Maserati in motorsport
Throughout its history, the Italian auto manufacturer Maserati has participated in various forms of motorsports including Formula One, sportscar racing and touring car racing, both as a works team and through private entrants. One of the first Maseratis the Tipo 26 driven by Alfieri Maserati with Guerino Bertocchi acting as riding mechanic won the Targa Florio 1,500 cc class in 1926, finishing in ninth place in overall. Maserati was successful in pre-war Grand Prix racing using a variety of cars with 4, 6, 8 and 16 cylinders. Other notable pre-war successes include winning the Indianapolis 500 twice, both times with Wilbur Shaw at the wheel of a 8CTF. Maserati won the Targa Florio in 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940; the first two wins were achieved by Giovanni Rocco with a Maserati 6CM and the last two by Luigi Villoresi with a 6CM in 1939 and a 4CL in 1940. Maserati's post-war factory effort in sports car racing began in 1954 for the second season of the World Sportscar Championship; the factory raced as Officine Alfieri Maserati.
Maserati scored points in all but one year of the first era of the World Sports Car Championship from 1953 to 1961. Both factory-entered and privately-entered cars were eligible to score points for the manufacturer. At the end of 1957 Maserati retired the factory team from racing though they continued to build cars for privateers. In the 1953 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed thirteenth. In the 1954 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed fifth. In the 1955 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed fourth. In the 1956 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed second including a win at the 1000 km Buenos Aires and the 1000 km at the Nürburgring; the win at 1956 1000 km Buenos Aires was a Maserati 300S sports car driven by Stirling Moss and Carlos Menditéguy. In the 1957 World Sportscar Championship Maserati again placed second; this time with wins at Sebring and Rabelöfsbanan In the 1959 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed fourth. In the 1960 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed third.
With a win at the ADAC 1000 km Nürburgring for a Maserati Tipo 61 driven by Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney. In the 1961 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed second. With a repeat win at the ADAC 1000 km Nürburgring for a Maserati Tipo 61 this time driven by Lloyd Casner and Masten Gregory. Maserati returned to sportscar racing in 2004, entering the Maserati MC12 in the FIA GT Championship. Since 2005 the MC12 fieleded by Vitaphone Racing Team won five teams' championships and four drivers' championships in a row. Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini won the inaugural GT1 World Championship for Drivers in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship driving a Maserati MC12 for the Vitaphone Racing Team; the Vitaphone Racing Team won the GT1 World Championship for Teams. Maserati A6GCS Sports Car Maserati 350S Sports Car. Maserati 300S Sports Car. Maserati 250S Sports Car. Maserati 200S Sports Car. Maserati 150S Sports Car. Maserati 450S Sports Car. Maserati Tipo 60 Sports Car Maserati Tipo 61 the "Birdcage" Sports Car Maserati Tipo 63 Maserati Tipo 64 Maserati Tipo 65 Maserati Tipo 151 Maserati Tipo 152 Maserati Tipo 154 the "Racing Van" Maserati Barchetta Sports Car Maserati Ghibli II Open Cup gt Car Maserati Trofeo series gt Car.
Maserati Trofeo Light GT3 Racing Car Maserati MC12 GT1 Racing Car Gran Turismo GT4 Gran Turismo GT3 The Maserati Biturbo Group A racing car competed unsuccessfully in the British Touring Car Championship in the late 1980s, the European Touring Car Championship and the World Touring Car Championship. The cars for the 1987 World Touring Car Championship season were entered by Pro Team Italia/Imberti; the car was in Group A Division 3 competing against the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and in the season Ford Sierra RS 500. The car was driven by Bruno Giacomelli, Armin Hahne, Marcello Gunella, Mario Hytten, Nicola Tesini and Kevin Bartlett. For the British Touring Car Championship the cars were entered by Trident Motorsport; this was for the 1989 seasons. The car was driven by John Lepp and Vic Lee. A former 1987 WTCC car was bought by Adriano Dece who converted it for used on road rallies and the company manufactured the Maserati Biturbo Group A Rally car. Maserati participated in Formula One motor racing during the 1950s and 1960s.
