick the car was, one email stating: “I have had
many MMMs and three previous J2s but this is the best, it drives beautifully and
is an absolute pleasure”.
The history file also
includes correspondence from the MG Car Club; three old MOTs; copies of a German
logbook; 1998 FIA Papers; invoices; drawings; photos; various instruction
manuals etc. There is also a box full of sundry spares and other technical
literature.
As you can see in the photos, this
is a very pretty car which has been starting instantly and running beautifully
as we have moved it around on site. Unused for the last couple of years,
we did note that the brakes needed a firm shove to work properly so it
would doubtless benefit from a precautionary check-over before being used on the
road. It has clearly had an enormous amount of time and money spent on it to
extract maximum performance and no doubt the full history would merit further
investigation.
On offer here from a deceased
estate, this rare and judiciously uprated J2 looks an absolute
steal at the modest guide price suggested.
PS: It may
interest bidders to know that a gentleman came to view this car today (Monday
12th May) and informed us that he used to own it many decades ago - in fact
it was the very first car he ever owned, lucky chap! He tells us that he still
has some photos of the car as it looked back then which he will be
happy to pass on to the next owner. He also has a large quantity of pre-war MG
parts which he may also be prepared to sell if the new owner is
interested.
Consigned by
James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com