MG saloons

My Father is a big fan of the ADO16 and owned umpteen of them from the early 1960's to the late 1970's including an MG 1300 & an Austin 1300 GT. For anyone who's not that familiar with the car they were badge engineered variants which ranged from a spartan 1100 to the mini Rolls-Royce wannabee the Vanden Plas Princess.  The ADO16 was marketed under various make and model names including:-
Austin 1100 and 1300. Austin America, Glider and Victoria. Innocenti IM3. MG 1100 and 1300. Morris 1100 and 1300. Riley Kestrel and Riley 1300. Vanden Plas Princess 1100 / 1275 / 1300. Wolseley 1100, 1275, 1300, 11/55 & Wesp.

Possibly one of the most famous examples of the ADO16 was one of the rare Austin 1100 Countryman versions which took a damn good thrashing off Basil Fawlty.

They were, in my opinion, as good as any car of their era. They weren't a sleek design but were roomy enough for a small family saloon. The hydrolastic suspension gave the car a comfortable enough ride whilst assisting its positive handling. The mechanical side of things was reasonably robust & they were an easy car to work on. They rusted but so did all the other cars of the era. The performance versions such as the GT & MG twin carb cars handled sportily enough, very many family saloons were still rwd at the time. I owned a Vanden Plas version & found it quite chuckable.

Singling out the MG badged version; it was better trimmed than the base models and perkier with the twin carbs. Going downhill with a tailwind it was possible to 'do the ton' in the 1300 twin carb versions. I think that the 2 door version was the better car, it looked nicer & was slightly lighter with better rigidity than the 4 door version. There are not lots of these around now but the 4 door versions are much rarer than the 2 door versions.

Many of the MG 1100's / 1300's were presented in two tone paintwork which added to their appeal & character;


The ADO16 is a car which you could realistically use as an everyday ride, although there are some tweaks which would be advisable such as electronic ignition. I know my Father would buy an MG 1300 or a 1300 GT for everyday use if he could find a really nice one but prices have finally started to climb.

I tried unsuccessfully to tempt him with this MG 1300, (now sold);



Will keep looking ....

Still with MG saloons, I always thought the Magnette handsome enough although I think it was generally a fairly unremarkable car. The one thing about this saloon which really stood out & lifted it from the mundane was the Art Deco inspired instrument panel;