Its works Formula One programme was broadly successful, providing a total of 9 Grand Prix wins for the factory team. In addition, Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 World Championship of Drivers with a Maserati 250F. Maserati designed two Formula One cars: the Maserati 4CLT and the Maserati 250F, the pre-World War II Maserati 4CL was used with some success. In addition, the Maserati A6GCM, designed as a Formula Two car, was used in F1. Due to financial difficulties in the late 1950s the team had to withdraw from Formula One in 1958 despite the 250F still being successful. Privateers continued to use the 250F until 1960. In the 1960s, Maserati supplied engines to British Formula One team Cooper; the most successful car of that collaboration was the Cooper-Maserati T81, which had a Maserati V12 engine. It won the 1966 Mexican Grand Prix and the 1967 South African Grand Prix, driven by John Surtees and Pedro Rodríguez respectively; the 1948 Maserati 4CLT was one of the first cars built to the new Formula One regulations, introduced in 1946, was developed from the 1938 Maserati 4CL voiturette car.
The older design was still competitive despite the hiatus of World War II and was entered into Formula One races when racing resumed after the war. Its success encouraged Maserati to develop the car's design and these refinements were brought together as the 4CLT. Maseraticorse.com
Bathurst, New South Wales
Bathurst is a regional city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is about 200 kilometres west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in Australia and had a population of 35,000 as at the 2016 Census. Bathurst is referred to as the Gold Country as it was the site of the first gold discovery and where the first gold rush occurred in Australia. Today education and manufacturing drive the economy; the internationally known racetrack Mount Panorama is a landmark of the city. Bathurst has a historic city centre with many ornate buildings remaining from the gold rush period of the mid to late 19th century; the median age of the city's population is 35 years. Population growth has reached 1.6% per annum over the five years until 2010, making Bathurst the seventh fastest growing regional city in New South Wales. This growth over recent years has resulted in increased urban development including retail precincts, sporting facilities, housing estates and expanding industrial areas.
Bathurst is located on the western edge of the Great Dividing Range in the Macquarie River plain. The city is located adjacent to the Macquarie River, part of the Murray-Darling basin, the largest river system in Australia; the city is protected by a levee bank to protect the city from occasional flood events. Mount Panorama is located 3 kilometres from the CBD and within the city limits; the Great Western Highway which begins in the centre of the city of Sydney, ends at Bathurst. Two main state highways start at Bathurst: the Mitchell Highway to Bourke and the Mid-Western Highway to Hay. Bathurst is about mid-way along a regional road route from Canberra and Goulburn to Mudgee and the Hunter Region. Bathurst is on the Main Western railway line that starts at Sydney Central and proceeds for 242 kilometres by rail to Bathurst; the Macquarie River divides Bathurst with the CBD located on the western side of the river. Four road bridges and two rail bridges span the river within the city area. From the upstream side they are: Macquarie River Railway Bridge closed in 2011.
Two physical components comprise the Bathurst region. They are drained by the Macquarie, Turon and Campbells Rivers to the north and Abercrombie and Isabella Rivers to the south; the central basin area of the Bathurst area is granite soils while in the north area sandstone, greywacke, siltstones and minor volcanos predominate. The south is more complex geology with siltstones, greywacke and chert, basalt and granite intrusions and embedded volcanic and limestones. Underlying Bathurst is the dominant feature of Bathurst granite and at Mount Panorama and Mount Stewart basalt occurs. Topography of the region ranges from undulating to rough and steep country, about 30 km to the east of Bathurst is the folded and faulted sedimentary and metamorphosed formations of the Great Dividing Range which runs north-south. Due to its elevation, Bathurst has a subtropical highland climate, according to Köppen climate classification. Bathurst is in Australia's cool temperate climate zone, defined as having mild to warm summers and cool to cold winters.
