Hi All,
This is a very beautiful and rare car, the 1938 MG TA2962 "TA Special"! I met Craig Cootsona (car owner and builder) on March 5, 2022 at Griot's Garage in Tacoma, WA. He was so kindly telling the detail story about this beautiful car. He is an amazing person!
@gregcdchannel7312
Craig wrote the history of this car, please see below:
MG TA2962 came off the production line as a rolling chassis on 29 November 1938. MG shipped it to Salmons & Sons, who fitted it with a special 3-position drop head Tickford body, serial number 4449, as one of 320 MG TA Tickfords originally built. The car returned to MG on 12 December 1938 for finishing.
The first owner was a Mr. Haycock of Bournemouth, England who registered it on 2 January 1939. We next heard of the car in 1971 in the USA. Ronnie Solik owned and stored it at Rick’s Autobody Medfield, Mass. By 1974 Ken Spencer, of Littleton, MA owned the car. At some point prior to his ownership the car lost some parts including some of the Tickford body, so he began to gather replacements. When Ken located a TA Tickford in much better condition, he finished his notebook entry stating “that old TA2962 is about to become the parts car it always was destined to be!” In 1977 he sold the car to Dave Osborne, of Rhode Island.
In 1979 Bob Grunau, of Mississauga, Ontario, bought it as a rolling chassis with only some of its original Tickford body bits, and began collecting more parts to complete the car with a Tickford body again. However, the original engine, gearbox, differential gears, and many other parts were long lost by this point. The car returned to the US in 2013 when he sold it to Bob Seymour in NH. Bob salvaged all remaining Tickford body parts for an MG TB project.
On 6 June 2014 Craig Cootsona of Tacoma, WA purchased the TA2962 rolling chassis with mostly leftover parts. Over the course of the next 6 years, Craig transformed the rolling chassis into a working machine. On 23 August 2020, after sitting derelict for at least half a century, a new chapter began when TA2962 finally completed its first test drive.
“Special” denotes a car fitted with a non-standard body. Because TA 2962 lost its first custom body and so many other critical parts through its history, it seemed appropriate to fit a special body. Craftsmen in the UK fabricated the current lightweight aluminum alloy racing body using dimensions from an original 1934 MG Q-type race car, kindly supplied by Steve Baker. This pointed tail “skimpy” racing body provided significant weight savings to improve performance. The addition of a Roelofs Raceservice crossflow cylinder head and Volumex Supercharger further increased power to weight ratio. Craig replaced the remaining missing parts of the car using parts from vintage MGs, period correct vintage parts, or custom-made parts where necessary. The build required over 1800 hours of time in Craig’s garage, not including research. He thoroughly enjoyed the build process as much as he enjoys driving the car.
Specification Overview:
• Chassis No. TA2962
• Coachwork: Salmons & Sons (Tickford), then Max Szewczyk at MJS Panels (lightweight body)
• Production: 1 of only 320 TA chassis to receive a Tickford body from new (1st body lost through history)
• Engine: 1328cc MG XPAG Inline 4-cylinder, crossflow head, Volumex supercharger
• Power: (Est) 110 bhp
• Transmission: Wilson pre-selector 4-speed
• Suspension: Live axles with semi-elliptical leaf springs and bronze rear trunnions.
• Brakes: 12” hydraulically operated drums on dual circuits
Please visit Craig's page:
RU-vid: / ccootsona
Facebook: / craig.cootsona
Camera: iPhone 11 Pro MAX
Music: Smoke Jacket Blues & Smokey's Lounge by TrackTribe
Location: www.griotsgarage.com/
#MG #MorrisGarages #MGcar #MGTA #Britishcar #Racecar #GregCD #GregCDChannel #Griots #GriotsGarage #Tacoma #Seattle #mobilantik #mobilkuno #kuno #British #Policecar #mobilkeren #keren #Tickford #CraigCootsona #MGracecar #Sportcar #fastcar #orangindonesiadiamerika #orangindonesiadiluarnegri #orangindo
11 мар 2022
