Vintage Minor Register

I might be having a senior moment, but I've just been writing up a fascinating article from David Mackay regarding his 1929 M Type that he owned back in the fifties, for M 145.

He sent me a package of information and photos, together with the original chassis plate from the car - which was scrapped many moons ago after an accident. The chassis number is 2/M506 and the car was KD 7563.

The chassis plate for this early Oxford-built M quotes the works telephone number as Oxford 2241. So presumably, 251 was the Abingdon number, where the company moved to in 1930.

But isn't the story that chassis started at 251 because that was the works telephone number? How could this have been? Shouldn't they have started at 2241?

Ian, I hope you don't mind if I take the liberty of posing this question on the MG Triple M site.There has been a thread relating to 2M 266 (an M-type in a South African Museum) and the 'Abingdon 251' story has been repeated.

Ian, I have placed the following contribution on the MG Triple M Forum on a thread entitled 'MG M chassis no.' .....


"Ian Grace has made a simple but profound observation on the Vintage Minor Register Forum about the often repeated article of faith that '251' was the telephone number quoted for Abingdon and M-type chassis numbers were based upon it. It says 'Abingdon 251' on the chassis plate and that proves it?

But didn't M-type production begin at Oxford where the telephone number quoted on the chassis plate is 2241? It says 'Oxford 2241' on the chassis plate.

As Ian puts it -

But isn't the story that chassis started at 251 because that was the works telephone number? How could this have been? Shouldn't they have started at 2241?

Is this blasphemy? But how did the people at Oxford know the telephone number of the Abingdon factory in March 1929 when they began to number the M-type chassis? "

I

No great reaction on the MG Triple M site. It looks as though the myth is all set to continue.The first M-type at Abingdon was chassis 2M 748 apparently.

Thanks Sam. I have asked Robin Barraclough the same question - no reply yet.

This just in from Robin - taken from his book 'Oxford to Abingdon'.

Robin remarks, "MGs made 251 the first car/chassis number of each new model from the last quarter of 1927. The move to Abingdon was in Sept 1929, so the chassis number was not copied from the ‘phone number. I can see why the first example of a new model would have a 1 in the chassis number, but cannot explain why it it would have a prefix 25 to give 251."