Regular summer thunderstorms are common, resulting from the flat plains country to the west, leading into the mountainous nature of the country around Bathurst and assisting the development of storm cells. Bathurst gets 106.9 clear days annually. In winter, light to moderate snowfalls occur each year on the higher peaks around Bathurst, whilst snow is uncommon in the city itself—despite falling every year. On 11 February 2017, Bathurst recorded a new record high temperature of 41.5 °C, although temperatures of 40 °C are exceedingly rare for Bathurst. Bathurst's central business district is located on William, Howick and Durham Streets; the CBD covers two city blocks. Banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park and monuments are in this area. Bathurst has retained a mix of main street shopping along with enclosed shopping centres within the CBD, unlike other towns where the CBD focus has split between main street and new shopping centre developments located in the suburbs.
Within the CBD lies Kings Parade. It is a popular location for locals to meet. Keppel Street is Bathurst's second commercial shopping area, removed from the CBD by two blocks to the south; this area developed once the railway arrived in 1876. The main suburbs of Bathurst are: Kelso, West Bathurst, South Bathurst, Gormans Hill, Windradyne Heights and Abercrombie Estate. One of the newer suburbs is Marsden Estate, in Kelso. Bathurst's place in Australia's history is evidenced by the large number of landmark monuments and parks. In the centre of the city is a square known as Kings Parade. A market area from 1849 to 1906, it was redesign
Maybach
Maybach Motorenbau is a defunct German car manufacturer that today exists as a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz. The company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son as a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH, it was known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1999. In 1960, Maybach was acquired by Daimler-Benz; the name returned as a standalone ultra-luxury car brand in the late 20th century and early 21st century, sharing significant components with Mercedes-Benz cars. After slow sales, Maybach ceased to be a standalone brand by 2013, it became a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz, owned by Daimler AG; as of 2018, Daimler produces an ultra-luxury edition of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class under the Mercedes-Maybach name. Wilhelm Maybach was technical director of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft until he left in 1907. On 23 March 1909, he founded the new company, Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH, with his son Karl Maybach as director. In 1912, they renamed it to Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH; the company developed and manufactured diesel and petrol engines for Zeppelins, rail cars.
Its Maybach Mb. IVa was used in aircraft and airships of World War I; the company first built an experimental car in 1919, introduced as a production model two years at the Berlin Motor Show. Between 1921 and 1940, the company produced a variety of opulent vehicles; the company continued to build heavy-duty diesel engines for marine and rail purposes. Maybach had Maybach Gears Ltd, that specialised in gearboxes. In 1938, in conjunction with Dr Henry Merritt, they produced a gearbox and steering system - the'Merritt-Maybach' - for the abortive Nuffield A.16E1 Cruiser tank design. During the Second World War, Maybach produced the engines for most of Nazi Germany's tanks and half-tracks; these included all the production tank engines through Panzer I, II, III, IV and V, the Tiger I and II and other heavy tanks: and engines for half-tracks such as the Sd. Kfz. 251 personnel carrier and prime movers like the Sd. Kfz. 9. The engine plant was one of several industries targeted at Friedrichshafen. After WW II, the factory performed some repair work, but automotive production was never restarted, some 20 years the company was renamed MTU Friedrichshafen.
Daimler-Benz purchased the company in 1960. Post-1960, the company was used to make special editions of Mercedes cars in the W108 and W116 model range, which were hand built; these cars however carried the Mercedes serial numbers. Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG, based in Friedrichshafen, used to manufacture the commercial Maybach diesel engines under the MTU brand through its subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. Daimler presented a luxury concept car at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. A production model based on it was introduced in two sizes – the Maybach 57 and the Maybach 62, reflecting the lengths of the automobiles in decimetres. In 2005 the 57S was added, powered by a 6.0 L V12 bi-turbo engine producing 450 kW and 1,000 N⋅m of torque, featuring various cosmetic touches. To promote the new Maybach line, Mercedes-Benz engaged figures such as Maybach heir Ulrich Schmid-Maybach and golfer Nick Faldo to serve as brand ambassadors. Daimler-Chrysler predicted annual sales of 2,000 worldwide with 50 per cent coming from the United States.
