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332The ex-works, Samuelson/Kindell,Le Mans 24 Hours1930 MG M-Type Midget ‘DoubleTwelve’ Le Mans SportsRegistration no. RX 6796Chassis no. 2M 1647Engine no. 1403 A1Samuelson and Kindell at the ‘weigh in’, Le Mans, 19302Samuelson during the Le Mans 24hr race, 1930This car is one of two specially built by MG at Abingdon for the 1930Le Mans 24 Hours race. Based on the ‘Double Twelve’ M-TypeMidget, it is reputed to be the earliest ‘works’ racing MG in existenceand is featured in most books on the marque.With the introduction of the M-Type Midget at the 1928 OlympiaMotor Show, Cecil Kimber had single-handedly created the marketfor small, cheap sports cars. Selling for £175, Kimber’s new babywas based on the contemporary Morris Minor and featured pretty,boat-tailed, fabric coachwork by Carbodies. The 847cc, overheadcamshaft,four-cylinder engine derived from Wolseley aero engineexperience via the Wolseley Ten, and mated to this little gem of apower unit was a three-speed ‘crash’ gearbox. Produced initiallyat Cowley, the Midget proved to be a strong seller and productiontransferred to Abingdon when the MG factory moved there in theautumn of 1929. M-Types were awarded the Team Prize in the1930 ‘Double Twelve’ 24-hour race at Brooklands, and this successprovided a welcome boost to sales, which amounted to 3,253 carsby the time production ceased in 1933.Capitalising on its Brooklands success, MG produced 30 DoubleTwelve Replicas, which featured many of the modifications madeto the team cars including altered bodywork and deeper doorcutaways, while the racer’s different valve timing found its way onto theproduction M-Type for 1931.172 | Goodwood festival of speed