You could fill a number of goodly sizes republics with the number of people who’ve developed fascinations with the automobiles that Cecil Kimber and his successors created. To more people than we can count, an MG is a British sports car. It did more to launch amateur sports car racing in the United States than any other such vehicle. And its rich history endures, however tangentially, to this today. MG is a historic marque that deserves a keeper of a book on its heritage. Here it is.
We’ve had beaucoup big-format, thickly produced volumes on Corvettes, Porsches and Pontiac GTOs, all worthy subjects. So it’s appropriate to see MG get the same respectful treatment in a very useful, impressively detailed narrative. The Complete Book of Classic MG Cars does a sprightly roll through the Octagon’s lifespan from Kimber’s earliest cars, which first emerged nearly a century ago. The tale encompasses 240 hardcover pages and 300 images. The author is Ross Alkureishi, a staff stalwart at Thoroughbred & Classic Cars magazine, which makes his veneration of his topic beyond dispute. It’s just being released under the Motorbooks imprint at $50 a copy. If you’ve ever felt the lilt of a Magnette Airline coupe or an MG WA with drophead coachwork by Tickford, you’ll find a home here. Like its subject matter, the book drips with charm.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 