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This Is The Only MG EX234 Prototype Roadster Ever Made

This is the original MG EX234 prototype roadster – the car that had been designed to replace both the MGB and the MG Midget. Just a single example of the EX234 was built, it’s now an interesting historic “what if.”

The EX234 was an advanced design for the mid-1960s, it has four-wheel independent Hydrolastic suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and according to period test drive reports, was one of the finest handling cars in its class.

Fast Facts – The MG EX234 Prototype Roadster

The MG EX234 prototype was developed to replace the two most important MGs then in production – the MGB and the MG Midget.
The chassis engineering was done in England, the platform was then sent to Pininfarina in Italy for a new body design to be fitted.
The MG EX234 was fitted with all independent double wishbone suspension, front and rear disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, and an elegant Italian roadster body. It was completed in 1965.
Ultimately the sales of the MGB and MG Midget were so strong, particularly in the United States, that the executives believed that the cost of putting the EX234 into production couldn’t be justified.

The MGB And The MG Midget

The popularity of the MGB and the MG Midget in the 1960s is difficult to overstate. Many of the examples we see nowadays are tired and worn out after being driven enthusiastically by their owners for 40+ years, but if you can find and drive a good one their popularity immediately makes a lot of sense.

This is a page from a period MGB brochure. Interestingly the MGB was the first unibody car from the company and it included a front crumple zone for safety.

The MGB was introduced in 1962 as a replacement for the MGA, it had unibody construction, handsome styling, good handling (by the standards of the time), and perhaps most importantly, it was affordable to almost everyone. In a way the MGB was the OG Mazda Miata.

In its early development the MGB had been intended to have independent front and rear suspension and a compact V4 engine. These ideas both had to be scrapped to save time and development costs, and as a result the car entered production with a live axle rear end and a 1.8 liter B-Series inline-four cylinder engine.

The MG Midget MkI was introduced in 1961, it was smaller than the MGB with a smaller, less-powerful engine, and an even lower MSRP that was essentially a badge-engineered version of the MkII Austin-Healey Sprite.

The name “Midget” had been used on previous small MGs so it made a lot of sense to bring it back, and given the diminutive size of the car it suited it perfectly. The Austin-Healey Spite that the Midget was based on had been released originally as a small, cheap sports car that “a chap could keep in his bike shed.”

The Development Of The MG EX234

Both the MGB and the MG Midget were proving to be strong sellers in the US market in the mid-1960s. They offered affordable motoring thrills and British sports car styling, a very different experience than the locally-produced sports cars available in America at the time.

The MG Midget was a notably smaller car than the MGB, similar in size and power to the Mini.

Rather than resting on their laurels the British Motor Corporation set a team of engineers to work to develop an all-new sports car that would be sized between the MGB and the Midget, offer updated styling, and ride on a more advanced platform.

A new independent front and rear suspension system was designed for the car that had double wishbones on all four corners, the rear drivetrain elements of the Austin Gipsy, and the advanced Hydrolastic system developed by British engineer Alex Moulton.

It was originally planned to offer the EX234 in at least two trim levels, with one more inline with the Midget and another more inline with the MGB. The EX234 was developed to a specification closest to the Midget, and as such it was given the 1,275cc A-Series engine and gearbox.

The rolling chassis was sent off to Pininfarina in Italy who clothed it in a new body, the design took some cues from the MGB but with a far more Italian flavor – not dissimilar to the Fiat 124 Sport Spider. That would come a year or so later (also from Pininfarina).

The EX234 was powered by the 1,275cc A-Series engine, the same engine used in many other small British cars of the time including the Midget and the Mini.

Once back in Britain the completed car was sent off for a full gamut of testing, and the results were excellent. In David Knowles’ book, MG The Untold Story he relates the following:

“Roy Brocklehurst took the EX234 prototype to Silverstone where, according to Jim Stimson, it was driven by a few trusted experts… including John Surtees. Roy said that they told him that they thought the roadholding was as good as any car they had driven.”

