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MG MG Y Type - MG Y' s last sporting hurrah

In Len Shaw's book on rallying his Works Y Type he mentions that after the Works team switched to the Magnette their success dropped off enormously as despite the Magnette having a bigger engine it was much heavier and was less manoeuvrable. He apparently suggested the team switch back to YB's but that would obviously have been a PR disaster so instead they soldiered on with limited success in the Magnettes. However, he mentions that Ian Appleyard, the son in law of William Lyons the owner of Jaguar, was provided with a specially tweaked Works YB. This seems odd as at the time Appleyard was a Jaguar dealer and had gained success and a reputation rallying XK120s. Why he would want to have a crack at rallying an obsolete little BMC saloon is hard to fathom.

Len says apparently Appleyard did not like the YB and that was the end of it. I have just completed the rather gruelling Rally of the Tests in UMG 662 which, due to some wholly unexpected forest stages, was very tough on the car. The RoT is supposed to be in the spirit of the RAC Rally of the 50's so I was rather unhappy to find the event dominated by cars from the 70s - UMG 662 was the second oldest car. To give the 911 (et al) drivers a bit of a challenge they introduced harsh off road sections which I thought unfair on older cars. Anyway this afternoon I was checking through my old RAC Rally programmes to see how tough the event was in the 50's and, in addition to noting the total lack of forest stages (!), I saw in the 1955 programme a reference to Ian Appleyard driving a "modified" sub 1300 cc MG saloon. I then checked the rally results in an old copy of Autosport and found that he was driving a modified YB and that he finished third in class. In fact he had been doing very well with a chance of outright victory but was baulked on a night stage by heavy traffic. Nonetheless his times at various tests were interesting. In all those he competed in he was substantially quicker than the Works Magnettes. At Goodwood, for example, he was a whole 7 seconds a lap quicker than the quickest Magnette. Remarkable for what was in essence a pre war design. I wonder what happened to that YB? And what modifications did it have? That third in class was probably the last Y Type sporting success in period..
Marc Hanson

Hmm, Browning, Chambers and Turner in their book on the BMC Competions Department say that Appleyard wanted a YB for the Rally as he thought agility and nimble handling would be more important that power on the Rac Rally in '55. In the book they say they persuaded him otherwise and that he ran a TF1500 in the rally instead and finished 8th overall. He certainly did finish 8th overall but he ran in the sub 1300cc saloon car class so I can't see how he could have been in a TF. Furthermore Gregor Grant who was on the rally himself in his report in Autosport clearly states that Appleyard was in a YB. He would know a YB from a TF! Very mysterious. Maybe one day we will find a photo of the car in the Rally and all will be revealed.
Marc Hanson

Another great thought provoking thread Marc with more questions than answers and certainly I do not have any!!

As you say ... maybe one day we will find out!

Paul
Paul Barrow

The internet is a wonderful thing.. I remembered the Revs Institute with its online collection of George Philips photos and there amongst many thousands of images was a collection from the '55 RAC rally, including a nice one of Appleyard and the YB reg HRX766 at Goodwood. So much for Chambers et al convincing him to do the rally in a TF!! Why would they subsequently have felt the need to re write history? Were they embarrassed that he did so much better in an old YB than the more modern Works Magnettes and TF's? Its nice to set the record straight for the noble old Y Type!
Marc Hanson

Can you post a copy of the picture Marc?

Sadly I have no trace on HRX 766.

Paul

Paul Barrow

Fantastic work there Marc, I hope you reveal more in due time (a deliberate rally pun there !).

I have a few old rally books from the 50's & 60's and the special tests really favoured the nimble cars & not outright power.

It would be great to find what happened to HRX 766 too.

Thank You

Tony
A L SLATTERY

Paul

I tried to post a picture of the car but it would not let me for some unknown reason. I will try again later.

Marc
Marc Hanson

ps Putting that 8th overall in context - that was out of over 300 entrants. The third in class was unlucky. First in Appleyard's class actually won the rally outright and second in class was third outright! Appleyard came in with c900 penalties. The winner had c500. The much trumpeted Class win for the Magnettes was achieved with 2,500 penalties! The similarly lauded Pat Moss won the Coupe De Dames in a works TF with c 1,600 penalties. So Appleyard and the YB did very well indeed.

Interestingly Chambers et al say that due to his success in the TF on the RAC they got Appleyard to enter the Circuit of Ireland shortly after in "the same car" where he also did very well (top 10 finish). I will check if that was in the YB or whether he had moved on to a TF by then.
Marc Hanson

Hi Marc

Email me the picture - it may be because it was oversized and exceeded the limits. If so I can either resize it and send it back to you in the correct size for you to post or I can post it for you. Just let me know your preference when you send it over. Email link attached to this post.

Paul
Paul Barrow

The Revs Institute at Stamford University is indeed a great location for research The Library is actually in Florida on the west coast at Naples. It is part of the Colliers Bros Motor Museum which also incorporates the Briggs Cunningham Collection. A great day out if you are in the area.

I have been using this resource for a number of years to obtain photos of my ex Works 1961 Class winning Sebring MGA Deluxe Coupe.

All of George Phillips and Marcus Chambers photos are on this site.

I found the attached photo of HRX 766 and also a couple of photos of HMO 909 on the 1953 RAC Rally

the link to HRX 766 is https://purl.stamford.edu/qq783pt3337

and to HMO 909 https://purl.stamford.edu/fy552ym6495

George took quite a few photos of my Sebring for Autosport Magazine as attached.

cheers
Ian


Ian Prior

The Picture of the Sebring didn't load
so here it is.

cheers
Ian

Ian Prior

Love the Sebring. DK Engineering have a sister car for sale at the moment. For a ridiculously high price. Hope yours is properly insured..
Marc Hanson

Here is a photo of Appleyard's triumphant YB

Marc Hanson

Appleyard did in fact compete in the Circuit of Ireland a few weeks later in a TF 1500. He (with his wife) came 4th out of 180. Pretty credible but beaten by the better (in most respects apart from looks) TR2.
Marc Hanson

This thread was discussed between 26/11/2017 and 28/11/2017

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