Archive : MG1100 is launched today

This MG Has A Big Heart
By Patrick Mennem

A compact car with big car comfort and performance. That’s the MG 1100, the latest model – announced today – from the British Motor Corporation.

The new MG, a blood brother of the Morris 1100, is designed to give up to the minute sports saloon motoring to the man of modest means. Like the Morris 1100, it has front wheel drive. It is the same size – 13 feet long and 5 feet wide. The only difference in outward appearance is the traditional MG radiator.

But the 1098cc engine has twin carburettors and a different inlet system, giving 55 brake horsepower and a top speed of 85mph. The MG 1100 will cruise at 75 mph, say the makers, and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than twenty seconds. Fuel consumption is said to be between 32-38mpg.

‘Hydrolastic’ water and rubber suspension, connected fore and aft, gives a floating ride on almost any road surface. Disc brakes are fitted to the front wheels.

The cost : Two door model £758. Four door £812.
Both prices include purchase tax.

Keith Adams

11 Comments

  1. At least the roads were less congested then Paul and most other cars in its class would have similar performance. Must be showing my age now but I found new car launches more interesting back in the 60s & 70s.

    As I say to friends & colleagues “They were the good old days, but we didn’t realise it then”

  2. I must book a testdrive these are just what they need to kick-start sales, a small stylish sporty saloon, well done MG.

    • I had one in early 1970s but when I put it in garage for gearbox change – owner swapped (stole) the cylinder head (12G295) for his mini & replaced it with a standard 1100 one. I did not appreciate at time MG1100 cylinder heads were very sought after by mini tuners. Suffice it to say, my car did not go as well.

  3. The 1300 was the better car, being able to reach 96 mph, which was excellent in 1968. Also the two tone paintwork was still available as the MG1300 always looked excellent in blue and ivory. I reckon this car was the equivalent of the hot hatch of the eighties, take the basic ADO16, fit a more powerful engine and stronger brakes, add more driving instruments and give it some great paint schemes, and the humble Austin 1300 has been transformed.

    • The MG version, with its trad grill and two tone paint, does look quite conservative though, rather than sporty. It’s stylish, but the 1300GT in the 70s with its black grill and slightly lowered ride height looks more the part of a sporty version.

  4. My brother had an H reg Morris 1300GT in burnt orange which looked sporty (sportier than the MG?). The performance was nippy for those days too as I recall.

  5. Interesting to see the car in the photo has wheels with traditional stye hub caps.

    I always thought the MG version looked really good with what I believe were fake alloy wheels.

  6. They also look good with 13-inch Minilites and modern low profile radials to keep the rolling radius right.

    Modern sticky rubber improves the handling of almost everything when compared to Sixties era crossplies!!

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