Project Cancellation

In the end, despite the incredible promise it had shown, the MG EX234 was never approved for production. The MGB and Midget kept selling just as fast as BMC could build them, in the end over 500,000 examples of the MGB would be built and sold.

Due to this popularity it was decided to shelve the EX234, and it would remain on the shelf for years until it was no longer relevant for production.

MG would later update the MGB with the straight-six MGC version, a Rover V8-powered MGB was introduced in the 1970s, and amazingly the model was brought back into production in the early 1990s as the MG RV8.

The MG EX234 Prototype Roadster – For Sale

The MG EX234 prototype roadster has been in private ownership now for a number of years and it most recently sold at Goodwood in mid-2016 for £63,100, approximately $74,600 USD.

It’s now due to cross the auction block once again, now with a price guide of £80,000 – £120,000 or $94,600 – $142,000 USD.

If you’d like to see more or register to bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

The post This Is The Only MG EX234 Prototype Roadster Ever Made appeared first on Silodrome.

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For Sale: A Modified 1969 Porsche 911 Flat-Six

This is a modified version of the 1969 Porsche 911T engine, it now has a displacement of 2.5 liters (up from the original 2.0 liters), it’s fitted with twin triple-throat Weber carburetors, and a programmable 123ignition distributor.

The air-cooled Porsche 911 flat-six is undeniably one of the most beloved engines of the 20th century. It was first introduced in the Porsche 901 at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show, however this car was quickly renamed “911” after French automaker Peugeot pointed out that they owned the French trademark for car model names consisting of three numbers with a “0” in the middle.

Development on the Porsche 911 started in 1959, it was conceived as an all-new car destined to replace the Porsche 356 – the company’s first production car that had debuted in 1948 just three years after WWII.

Above Video: This episode of Jay Leno’s Garage discusses the Porsche 911T, specifically the 1971 model that was released three years after the car that the engine featured in this article was fitted to.

The Porsche 911 had been designed to be larger, more powerful, and faster than its predecessor – thanks in no small part to the new Type 745 flat-six engine that was mounted in the rear.

The Type 745 was an air-cooled boxer engine with six-cylinders laid out with three per side, it had an aluminum block and heads, a single overhead cam per bank, two-valves per cylinder, and it had a displacement of 1,991cc or 2.0 liters.

Engine output did vary somewhat depending on which year and subvariant the car was, 130 bhp up to 148 bhp was available initially, with approximately 140 ft lbs of torque. In 1967 the Porsche 911S was released with an updated engine now producing 180 bhp and 144 ft lbs of torque.

The engine is fitted with twin triple-throat Weber carburetors, a popular period upgrade to boost power.

The air-cooled 911 engine would be continually upgraded and expanded over its lengthy production run that extended well into the 1990s. Over the years Porsche owners found a myriad ways of increasing power, and the aftermarket tuning parts industry is still booming.

The engine you see here was originally fitted to a 1969 Porsche 911T, it was rebuilt to 2.5 liters and now includes replacement heads, oil pump, upper valve covers, bearings, piston rings, it has revised camshafts, and twin triple-throat Weber carburetors.

It’s now being offered for sale on Bring A Trailer out of Hickory, North Carolina. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Bring A Trailer

The post For Sale: A Modified 1969 Porsche 911 Flat-Six appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/porsche-911-flat-six-engine/
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Gas Monkey Garage Are Selling Their Rare 1986 Zimmer Quicksilver

This is an original 1986 Zimmer Quicksilver, it’s currently part of the Gas Monkey Garage collection and they’re now offering it for sale on Bring A Trailer.

The Zimmer Quicksilver is an unusual car even by American custom car standards. It started out as a Pontiac Fiero which was cut and extended by 16 inches, then some new body panels were fitted.