In 2007, Mercedes bought back 29 US dealers, reducing the total from 71 to 42. In 2010, only 157 Maybachs were sold worldwide, compared to 2,711 priced Rolls-Royces. Just 3,000 have been sold worldwide since the brand was revived in 2002. Daimler announced in November 2011 that Maybach would cease to be a brand by 2013 and manufactured the last Maybach vehicle in December 2012; this was because of poor sales. With poor sales expectations and the heavy impact of the 2007-08 financial crisis, Daimler AG undertook a complete review of the Maybach division, approaching Aston Martin to engineer and style the next generation of Maybach models along with the next generation of Lagondas. According to Automotive News, only 44 Maybachs had been sold in the U. S. through October 2011. An article in Fortune noted that Mercedes had missed out on the chance to purchase Rolls-Royce and Bentley when they were up for sale in the 1990s: "Mercedes backpedaled and decided it needed to be in the ultra-luxury business too, but it went after it in a remarkably clumsy way."
It further stated that the first Maybach models had poor driving dynamics compared to its contemporaries from Rolls-Royce and Bentley: "Mercedes took an aging S-class chassis and plopped an absurdly elongated body on it... rather than develop a new car from the wheels up, as BMW did with Rolls-Royce, or cleverly use the underpinnings of an existing model like the Volkswagen Phaeton for a new Bentley." Furthermore, Maybachs were never advertised as owner-driven vehicles, as the company believed that the luxury amenities would be sufficient to drive sales, they insisted that auto journalists ride in the backseat. Another suggestion for Maybach's struggles was that parent Daimler had failed to differentiate it from its Mercedes-Benz brand. While all three ultra-luxury marques share platforms and engines with other luxury brands from their parent auto company, Maybachs are built alongside the Mercedes-Benz S-Class flagship sedan, whereas Rolls-Royce and Bentley are assembled in England, thus are regarded as being more "exclusive".
Furthermore, the Maybach's pedigree was unknown outside of German
Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on a hill with the dual official names of Mount Panorama and Wahluu and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, the Bathurst 12 Hour event held each February; the track is 6.213 km in length, is technically a street circuit, is a public road, with normal speed restrictions when no racing events are being run, there are many residences which can only be accessed from the circuit. The track has an unusual design by modern standards, with a 174-metre vertical difference between its highest and lowest points, grades as steep as 1:6.13. From the start-finish line, the track can be viewed in three sections; the racetrack has been used for a wide variety of racing categories, including everything from open-wheel racers to motorcycles. However, the factors that make the track so unusual, tighter modern safety standards, make it unlikely that major race meetings in these categories will be held there again, as such it has become the near-exclusive province of closed-bodied cars.
As a public road, on non-race days and when it is not closed off during the day as part of a racing event, Mount Panorama is open to the public. Cars can drive in both directions around the circuit for no charge. However, a strict speed limit of 60 km/h is enforced, police patrol the circuit; the National Motor Racing Museum is located next to the Mount Panorama Circuit. Bathurst, a town 200 km west of Sydney hosted races dating back to the 1900's. A man by the name of Dr. Machattie persuaded two local builders to drive from Melbourne to Bathurst- a 793 km drive in his steam-powered Thomson. Various circuits made up of public roads made up of dirt and tarmac were raced on starting in 1906; until 1913, races took place on the 20.5 mi Peel-Limekilns circuit from 1914-1925 the 15.5 mi Yetholme circuit was used the long 62.5 mi Sunny Corner circuit was used from 1926 to 1930 and the 7 mile Vale circuit was used from 1931 to 1937. Construction of the Mount Panorama circuit commenced in mid-1936; the first race meeting, for motorcycles, was held on 16 April 1938 and the first race, the 1938 Junior Tourist Trophy, was won by 20 year old Queenslander Les Sherrin riding a Norton.
