MG MAGNETTE K3 Midget, Magna, Magnette . . . MG's creator and "kingpin" Cecil Kimber d
In 1931 in 750cc form it made a resounding impact on the British racing scene when it cleaned up in three major sports cars events at the expense of bigger British and European cars. True, the handi-cappers helped by under-estimating the calibre of the MG, but when they hardened their hearts against the 750s in 1932 in favour of the 1100cc class, Kimber's thoughts turned also towards that category.
Already in 1932 he had introduced a new small six-cylinder MG, the 1,271cc overhead camshaft Magna, a model of deceptively sporty aspect but mediocre performance, and in 1933 Kimber added a more respectable six to the range.
This was the Magnette, sub-typed the K1 in its first form, and a "little Magna" both by implication and by its smaller capacity of 1,087cc, if not for its bigger brakes and wider track. Moreover, unlike the Magna engine with its inlet and exhaust ports all on one side, the Magnette's 57 x 71mm engine had much more potential with a crossflow head, magneto ignition, triple SU carburettors, and the promise of super-charging. Its raison d'etre was obvious, or soon became so; it was MG's new contender in the 1100cc sports and racing class, at that time the joint domain of the British Riley, the French Amilcar and the Italian Maserati.
The catalyst which brought it from a catalogue project to a challenger in the metal was the fierce enthusiasm and patriotism of Earl Howe, who badly wanted to see British cars do well in Italy's great 1000 Miles race, the Mille Miglia. His offer to bear part of the costs if MG were to build three cars to challenge in the 1100cc class was accepted by Sir William Morris, pro-prietor of the company, and with under six months to the race in April 1933, Cecil Kimber embarked immediately upon the ambitious K3 project.
The engine had a four-bearing crank-shaft and was fitted with a Powerplus eccentric-vane type supercharger, giving over 100bhp in early tests com-pared with around 39bhp from the first unblown Magnette unit. A breakaway from convention was the fitting of a Wilson preselector self-changing four-speed gearbox, for which a neat fore-and-aft change quadrant on top of the gearbox was devised, anticipating modern "automatic" practice.
Two prototype cars were quickly built, the first being blooded in the 1933 Monte Carlo Rally—an open car in mid-winter ! —where its intrepid drivers finished the course, albeit well down, but won the concluding hill climb.
The other car went out to Italy for tests on the actual Mille Miglia course, calling en route at the Bugatti factory where le Patron, Ettore Bugatti himself, opined that the front axle was too weak. Five weeks later the prototype returned to Britain, and much invaluable data relating to gear ratios, brakes, wheel strengths, and other aspects was worked into the three race cars under construc-tion at Abingdon; a hasty reconsidera-tion by MG's stressmen also led to a stiffening-up of the front axle as advised by Bugatti.
By dint of prodigious over-time working the cars, resplendent in British racing green, were shipped to Italy in time for practice, giving the Maserati opposition a major shock with their pace. With expert drivers, two per car, first and second places in the 1100cc class were MG's brilliant reward for so much effort. George Eyston and Count Lurani were the winners, followed by Earl Howe himself and Hugh Hamilton, but the third car, driven by the mercurial Tim Birkin, retired with a broken valve after serving nobly as the pacemaker and breaking up the Italian opposition. Following this magnificent Continental foray MG's versatile new Magnettes, stripped of lights, wings and other impedimenta, proceeded to score several successes as out-and-out racing cars.
Then Italy's greatest racing driver, Il Maestro Tazio Nuvolari, was moved to seek an entry in that classic sports car race, the Ulster TT, with a works K3 Magnette on loan—and he won dramatic-ally from Hamilton's Midget in a striking double for "the Octagon". For 1934 the cars were improved, Marshall Roots-type superchargers replacing the Powerplus, an improved cylinder head was fitted, and the K3 was offered in sports or racing trim with pointed tail for just £795. With wings and lights or without, it made a purposeful picture with the squat MG radiator, its lower left corner "cut out" for the blower induction pipe, its outside exhaust system, and big wire wheels almost filled on the inside with aluminium back-plated brakes.
The K3's second season in sports car racing was less successful. Maseratis were not caught napping a second time in the Mille Miglia, and MG had to rest content with second place. Then at Le Mans, where almost every classic sports car has appeared, a K3 was holding second place behind a blown eight-cylinder Alfa Romeo when a skidding French car put it out in the 10th hour. However, another finished fourth overall and won its class, while a Magnette driven by Enid Riddell placed second
