MG P
Encyclopedia
The MG P-type was produced by the MG
MG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
Car company from 1934 to 1936. This 2-door sports car used an updated version of the overhead camshaft
Overhead camshaft
Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...
, crossflow engine, used in the 1928 Morris Minor
Morris Motor Company
The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984 when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin marque...
and Wolseley
Wolseley Motor Company
The Wolseley Motor Company was a British automobile manufacturer founded in 1901. After 1935 it was incorporated into larger companies but the Wolseley name remained as an upmarket marque until 1975.-History:...
10 and previously fitted in the J-type Midget of 1932 to 1934, driving the rear wheels through a four-speed non-synchromesh gearbox. The chassis was a strengthened and slightly longer version of that used in the J-type with suspension by half elliptic springs all round with rigid front and rear axles. Steering was initially by a Marles Weller and later a Bishop Cam system. The two-seat car had a wheelbase of 87 inches (2210 mm) and a track of 42 inches (1067 mm). Most cars were open two seaters but streamlined Airline coupé bodies were also made. The P-type was also available as a four-seater; a car that suffered from a lack of power and poor rear ground clearance. Whereas J, K
MG K-Type
The MG K-type Magnette was produced by the MG Car company from October 1932 to 1934.Launched at the 1932 London Motor Show, the K-Type replaced the F-Type Magna but having at first a slightly smaller capacity engine it took the name Magnette...
and L-type
MG L-Type
The MG L-type was produced by the MG Car company in 1933 and 1934.This 2 door sports car used a smaller version of the 6 cylinder overhead camshaft, crossflow engine which now had a capacity of 1086 cc with a bore of 57 mm and stroke of 71 mm and produced at 5500 rpm. It was...
MGs differentiated between versions with the use of numbers, with 1 indicating a four seater (i.e., J1) and 2 a two-seater (i.e., J2), this was not the case with the P-type (or its six-cylinder sister, the N-type Magnette
MG N-Type
The MG N-type Magnette was produced by the MG Car company from October 1934 to 1936. The car was developed from the K-Type and L-Type but had a new chassis that broke away in design from the simple ladder type used on the earlier cars of the 1930s being wider at the rear than the front and with the...
), and there is no clue to the type in the name.
The first version, the PA used an 847 cc engine similar to the one on the J-Type, but now with a 3-bearing crankshaft, larger camshaft and twin SU carburettors. It produced 36 bhp at 5,500 rpm.
The PB produced from 1935 had a bigger 939 cc engine made by enlarging the bore from 57 to 60 mm and this increased the output to 43 bhp. Externally the versions are very similar, the main difference being the radiator grille, where the PA has a honeycomb and the PB has vertical slats. The other obvious difference is in the design and material of the standard dashboard.
Two thousand of the PA and 526 of the PB were produced. In 1935 a PA open two-seater cost £222.