The first car race, the 1938 Australian Grand Prix, was held two days and was won by Peter Whitehead driving an ERA. It has the fastest corner in touring car racing, the kink at the entrance to the Chase. French sportscar driver Alexandre Prémat, who raced as a V8 Supercar regular, once described the circuit as "A mix of the Nordschleife, Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca". German driver Maro Engel described the circuit as the "Blue Hell", as a play on the Nürburgring's nickname "Green Hell"; the Pit Straight of Mount Panorama, adjacent to the pit complex, has a different start line and finish line. For the standing start only, the start line is 143m closer to Hell Corner so that traffic does not go too far around Murray's Corner when the start grid is formed; the finish line is positioned such. The common misconception of nomenclature due to the accidents that happen at this turn are widespread. Hell Corner was named after a tree stump, it was believed that any motorcycle riders who hit the stump would die in an act of folly and thereby be doomed to an eternity of death.
Mountain Straight is a long straight. V8 Supercars reach speeds of up to 290 km/h before the braking point for Griffins Bend. In the days before modern aerodynamics, drivers would have to lift off the throttle to prevent becoming airborne over the crest halfway up the straight; the crest caused problems during the old Easter motorbike races at the circuit with a number of riders having serious crashes due to not lifting before the crest and their bikes becoming airborne. Named after Martin Griffin, the Mayor of Bathurst whose vision it was to create the circuit, drivers heading around this right-hander have to be careful not to drift too far out of this negatively cambered turn and hit the wall upon exit. Allan Moffat spun his Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop here in the 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000, narrowly being missed by a couple of Minis he had just passed going up Mountain Straight. A pair of left hand corners leading into a steep 1 in 6 grade exit, overtaking in this section of circuit is difficult and it is hard to recover from a spin here because of the narrow room and steep gradient.
This corner was the location of the infamous'race rage' incident between Marcos Ambrose and Greg Murphy. The pair collided when both drivers refused to give the other racing room late in the 2005 Supercheap Auto 1000, with the resulting incident blocking the circuit. Following the Cutting, there is a pair of uphill right-hand corners a left-hand turn; this is Reid Park, named after the Bathurst City engineer Hughie Reid, who redesigned sections of the track to be more suitable for motor racing. One of the most famous incidents in the history of the Bathurst 1000 occurred here when Dick Johnson crashed his Ford XD Falcon out of the lead on lap 18 of the 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. Johnson was unable to avoid a large rock that had fallen from the spectator area as
Maserati 4CL and 4CLT
The Maserati 4CL and its derived sister model the Maserati 4CLT are single-seat racing cars that were designed and built by Maserati. The 4CL was introduced at the beginning of the 1939 season, as a rival to the Alfa Romeo 158 and various ERA models in the voiturette class of international Grand Prix motor racing. Although racing ceased during World War II, the 4CL was one of the front running models at the resumption of racing in the late 1940s. Experiments with two-stage supercharging and tubular chassis construction led to the introduction of the revised 4CLT model in 1948; the 4CLT was upgraded and updated over the following two years, resulting in the ultimate 4CLT/50 model, introduced for the inaugural year of the Formula One World Championship in 1950. In the immediate post-war period, the first two years of the Formula One category, the 4CLT was the car of choice for many privateer entrants, leading to numerous examples being involved in most races during this period. In the late 1930s, continued rapid development in the competitive international voiturette class, the introduction of the Alfa Romeo 158 and ERA B- and C-type models, forced the Maserati brothers into designing a new, square-bore, inline-4-cylinder engine.
This new engine developed 30–50 bhp more than the previous inline-6, the increase achieved through an increase to four valves per cylinder, coupled to the use of a more powerful supercharger and a small increase in the compression ratio. Following customary Maserati practice, the engine was mounted into a chassis design identical to that of the 4CL's predecessor: the Maserati 6CM. Conventional in its architecture, twin box-section spars ran the length of the car joined, ladder-fashion, by smaller cross members, although the 4CL design did incorporate more aluminium componentry than its forebear. Although near-identical in its wheelbase, the 4CL's track was a full 5 cm wider than the 6CM, sat lower thanks to repositioned spring hangers. Enveloping this rather conservative chassis was a low, curvaceous alloy-panel body, built in-house by Maserati. Maserati built a streamlined version of the 4CL from the outset. Continued engine development, in response to Alfa Romeo's post-war introduction of two-stage supercharging, began to expose weaknesses in the chassis design.
