American MG

A retrofictional note.

If MG had had as much foresight as we now have hindsight, maybe the company would have set up production in the USA. Much of MG’s technical experience was crafted in the States through high speed records at Salt Lake, racing at Sebring, but most important was the experience of club racers all over the country. MG’s importers would have been able to get the act together. Kjell Quale comes to mind.

The beauty of looking back is that we get to choose engines and developments. The MG A would have been the first American product, derived from the record attempts in Utah. The later MG B would have been an Anglo-Italian beauty with a racy Alfa Romeo engine, built at Abingdon.

Let us choose engine for The MG America. Maybe this choice would have influenced the Buick-Rover engine choice that came later? Before we choose a V8, which four cylinder engine would fit? The Offenhauser, of course! The MG O would have been borne! The oval would have been turned into ribbons of Highways. Hundreds of horsepower on the loose? Would it have fitted the A-bay with some acceptable modifications? No, we could not have had that, could we?

Which six-cylinder, then?

Would someone have suggested the Chevrolet Corvair flat six and put the engine in the back, only turned round and ended up with the MG mid-engined flat six before the Miura? It would not have been called the MG A nor the MG O. It would have been called the MG Bonneville before Triumph could have registered their bike’s name. The MG B, see, only with a full name, not just the letter, the Bonneville. This would have become the other American sports car to the Corvette, this mid-engined flat six monocoque. It should have been deemed Unsafe at any Fast speed!

Which V8 to choose? It would not have mattered. If it fits, it will go! But would it have led to any development? But there was the Novi V8, a race car engine used at the Indianapolis 500. It was also coupled to a four wheel drive system. The MG Novi 4x4 of the sixties. Would it have fitted in the engine bay of the MG B? Would it not have been just right for Range Rover as they brand themselves today? Finance would have been available to the brave Americans.

This is not pure phantasy. The parts were there, the money was there, the market was there, but the people never met up. We would have had to choose names for the babies. The MG Offy, The MG Bonneville, The MG Novi 4x4 Spider, The MG Novi 4x4 Baja.

XPAG Twin Cam heads were produced in the USA, so the engineers were working on their MGs.