MG TB DHC 1938
A review of the 1938 MG Sales Manual
By Geoff Wheatley
Images Submitted by
Rick Feibusch
A few years ago I found a copy of a most fascinating publication; The MG
Salesman's Manual dated December 1938 at a Garage sale in the UK. Rather
worn and in need of restoration it could still be read. It would seem that the
publicity department at either Cowley or Abingdon were on the ball in
providing excellent sales material to their dealers. The book was intended for
the exclusive use of the salesman, and I assume was never to be seen by the
general public. It contains a host of interesting information on the
options available for all the current MG vehicles, which were: MG 1.5 Liter Open
Four Seater..MG 1.5 Liter Four Door Saloon...MG 1.5 Liter Folding Head
Foursome. (Looks like a Tickford). Then a repeat of these vehicles in a Two
Liter, (Six Cylinder), Version. There is also a 2.6 Liter mentioned but no
information on body style etc.
ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE THE REAL INTERESTING STUFF IS FEATURED.
The Series T Drop Head Coup and the MG T Two Seater otherwise known as the new (1939) MG TB.
All the MG Two Liter cars feature the unique "Jackall" control. This is a
built in device that operates a semi-automatic jacking system for use when
the car has a flat tire. I had a MGYA that also incorporates this system;
the car is lifted off the ground by four jacks that are built into the
chassis of the vehicle. A hand operated pump works the hydraulic system. The car
can have all four legs utilized or you can select the rear or front jacks
depending on where the problem might be.
The compression ratio on all the featured cars is quoted as 6.5 to 1
except the 2.6 Liter where it was 7.25 to 1. There is also a lot of technical
data on each car that I suspect was required reading but not very useful when
it came to clinching a sale.
MG WA DHC 1938
However, the salesman had a total of forty items that could be purchased
from MG all fitted at the factory of course for a modest fee. This is a
substantial list but I will mention a few extras that certainly caught my eye
and indicated that what some people call after market are in fact direct MG
equipment.
Bonnet Straps..Dipping Headlights..Fog Lamps..Hood Cover..Inspection
Lamp..Reversing Lamp..Second Spare Wheel..Traficators..Radiator Shield..Philco
Radio..Wood Fascia Dash..Brooklands Steering Wheel.. Racing Wind Shield for
the would be sports enthused also the useless Brooklands version which we
often see fitted today on various T Type vehicles.
Now for the most interesting feature of the factory options: Color, you
could have your car in what ever color you wanted for a few bucks more. On
top of that metallic finish was also available but this was expensive
compared with the normal finish. A metallic finish would cost around $36.00 based
on the 1939 exchange rate of four US dollars to the British pound. Also
the new owner could have a two tone finish but not in metallic, not quite
sure why but a professional painter told me that it may have been because the
cellulose paints of the day took a long time to dry which would make a two
tone finish difficult. The term "Chosen by the Owner', was featured with
all the color options so much for all this talk about original factory
colors from the arm chair experts who have read two books on classic cars and
know everything! You could also have your own choice of upholstery finish in
leather or what ever. The famous Connolly Rage was available but this was
expensive and took several weeks to complete on your new car.
MG SA Tickford 1938
Image provided by: Del McDougall, Delmac Media & Photography
Five colors were offered for the wheels of the vehicle but there was no
information on what they might be except to say that the normal choice of
black could be changed for one of the five available. As to be expected a
charge of $10 would be made for this feature. A footnote stated that the new
owner should be informed that a delay in the delivery of the vehicle could
result when these factory options were purchased.
The options list was complied and registered as active from the end of
1938 and would apply for all the 1939 range of cars. It was obvious from the
wording of the sales instruction material that these options had bee around
for a number of years especially with the larger and of course expensive
Saloon cars like the S.A and the W.A.
It should also be remembered that the annual Olympic Car Show took place
each October so this Sales Brief would be useful when prospective buyers
after visiting the show would descend on their local MG / Morris garage to
talk with the sales people.
The quoted price for the 1939 MG series, again based on the 1939 rate of
exchange at four US Dollars to the pound was: Midget Two Seater $880.00 Four
Seater $1120.00 Four Door Saloon $1320.00 1.5 Liter $1556.00. No price
quoted for the 2.0 Liter but the Folding Head Foursome was the most expensive
at a cool $1876.00. All factory options were not subject to any local sales
tax but the basic vehicle was. This tax charge was not universal; it only
applied to certain metropolitan areas where heavy traffic was considered to
be a drain on the local revenue. Example: In Edinbrough Scotland a vehicle
tax was applied to residents of the city this was about $1.25 a year equal
to the cost of a dog license at seven and six pence. Commercial vehicles
paid about twice that amount.
MG VA tourer 1938
This led to the majority of commercial vehicles be registered outside of
the city limits, as always there is a loop hole in any regulations! The fair
city of Oxford just a few miles from Abingdon has a tax levy based on the
damage that motor vehicles inflicted on the ancient buildings of the city.
In the late 1930s the city attempted to reduce this damage by taking up the
main downtown road system and fitting rubber blocks to reduce the
vibration. This was not a great success as the ability to stop when it was raining
caused the insurance rates to soar through the roof! I recall the period
when these blocks were being laid I was a small boy of around seven at the
time and remember being fascinated by the whole procedure. You could smell the
hot rubber blocks a mile away from the city center and of course this
modification caused major traffic congestion. Central London did not have a
local tax on vehicles despite the fact that the whole road system was never
designed for motor vehicles as is the case today. Manchester in the north
attempted to raise extra money this way but the local business interests soon
stopped this proposal on the grounds that it would hinder normal commercial
activity. The annual road tax imposed on all vehicle owners was created to
develop a new road system for the British Isles and Northern Ireland. In
reality it was simply another means of collecting money.
