Description
This is lot number 568 in the Bonhams Beaulieu Sale on September 14th, please see the Bonhams website for full details.
Delivered new to Northern Ireland
Present ownership since the late 1960s
Fourth J2 of the production line, and second oldest surviving
Fitted with a 1, 172cc Ford sidevalve engine
Wolseley Hornet hydraulic brakes
OHC Morris Minor engine included
First registered on 22nd August 1932, this J2 was the fourth off the production line and was sent to Victor Ltd in Belfast. It is assumed that '2004' was their demonstrator, as later J2s were sold by Victor's on earlier numbers than the '781' on the 'CZ' number plate.
According to the original paperwork, the MG had quite a few faults, requiring replacement parts to be sent from MG. On 9thApril 1937, MG replied to a letter from a Mr S J Phillips of Belfast regarding repeated failures of the crown-wheel-and-bevel-pinion. MG suggested this was due to using non-MG parts, and on the 10th April they sent a malleable iron nosepiece to Mr Phillips. The last paperwork is an invoice to a Mr Tedesdale of Chorlton, Manchester dated 12th August 1938 for carrying out a major service. Nothing else is known about the car's history in Ireland, but our vendor's family has seen a photograph (since lost) of two ladies who rallied it. The MG later returned permanently to mainland UK and was registered on 6th January 1947.
Nothing else is known about the car until Steve Wall bought it in the late 1960s from a man living at Stockhearn Nursery, Woodgate near Chichester on the A29 London road. The J2 was roadworthy, and the deal was that the owner kept the engine for another car. This engine was not the original ('512A') but a later MG engine. Steve took the 1, 172cc sidevalve engine out of his Ford Popular and put it in the J2, which had been fitted with Wolseley Hornet hydraulic brakes (still installed).
'CZ 781' was one of several vehicles Steve owned, and what with marriage, home extensions, raising children, other life events, etc, etc the car was not used much and was going to be his retirement project. The Wall family believe the time is right for the J2 to go to someone who can do the car the justice it deserves, and to sell it from Steve Wall's beloved Beaulieu Autojumble, which he visited every year for over 40 years.
Offered for restoration and sold strictly as viewed, the car comes with a V5C document; copies of the factory ledger entries; paperwork from MG Club archives; Instruction Manual for the MG Midget (J Series) issued by the MG Car Company; MG Cars 1929-1934 by Brooklands Books; A Practical Guide to the Restoration of the 'J' type (1932-1934) MG Midget by G Howell; and MG Road Cars Vol. 1 4 Cylinder OHC 1929-1936 by Malcolm Green. Also included in the sale is a 1930s Morris Minor overhead-camshaft engine, a gearbox, and a quantity of other spares (full list available).
