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| Plan C: The Short-Lived Six-Cylinder MGC and MGC GT |
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| Written by Aaron Severson |
| Saturday, 18 September 2010 00:00 |
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Page 1 of 5 Conceived as an afterthought, savaged by the press, and hastily discarded by its maker, this six-cylinder version of the ubiquitous MGB has become the MG that time forgot. This week, we take a look at the story behind the rare and much-maligned MGC. BIG HEALEY AND THE BBy the standards of the early sixties, the first MGB had perfectly adequate performance: 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) took about 12 seconds, while top speed was perhaps 105 mph (170 km/h). Even at launch, however, it was hard pressed by rivals like the Triumph TR4 and the admittedly more expensive Alfa Romeo Giulietta Super Spyder. The MG's 1,798 cc (110 cu. in.) B-series four was study and torquey, but it was not exactly overpowered, producing 95 hp (71 kW) and 110 lb-ft (149 N-m) of torque in stock form. A liberal application of the factory's many "Special Tuning" parts could yield some 130 hp (97 kW), but that was expensive, and entailed some compromises in drivability and reliability.
The natural solution was to install a bigger engine. Although MG Cars had concentrated on four-cylinder cars since 1945, the company had offered a variety of six-cylinder models before the war, beginning with the 1928 MG Super Six. Chief engineer Syd Enever had apparently considered a six-cylinder MGB during the early stages of the B's development, but nothing had come of it. Cost was presumably a concern, but there was also concern that a bigger engine would spoil the MGB's excellent weight distribution. Still, by 1963, adding a more powerful MGB seemed like a sensible marketing decision. The engineers in Abingdon began considering various possibilities, including a short-stroke version of the 2,660 cc (163 cu. in.) four from the old Austin A90 Atlantic and two versions of the corporate C-series six: BMC Australia's 2,433 cc (149 cu. in.) "Blue Streak" engine and the 2,912 cc (178 cu. in.) six used in some big BMC sedans. MG's corporate parent, the British Motor Corporation (BMC), soon took a keen interest in the idea of a six-cylinder B, for reasons that had little to do with MG. Since 1952, BMC and the Warwick-based Donald Healey Motor Company had offered a variety of sports cars under the Austin-Healey nameplate. The small Austin-Healey Sprite had recently been refreshed, but the six-cylinder 3000, whose latest Mark III iteration was about to debut, was becoming long in the tooth, and BMC was looking ahead to its replacement.  The first Austin-Healey was the four-cylinder 100, introduced in late 1952. The six-cylinder version was launched in 1957, with the 2.9-liter 3000 following in 1959. Its final iteration, the Mark III, bowed in the spring of 1964, sporting a new dashboard and a more powerful engine. The "big Healeys" were faster and considerably more expensive than the MGB, competing in a different price class. Interestingly, they were built in the same factory -- BMC transferred Healey production from Longbridge to Abingdon in 1957. Like his predecessor, Leonard Lord, BMC chairman George Harriman was reluctant to develop two cars where one would do. Since the fifties, BMC had become notorious for badge engineering: selling the same basic product, with minor variations, under several different names. Since 1961, MG had been selling a facelifted Austin-Healey Sprite with the venerable Midget nameplate, and ideas had been floating around since the late fifties for a bigger car that could be sold both as an MG and an Austin-Healey. Around the same time, BMC had started working on a new joint project, coded ADO 51/ADO 52, that would serve as both the Austin-Healey 3000 Mk IV (the ADO 51) and a six-cylinder version of the MGB (the ADO 52). This proposal was not warmly received in Warwick. The ADO 51 was obviously an MGB -- cost considerations prohibited any real styling or structural changes, so the only real differences between the ADO 51 and 52 were the grilles and trim. Healey's son Geoff, the firm's chief development engineer, worked dutifully with Syd Enever on the project, but without much enthusiasm. The Healeys considered the ADO 51 a hopeless case: a bastardized MGB and a poor excuse for an Austin-Healey. As was typical at cash-strapped BMC, development of the ADO 51/52 dragged on for more than three years. MGB sales were still robust, bolstered by the addition of the MGB GT hatchback coupe in the fall of 1965, but the Healey situation was coming to a head. In September 1966, the U.S. passed its first federal safety and emissions standards, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 1968. Since the existing Healey 3000 Mark III could not meet those standards, it would have to be withdrawn from the U.S. market by the end of 1967. Even the imminent demise of the big Healey was not enough to persuade Donald Healey, whose interest in applying his name to to the ADO 51 remained precisely zero. BMC finally relented, and the project was canceled.  BMC's C-series six, developed by Morris and introduced in 1954, was in some respects a B-series four with two extra cylinders. The first six-cylinder Healey, the 100-6, had a 2,639 cc (161 cu. in.) version of this engine, which was bored out to 2,912 cc (178 cu. in.) in 1959. British versions of the big six originally had four main bearings, but the lightened unit in the MGC and Austin 3-litre had a seven-bearing crank, similar to the one in BMC Australia's 2,433 cc (145 cu. in.) "Blue Streak" engine. Although the Healey-badged ADO 51 was dead, the ADO 52 received production approval in the fall of 1966. It was slated for introduction the following year as a 1968 model, dubbed MGC. (After the demise of the ADO 51, the Healeys proposed their own replacement for the 3000, the Austin-Healey 4000, powered by the Rolls-Royce-developed 3,909 cc (239 cu. in.) F-head FB60 engine from the short-lived Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre R sedan. BMC was initially receptive to this proposal, leading to the construction of several prototypes, designated ADO 24. However, the ADO 24 was canceled in mid-1967, owing to BMC's financial difficulties and the objections of Jaguar's Sir William Lyons, who had gained a seat on the board after BMC's merger with Jaguar in 1966. Months later, BMC merged with Leyland to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation, and the new management decided to terminate BMC's deal with Healey at the end of their existing contract. In 1970, the Healeys formed an alliance with Kjell Qvale -- previously one of BMC's biggest U.S. distributors -- to develop the ill-fated Jensen Healey.)
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Glad to have you back! Just when I think you might be starting to run out of topics you bust out with an entire marque I had forgotten about.