Fast Facts – The Zimmer Quicksilver

The Zimmer Quicksilver was one of the unusual creations of the Zimmer Corporation, an American company that built a variety of custom cars from the late 1970s onwards.
Zimmer was founded in 1978 by Paul Zimmer in Syracuse, New York to build what he described as ” the most beautiful new-classic automobiles in the world.”
The company’s first car was the Zimmer Golden Spirit, it was based on the contemporary Ford Mustang but featured a slew of changes including a wheelbase extension, an all new front end, a modified rear, and a highly modified interior.
The Zimmer Quicksilver was the company’s second production car, it was based on the Pontiac Fiero with a stretched chassis, a custom body, and an uprated interior.

The Zimmer Motorcars Corporation

As the story goes, the Zimmer Motorcars Corporation was founded in 1978 after Paul Zimmer sat down in a restaurant with his son Bob Zimmer, and drew a design for a new new-classic car on a napkin.

A variety of Zimmer Golden Spirit models where offered, including an unusual four-door convertible.

The father and son duo formed the company with Paul Zimmer acting as Chairman and President, and Bob Zimmer being a significant shareholder and running day to day operations.

The company’s first car would be the Zimmer Golden Spirit (pictured above), it was a visually arresting new-classic automobile based on the Ford Mustang with styling reminiscent of America’s great luxury automobiles of the 1930s.

Despite the high cost the Golden Spirit proved successful and at the company’s peak in the 1980s it employed 175 people and had annual revenues of $25 million USD.

In 1984 the Zimmer Quicksilver was released and both cars were built side by side until 1988 when financial problems resulted in the company falling into bankruptcy.

This wasn’t to be the end of Zimmer automobile production however, in 1996 a man named Art Zimmer learned of the company and the cars and decided to bring it back to life – even though he wasn’t related to the founding Zimmer family.

The neo-classic styling of the Zimmer Golden Spirit has been dividing opinion since it was first released in the late 1970s.

The company brought back a modern version of the Zimmer Golden Spirit and produced approximately 8-12 of them each year. The company closed down a few years ago and hasn’t yet been revived by a new owner – but it may just be a matter of time.

The Zimmer Quicksilver

In 1984 the Zimmer Quicksilver was released as the company’s second production model after the Golden Spirit. The Quicksilver was considerably smaller and less expensive, though no less opulent on the inside.

Each Quicksilver started life as a Pontiac Fiero, the car was then cut and extended 16 inches before being welded back together and having a new body added over the top. The interior was significantly modified with leather and wood accents, and most cars were fitted with chrome spoked wheels ands whitewall tires.

No engine modifications were made to the cars, they were developed as personal luxury cars rather than sports cars, with the design work done by former General Motors designer Don “D.A.” Johnson. The price of a new Quicksilver was $52,000 USD, a hefty price increase over the Fiero’s $7,679 starting price.

With a starting price of $52,000 USD in 1984 money the Quicksilver was a costly car, more than some Ferraris of the time.

Despite the cost the company sold 175 Quicksilvers between 1984 and 1988 and the surviving examples are now becoming quite collectible.

The 1986 Zimmer Quicksilver Shown Here

The Zimmer Quicksilver you see here is currently part of the Gas Monkey Garage collection and it’s being offered for sale on Bring A Trailer out of Dallas, Texas.

This Quicksilver was delivered new to the Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo dealership of Portland, Oregon and it’s said to have remained with its first owner for decades before it was acquired by Gas Monkey Garage in early 2020.

The car has less than 500 miles on the odometer and it’s powered by the original mid-mounted Fiero 2.8 liter V6 mated with a 3-speed automatic transaxle.

It’s finished in white over red leather upholstery and features chrome bumpers, dual-exit exhausts, pop-up headlights, 14″ chrome wire wheels, wood interior trim, mouton carpets, cruise control, air conditioning, and a Delco AM/FM/cassette stereo.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can visit the listing here.