Less than twenty percent of this revenue was ever spent on improving the
roads and city centers of the country.
If you wanted to build your own car the chassis was available for all the
cars except the Midget. Prices ranged from $860.00 to $1200.00 This package
included dash, with full equipment. Lamps.. Unpainted wings.. Spare
Wheel.. Petrol Tank. and standard bumper equipment what ever that may mean? If you
also wanted the exclusive "Jackall" system fitted to your Saloon 1.5 Liter
vehicle you paid an extra $25 to $40. This seems inexpensive for such a
useful system. It was not available for the Midget. It was standard on the
2.00 Liter Saloon and where required on the special larger Saloon.
There is a whole page devoted to the subject of performance. Quote; "As a
matter of policy we do not quote any specific performance figures. We have
also decided not to submit our cars to any road tests carried out by
various motoring journalists, not only are some of these open to considerable
criticism, but comparisons are often drawn between different makes of cars
that can be totally misleading. These journals only take into consideration
what a car will do, not how it does it" End of quote.
MG SA Saloon 1938
Now this is very interesting as up until that date the company had always
pushed for good road reports in various motor publications including a
favorable report in 1937 on the then almost new MGTA in a premier motor
journal. Kimber was always looking for a friendly journalist to take to lunch in
order to get free publicity. It would be fair to say that MG was built on
this sort of activity and of course its race performance until Cowley decided
to disband the Factory Race Crew and withdraw from all competitions after the
reorganization of 1936 under new senior management. It is obvious that the
utility policy imposed by this new management structure was to be strongly
enforced for 1939 and the future. It is open knowledge that the strong
relationship between Kimberly and Billy Morris had waned since the
reorganization of the Morris Empire took place and Billy stepped down from the
Managing Directors slot and simply became Chairman. On op of that MG was now
simply part of the Morris Motors operation where as before it was a private
company that belonged to Morris who ensured that it survived even when it was
in the red from time to time.
The fitted tray for the tools in the saloon gets a special mention as a
strong selling point. Also the open front windscreen and adjustable steering
wheel. Also worth mention is the fitted tool tray for the Midget under the
bonnet; this seems to be a standard feature as it is not mentioned as an
option. There are four pages of the correct answers to specific questions,
Example: "Do the MG Company alter their range of models every year?" Answer:
NO. Question: "What production methods are used at Abingdon?"
Answer: Individual production method! (A touch of the double speak, double
talk, there!)
MG TA Tickford 1938
Question: "Is MG going to have an independent race team again? Answer:
Extremely doubtful there is no strong motive for such activity. The next one
is truly interesting and obviously results from comments in the motor media
on the need for better suspension on MG and Morris vehicles. Question: "Why
is it that the MG Company does not feature independent suspension systems
on their vehicles?" Answer: The Company is of the opinion that development
has not yet reached a stage where it is really practical.
(It is interesting to note that at that time the majority of British and
American cars featured some form of independent suspension at that time. It
should also be noted that Issy Issigonis had already developed a very
successful independent system that was eventually used on the TD and the MGY
series in the Post war years. The reason why this system was not featured in
the 1939 series was the reactionary attitude of Lord Nuffield who was against
such new money wasting devices. It is similar to the attitude of Kimber
towards hydraulic beaks in the mid thirties although his reluctance resulted
from the idea that they could easily fail! When MG eventually came under
the direct control of Morris Motors Abingdon was forced to use the standard
Morris hydraulic system and of course many standard items from the Morris
range of vehicles as a cost cutting procedure.
My last selected question and answer is informative. Question:" Why has
the term Sports Car been dropped for the Midget?" (None of the advertising
for the Midget featured the term from 1938.) Answer: Because of the attitude
of the insurance companies towards this type of car. In reality it is a
sports vehicle but, unlike our competitors we no longer use that term in order
to save our customers extra insurance payments. (A nice marketing line
that should impress any would be purchaser.)
Obviously this was a useful tool for any salesperson and once again showed
that the Morris people were well ahead of the game when it came to
promotion. As early as 1931 Morris was utilizing movie promotional films and was, like his idol Henry Ford allocating advertising budgets to premier
Advertising Agencies. He also paid his workers above the national wage rate as did Ford, and offered a "Pay as you Drive", system through his Morris Garage
outlets. If you were a worker at one of his factories you could easily own a
vehicle on attractive payment terms. Why?.. Simple, the more Morris cars
that were on the road the better the image of a popular vehicle. As a small
boy I did wonder why my father and all of his working friends had a Morris
car when the majority of other none Morris employees seemed to ride bikes.
He told me years later that the company deducted ten shillings a week,
(about two US dollars) to pay for his car which was sold to the employee at the
dealer's wholesale price. It was also a good way to keep the employees that
you needed.
The next time some expert tells you that they did not come in that color
in 1939 refer him to me. As a popular American evangelist back in the 1950s
said: "It's all in the good book" but sad to say the copy I purchased for
two dollars has now virtually disintegrated and is beyond help even from 3M
Scotch Tape!
Geoff Wheatley ©
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