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jarvis
Luxembourg
2 Posts |
 Posted - 06/10/2019 : 06:20:37
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This picture is shown in the book "120 Ans de Sport automobile belge", written by Jean-Paul Delsaux in 2016. It shows Baron Charles De Tornaco at the wheel and his friend Jacques Swaters in the passenger seat. The picture was taken in 1947 (Jacques Swaters Collection) and the caption describes the car as a "re-commissioned pre war MG Special".
Any ideas about the history of this car?
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Cathelijne
Netherlands
746 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2019 : 10:50:29
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Carlo and I have been emailling about this and figure that from this article, the Swaters car is the same as the Bonneau/Itier car, a PB with unknown chassis number;
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-2016/131/archives-doug-nye
However, these pics complicate matters a bit:
This is the Bonneau/Itier car at Le Mans in 1938.
This is the Bonneau/Itier car at Le Mans in 1939.
This is the Swaters car at Spa in 1948 even though the caption says 1949.
All three pics show the same car, right? Then when was Carlo's initial pic taken, was it really 1947 as per Carlo's book? Or was it taken at a later date by which time the car had possibly received a (partly?) new body? Or is it a different car altogether???
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Ray Masters
United Kingdom
576 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2019 : 14:37:40
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Mention of MGs at Chimay as in the Motor Sport article , just after the war reminded me that Ted Lund competed there in his MG PB , then fitted with a J2 body , in 1947 and finished 4th in class if my memory of Ted’ s tales to me in the early 60s is correct.
He campaigned that car in many types of events from trials , winning the Colmore Cup one year , hillclimbs , Bo’ness being one of his favourites to sand racing at Redcar and other places as well as circuit racing. A true enthusiast if ever there was one.
BTU 260 must have one of the longest sporting records of any pre-war MG having been trialed extensively as a member of the Norwester trials team in the 30s , then owned by Ted until the early 50s , raced etc by myself throughout the 60s & early 70s . It laid fallow for a few years until John Seber resurrected it a few years ago and continued its racing life . What a good example of a Triple M car!. |
Edited by - Ray Masters on 11/10/2019 14:39:06 |
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Cooperman
United Kingdom
790 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2019 : 14:45:44
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You have probably all seen this, but at the bottom of Cathelijne's Motorsport reference there are several 'related articles' the last one of which is "Motoring sportsmen - Paul Frere and in that article it states "In wartime Brussels, Frère practised his skills by looking after a friend's ex-Le Mans MG Special, which he later persuaded Jacques Swaters to enter for the 1948 Spa 24 hours, with one P Frère as co-driver. It finished, and his career was launched." Is this the car?
John Cooper M 628 |
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Cathelijne
Netherlands
746 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2019 : 14:59:29
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Thanks, John! Within the article itself it says "Paul Frère was service manager of the Brussels Jaguar dealer at that time – another young Belgian bitten by the bug. One day he met Swaters who had just bought a little MG that Paul knew well as the special-bodied PB in which Bonneau and Mme Itier had finished well in their class at Le Mans 1938. He recalled: “A week later Swaters and I had decided to race it together in the 24-hour race” [at Spa]." which is where we gleaned from that the Bonneau/Itier car and the Swaters car are one and the same. If the car in Carlo's picture is the same as the no. 24 car remains the question though. Could it be an entirely different car? Perhaps a six cylinder even, looking at the length of the bonnet?
Ray, has a full write up of the Ted Lund PB ever been done? If so, apologies for my ignorance, but if not, it'd be most interesting to see the full story in, say, a future yearbook?! 
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Wiessmann
Germany
91 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2019 : 17:44:58
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| Paul Frère tells the history of the disguised PB with no. 24 in his autobiographic book 'Un des vingt au départ' published in 1956. There are currently two of these booklets for sale on French Ebay. |
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Ray Masters
United Kingdom
576 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2019 : 19:39:14
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| Hi Cat. I will email you directly regarding Ted Lund. |
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MaGic_GV
United Kingdom
868 Posts |
Posted - 17/10/2019 : 12:31:31
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I think the two cars are entirely different. In Frere's book "My Life Full of Cars", he says that the Le Mans/Spa special was sold shortly after the Spa race and "all attempts to trace it have been in vain".
Swaters looks rather younger in the first pic, so I imagine this was earlier. It is not impossible that the body was changed back again from this to its Le Mans form but it seems unlikely.
Regards,
Graham
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Belgian MG Special
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