In an attempt to improve torsional rigidity Maserati began to experiment with tubular section chassis members. These experimental models ran alongside conventional 4CLs throughout the 1947 season, led to the introduction of the 4CLT in 1948. In the hands of Luigi Villoresi the streamliner took pole position on the 4CL's race debut at the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix, ahead of Mercedes' brand new W165s. However, both it and two of the three conventional 4CLs entered retired early in the race with engine troubles, leaving the Silver Arrows to take the victory. Embarrassingly for the works team, following this disappointing debut the 4CL's first taste of victory came in the hands of privateer Johnnie Wakefield at the Naples Grand Prix, two races later. Through the remainder of 1939 voiturette races Wakefield took two further victories, the works' 4CLs picked up another two, before the outbreak of war curtailed international competition. Villoresi took the 4CL to victory in the 1940 Targa Florio, but with entry restricted to Axis countries, only Maserati fielding a factory team, the opposition was hardly world class.
On the resumption of competition in 1946 the Maserati 4CL proved the class of the field. Luigi Villoresi returned to winning ways, taking victory in the first race following the cessation of hostilities: the 1946 Nice Grand Prix. Tazio Nuvolari and Giorgio Pelassa both took wins in 4CLs, but it was Raymond Sommer and his 4CL who dominated the season. 1947 would prove to be the 4CL's most successful season and, despite Alfa Romeo fielding the revamped 158 and new 308, Maserati drivers picked up 10 individual race victories. After the replacement of the factory team's 4CLs by the new 4CLT, many examples of the older cars found their way into privateer hands, it was owing to the 4CL's popularity with privateer entrants that many were still being run in top-flight competition at the outset of the Formula One World Championship in 1950. Chassis and engine changes made to the experimental 4CLs coalesced into the 4CLT, the appended T denoting its tubular chassis; the improvements in torsional rigidity that the tubular construction brought were required to counteract the increases in torque and power resulting from the twin-supercharger upgrade of the elderly inline-4 engine.
Power was up to 260 bhp, from the 4CL's 220. Other changes included the use of roller bearings for the crankshaft, forged rear suspension components, the chassis was designed to run with hydraulic dampers from the outset; the first variant of the 4CLT earned its "Sanremo" nickname from the first race for which it was entered: the 1948 Sanremo Grand Prix. The name stuck. A portent of things to come and Reg Parnell won five of the 1948 season's remaining races. In the first year of the Formula One World Championship, a Sanremo scored what was to be the Maserati's best Championship finish, when Louis Chiron took third place at his home Grand Prix: the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix; the last 4CL variant to compete in the World Championship was a 4CLT/48 modified by the Arzani-Volpini team, that failed to qualify for the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. For 1949, minor modifications to the brake drums, switching from vanes to slits for cooling, along with small changes to the cockpit control layout and a repositioned oil header-tank resulted in a car sometimes referred to as the 4CLT/49.
It was never know
Jaguar XK6 engine
The Jaguar XK6 is an inline 6-cylinder dual overhead camshaft engine produced by Jaguar Cars between 1949 and 1992. Introduced as a 3.4-litre, it earned fame on both the road and track, being produced in five displacements between 2.4 and 4.2-litres for Jaguar passenger cars, with other sizes being made by Jaguar and privateers for racing. A de-rated version was used in certain military vehicles built by Alvis and Daimler. Prior to World War II, SS Cars used three engines produced by the Standard Motor Company: a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines of 2.5 and 3.5 litres. Sir William Lyons and his engine designers. Rather than developing prototype engines after the war, it is claimed that Jaguar's wartime engine developments went far beyond mere discussion and design, extending to the construction and testing of several prototype engines as early as 1943; the initial aim was to produce a series of engines of higher than normal output that would be able to stay ahead of the competition without revision for many years and which Sir William insisted had to "look good".
