MG TC project ready to be supercharged out the box
Late in 1949, one of the last MG TCS to be built at the Abingdon works was delivered to an owner in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and registered HZ 2808. It returned to England in 1956 and the most recent owner bought it in Bradford in 1962 for just £70. He used the car for long periods, but restored it in ’66, then again around 1980.
At the turn of the millennium the MG was stripped again and the car was taken completely to pieces. For some reason, however, the owner was unable to proceed with the rebuild. He had clearly intended to supercharge the engine because a Shorrock blower had been bolted to it – one of the recommendations suggested in the Abingdon tuning manual, which could lift power from the standard unit’s 54.4bhp to a heady maximum of 97.5bhp.
After the keeper passed away, his sister offered the car to Paul Campbell of Manor Classic Cars of York. “The owner had bought parts he seemingly thought bettered those he already had,” says Campbell. “Perhaps that is why there is a choice of seven front wings, two fuel tanks, five powdercoated wire wheels and multiple carburettors, along with many boxes of related nuts, bolts, cables, instruments, tinware, lights and goodness knows what else.
“We have a body for the car but poor storage outside his workshop, albeit under a cover, means it’s likely not to be serviceable, except perhaps for taking measurements.”