HELD BY THE MG Car Club at Silverstone on the 4th, 5th and 6th June, MG Live was a two-fold celebration marking the club’s 80th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of the MGCC’s annual Silverstone pilgrimage.

    Yes, we attended the event on the first day, the Friday, but no, given the double anniversary we were not expecting it to be so quiet. Was it the half-term effect, the baking hot temperatures, or the high ticket £20 ticket price? Surprisingly, Friday was the cheapest day, with other days rising to £25.

    Having said that, the event – which was advertised as the world’s largest gathering of MGs – did boast a whole raft of attractions. Live action, both on and off the track, auto-tests, concours, driving demonstrations, rally rides, flying displays, social events and a large traders’ area. Plus a craft and clothing stalls and even a farmers’ market.

    Silverstone has of course changed, but whilst F1 is undoubtedly benefiting, the same cannot be said of the circuit’s atmosphere. Yes, it may be Britain’s longest serving race venue and one of the oldest continually used GP circuits, but there is very little atmosphere generated by all the grey steel circuit infrastructure.

    So what caught our eye at MG Live? Well, when we were there – between just before 11am and 3pm – there was little going on and, for once, my wallet escaped being punished at the trade area because there wasn’t anything to tempt me. Perhaps many of the traders were in transit, because the trade area, like the track action, was rather light.

    Car-wise, it was far more interesting – but some of the anorak-twitching cars did not come with an MG badge on them. Which ones did? Well, the much trumpeted ‘first official preview of the new MG6’ was pre-empted when we stumbled across one of the cars parked at the rear of the paddock. So we had a quick butcher’s and well, it looks as sexy as a big block of cheese – more GM than MG... There really is nothing that you can point at on this car which instantly says MG.

    Now I have to come clean here, because over the years I have been to many many MG shows and consequently have seen most of it before. However that still didn’t stop me spotting a few rarities with my octagonal eyes.

    I feel that the T Register XPAG Specials display really should have been given a lot more prominence, because their line up of XPAG-engined specials – featuring names such as Lester, Drague and Cooper – was really impressive and injected the event with a breath of fresh air. It also provided everyone with a reminder that before the advent of the Coventry-Climax, MG’s XPAG/XPJG push-rod was the engine of choice for builders of tubular-chassis racing specials. Okay, it wasn’t as impressive as the pre-war OHC engines, but it was affordable, plentiful and very tuneable.

    Whilst we’re talking XPAGs, in the main MGCC marquee there was another beautiful product from Harry Lester’s Monkey Stable. Originally the team’s spare car, OWA 61, saw a lot of action in the Fifties and has recently been superbly restored by Mike Cross.

    Talking of which, behind the main marquee was an already numerous and impressive display of gorgeous Triple-M cars. Built during MG’s heyday, these gorgeous overhead-cam screamers – many supercharged with an inch of their lives – really are beautiful little engineering jewels. This line up of Midgets, Magnas and Magnettes also kept testing my memories as I strained to recall the difference between C and J-type, F and L-type. Here, I could have wasted hours just staring and gawping at these cracking little cars.

    Hopefully, MG Live really took off over the Saturday and Sunday – with more traders, more visitors and more cars. I was just shocked to see only a handful of Spridgets, so perhaps I really should get the old girl back on the road PDQ!