In 1942-43, a range of configurations was considered and it was concluded that, for good breathing and high bmep, the new engines would need vee-opposed valves operating in hemispherical combustion chambers. Two configurations of this type were selected for comparison in 1943 and the prototypes named "XG" and "XF"; the XG 4-cylinder of 1,776 cc, first tested in October 1943, was based on the 1.5-litre Standard block and used its single cam-in-block to operate the opposed valves via a complicated crossover pushrod arrangement, similar to that of the pre-war BMW 328. The XF 4-cylinder of 1,732 cc used the now familiar dual overhead cam configuration and was first tested in November 1944; the XG was found to suffer from excessive pushrod and rocker noise and gas flow figures through its vertical valve ports did not equal those of the horizontal ports on the XF. Therefore, from these two options, the DOHC XF layout was selected. 4-cyl engine development progressed as follows: XG Pushrod engine 73 x 106 x 4 1776 cc May to Nov 1944 XF 75 x 98 x 4 1732 cc Nov 1944 to Jun 1945 XK1 76.25 x 98 x 4 1790 cc Oct 1945 to Nov 1946 XK2 76.25 x 98 x 4 1790 cc Feb to Sep 1946 XK3 76.25 x 98 x 4 1790 cc Dec 1946 to Feb 1947 XK4 76.25 x 98 x 4 1790 cc Nov 1946 to Dec 1947 Gardner Engine 1970 cc 1948 XK Number 1 3-bearing crank 1970 cc 1949-1952 XK Number 2 3-bearing crank 1970 cc 1950-1952 XK 5-bearing crank 1970 cc 1953By September 1947 a 3.2-litre 6-cylinder version had been produced, called the "XJ 6-cylinder", intended to replace both Standard-based 6-cylinder units.
Testing showed the need for higher torque at low speeds than this engine could produce and hence it was'stroked' to 3,442 cc to form the "XK 6-cylinder", which saw its debut in an open two-seat XK120 sports car at the 1948 London Motor Show. Following this the XK6 powered a number of other models in subsequent years; the XG prototype soldiered on as a component testbed until 1948. There existed an "XK 4-cylinder" of 1,790 cc first tested in October 1945 and remaining under development alongside the XK 6-cylinder units. At the time of William Heynes' paper presented to the IMechE in February 1953, the XK 4-cylinder was still referred to as being under development, it was only dropped as a possible production engine in 1953, by which time it had been realised that Jaguar's image in the market had moved beyond the need for a replacement for the old 1.5-litre Standard 4-cylinder unit. Because the 6-cylinder XK prototypes were found to be so much more refined than the 4-cylinder versions, in 1951 a 1,986 cc 6-cylinder version of the XK 6-cylinder was built to see if it would suffice as a smaller scale engine.
By 1954 this had grown to 2,483 cc and it was this short-block version of the XK 6-cylinder, fitted to the new compact Jaguar 2.4-litre released in that year. None of the 4-cylinder prototypes advanced to production but Lt. Col. Goldie Gardner's speed record team did fit a 1970 cc version to the MG streamliner EX-135 in 1948 to take the 2,000 cc class record at 177 mph, on the Jabbeke motorway in Belgium. There are some misleading claims of an intervening "XJ" 4-cyl prototype but it seems the only person who referred to them as such was William Heynes in a paper presented to the IMechE in 1953. Heynes stated there were many 4-cyl variants following the XF but it was he alone who loosely grouped them as XJ; the last mention of XF was in July 1945 and the first mention of XK was in October of the same year. This doesn't give much room for a series of XJ engines. There are no mentions of XJ in the archive. If there is a XJ, the first one is to have been referred to as XK1 internally. There were three others of nominally 1790 cc capacity called XK2, XK3 & XK4.
It is these are what Heynes referred to as "XJ". The
MG Cars
MG, the initials of Morris Garages, is a British automotive marque registered by the now defunct MG Car Company Limited, a British sports car manufacturer begun in the 1920s as a sales promotion sideline within W. R. Morris's Oxford city retail sales and service business by the business's manager, Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG produced saloons and coupés. Kimber was an employee of William Morris; the MG business was Morris's personal property until 1 July 1935 when he sold MG to his holding company, Morris Motors Limited, restructuring his holdings before issuing shares in Morris Motors to the public in 1936. MG underwent many changes in ownership starting with Morris merging with Austin in The British Motor Corporation Limited in 1952. MG became the MG Division of BMC in 1967 and so a component of the 1968 merger that created British Leyland Motor Corporation. By the start of 2000 MG was part of the MG Rover Group, which entered receivership in 2005; the assets and MG brand were purchased by Nanjing Automobile Group for GB£53 million.
