Reviewed by Kim Henson.
Title: The MGC GTS Lightweights – Abingdon’s Last Racers
Author: David Morys
Published by: Veloce Publishers www.veloce.co.uk
144 pages; hardback
ISBN: 978-1-787114-45-6
Price: £35.00 (but check the Veloce website for special offers)
When I started reading this book, I imagined that its coverage would closely focus on the works racing MGCs, as its title suggests. I wasn’t wrong in this assumption, for indeed its author David Morys does provide comprehensive detail about the design, development and short racing careers of these cars.
However, there’s more! I feel that it is worth noting that the book also includes much information about the production MGC, its development, the car’s specifications and how it fitted into the MG line-up in the 1960s, and would be worth reading by anyone with a general interest in this model, as well as in the racing versions.
The core subject of the GTS Lightweights is covered in great detail, having been researched extensively by the author, who has followed the stories of the cars concerned for many years. His great enthusiasm for these MGs shines through the text, but he is honest about the limited success enjoyed by them, despite the great efforts of the Abingdon team, and does not view the situation retrospectively with rose-tinted spectacles.
The book looks at what happened to each of the cars produced, during and after their heydays, and fascinating appendices include copies of build sheets, also contemporary programmes and results listings relating to races in which they participated.
VERDICT
This comprehensively illustrated and extremely detailed book provides an honest appraisal of these MGCs, and shines a light on MG’s situation in the late 1960s. I enjoyed reading it.