Production restarted in 2007 in China. The first all-new model from MG in the UK for 16 years, the MG 6 launched on 26 June 2011; the original MG marque was in continuous use, except for the duration of the Second World War, for 56 years following its inception in 1924. The production of predominantly two-seater sports cars was concentrated at a factory in Abingdon, some 10 miles south of Oxford; the British Motor Corporation competition department was based at the Abingdon plant, producing many winning rally and race cars, until the Abingdon factory closed and MGB production ceased in the Autumn of 1980. Between 1982 and 1991, the MG marque used to badge-engineer sportier versions of Austin Rover's Metro and Montego ranges; the MG marque was not revived in its own right until 1992, with the MG RV8 – an updated MGB Roadster with a Rover V8 engine, previewed at the 1992 Birmingham Motor Show, with low-volume production commencing in 1993. A second revival came in the summer of 1995, when the high-volume MG F two-seater roadster was launched.
The MG marque, along with the Rover marque, went to the MG Rover group in May 2000, when BMW "broke up" the Rover Group. This arrangement had the return of MG badges on sportier Rover-based cars such as the MG ZT in 2001, along with a revised MG F model, known as the MG TF, launched in 2002; the assets of MG Rover were bought by Chinese carmaker Nanjing Automobile in July 2005, subsequently bought by SAIC in December 2007, which now operate a UK subsidiary, MG Motor. The company's name originated from the initials of Morris Garages, W R Morris's original retail sales and service business in Longwall Street, when the business's manager, Cecil Kimber, began promoting sales by producing his own versions. Kimber had joined the company as its sales manager in 1921, he was promoted to general manager in 1922, a position he held until 1941, when he fell out with Lord Nuffield over procuring wartime work. Kimber died in 1945 in a railway accident; the site of the garages was redeveloped in 1980, retaining the original frontage, is now used as student accommodation by New College.
Debate remains as to when the MG Car Company started, although the first cars bore both Morris and MG badges, in addition to reference to MG with the octagon badge appears in an Oxford newspaper from November 1923, the MG Octagon was registered as a trademark by Morris Garages on 1 May 1924, with its 90th anniversary being celebrated in 2014. Others dispute this and believe that MG only properly began trading in 1925; the first cars, known as "Kimber Specials", were rebodied Morris models that used coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry. Morris Garages built them in premises in Oxford. Demand soon caused a move to larger premises in Bainton Road in September 1925, sharing space with the Morris radiator works. Continuing expansion meant another move in 1927 to a separate factory in Edmund Road, Oxford, near the main Morris factory and for the first time it was possible to include a production line. In 1928, the company had become large enough to warrant an identity separate from the original Morris Garages and the M.
G. Car Company Limited was established in March of that year, in October for the first time a stand was taken at the London Motor Show. Space soon ran out again, a search for a permanent home led to the lease of part an old leather factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in 1929 taking over more space until production ended there in 1980; the MG Car Club was founded in 1930 for enthusiasts of MG cars. William Morris owned MG and in a re-arrangement of his various personal holdings he sold MG in 1935 to Morris Motors, a change, to have serious consequences for MG its motor-sport activities. MG was absorbed with Morris into The British Motor Corporation Limited, created in 1952 to merge Morris Motors Limited and The Austin Motor Company Limited. Long-time service manager John Thornley took over as general manager, guiding the company through its best years until his retirement in 1969. Under BMC, several MG models were no more than badge-engineered versions of other marques, with the main exception being the small MG sports cars.
BMC took over Jaguar Cars in September 1966 and that December BMC changed its name to British Motor Holdings. BMH joined with Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968 to form British Leyland Motor Corporation. Following partial nationalisation in 1975, BLMC became Britis
Doug Whiteford
