Colorado English Motoring Conclave Part 1: Rarities and Curiosities on 2, 3 and 4 wheels

When we drove through the entrance to the 2021 Colorado English Motoring Conclave we saw a line of motorcycles, a reminder of a time when Nortons, BSAs and Triumphs shared the roads with Harleys, Indians and even a few BMWs, before most Americans had heard that BMW also made cars, and at least half a decade before the first Honda motorbikes appeared in Los Angeles.  

The red Vincent above is part of that era.  Vincent HRD made its last motorcycle in 1955, but   decades later its legend was polished by Richard Thompson with his popular 1991 ballad, "1952 Vincent Black Lighting", and more recently, a documentary film on Rollie Free (now there's a name) and his Bonneville speed record attempts on a Black LIghtning.  There were all kinds of BSAs and Triumphs and Nortons on view as well...

We may not have found anything on two wheels as rare as that red Vincent, but we followed this 1925 Rolls Royce Twenty onto the grounds at Oak Park in Arvada, Colorado. It's a genuinely rare car nowadays, and a reminder that there may always be something like an England...

The Twenty, named for its taxable horsepower, was introduced in 1922 and powered by a 3.1 liter inline six. Four-wheel drum brakes with servo assist were the big innovation the year this car was built.  Aimed at "owner-drivers" who wanted something smaller than the SIlver Ghost, the Twenty gained a reputation as a doctor's favorite, and was made in over 2,900 copies before being superseded by the 20/25 during 1929.  Though "copies" may be a misleading term, as all R-R Twenties featured bespoke bodywork by a variety of England's custom coachbuilders...

The event brought dozens of MG enthusiasts onto the field, where they had a field day. Jeff  Brock's 1933 L-Type was the oldest MG we could find out there, but not by much.  The L-Type may surprise Americans conditioned by models TC, TD, TF and A to think of the MG as a small four-cylinder car with robust but simple mechanicals. Yes, the L-Type is small, with a 1,087 cc engine aimed at competing in the 1,100 cc class.  But that engine is an inline six cylinder with single overhead cam and crossflow head, derived from the Wolseley Hornet also offered by Morris Motors.  In original basic form this engine produced 41 hp at a high (for the period) 5,500 rpm.  In supercharged form as used in the K3 model, this engine developed nearly 3 times the power…

The design is an example of the "separate & distinct elements" school of thought that prevailed before streamlining and teardrop fender forms drifted across the English Channel from the Continent.  Cycle fenders, flat external gas tank with polished spare tire mount, and red and black paint scheme accentuate the effect...

Bill Bollendonk's 1935 MG KN also derives its power from a version of the same single overhead cam inline six, this time the bigger N-Type with 1,271 cc.  This version is supercharged, and the car participated in the Colorado Grand*, a thousand-mile rally run each summer on scenic Western Colorado roads.

As with the L-Type, the body design is a composition of distinct and separate elements.  The fin-shaped exhaust outlet was a feature of serious road racers in the Twenties and Thirties.

Over in Triumphland, we found Dale Will's 1936 Gloria Southern Cross model, the first we'd encountered, and a sports version of the Gloria saloon. The Gloria was offered in 4 and 6-cylinder versions, with engines Triumph built under license from Coventry Climax, featuring overhead inlet valves and side exhausts. The big six was just under two liters; this example is powered by an inline four of just under 1.8 liters.  The four had a shorter wheelbase than the six, but is a bit wider and longer than the MG T-Type.

The design of the Southern Cross anticipated the styling of the MG TD in a way, representing a sort of smoothing out of Twenties proportions into a something more like mid-Thirties (by conservative British standards) design.  In the case of MG, though, that change occurred a decade and a half later...

By then, Triumph had been absorbed into the Standard Triumph combine, and had offered the 1800 Roadster (1946-'48) and 2000 Roadster late in 1949. It was the last production car offered with a dickey seat (called a rumble seat Stateside), where a few examples of the roughly 4,500 Roadsters were sold.  Engine was  a version of the inline four Standard had offered to Jaguar pre-WW2, with Harry Weslake-designed overhead-valve heads.

The wide cabin with bench seating for 3 forced use of a column shifter.  On the 1800, this was a 4-speed, while standardization of Standard Vanguard parts (excuse the pun) meant the 2000 had to make do with 3 speeds.  Triumph fans in the Mother Country complained about the change of direction from sporty Southern Cross to sedate tourer, as shown by the newer car's chubbier lines and leisurely performance (about 27 seconds to 60).  They would be reassured by the arrival of the TR2 in 1953.  Nowadays, though, the Roadster is a charming reminder of an era before consumer clinics and computers designed cars.  Note the way the top portion of the 2-piece deck lid can be used as a windshield for rear passengers...

Morgan Cars introduced its first 4-wheeler in 1936.  Powered initially by a 1.1 liter Coventry Climax inline four that made it a natural competitor to the just-introduced MG TA, it was called a 4/4 because it had 4 wheels and 4 cylinders, 33% more wheels and twice as many cylinders compared with the Morgan Super Sports trikes that had preceded it.  By 1953, when the last of the "flat radiator" Morgans of the style shown below was built, the +4 model shared something with the Triumph Roadster above, that being the Standard Vanguard engine.

We did mention curiosities on 3 wheels as well as 2 or 4, and we weren't kidding.  The  green Morgan below seems to be one of the species of 3-wheelers that Morgan phased out when they ushered in 4-wheeled motoring. Actually, though, it's a 2017 model. Morgan introduced its 21st century 3-Wheeler* in 2011 to celebrate the firm's centenary.  Concessions to the new century include roll bars, disc brakes, and a high-torque, 2-liter V-twin built by S & S.  As with Morgan trikes of old, the engine sits well ahead of the front axle, where it can be used as a bumper when needed...

If there was a more unique car on the field than those Thirties MGs and the 21st century Morgan trike, it was this MG EX186* belonging to Joe and Cathy Gunderson of Littleton, Colorado. It's the only one ever built, and was smuggled out of Britain by conspiring MG engineers in a shipping container marked "Parts" in the late Fifties when British Motor Company brass decided to cancel the racing and speed record programs that gave this car its Twin Cam engine, and Stirling Moss a bunch of speed records.  San Francisco MG dealer Kjell Qvale saved the car, and may have even driven it.  Decades later, after saving EX186 from dusty oblivion and restoring it, Joe and Cathy asked Qvale about his experience with EX186.  All he would say is, "I know nothing about this car." 

Cathy Gunderson mentioned that when she encountered legendary racers Denise McCluggage and Sir Stirling Moss at a car show, Denise had asked Moss whether he thought the paint color on EX186 was a little odd.  Sir Stirling, who had set a record at over 245 mph in the metallic green, mid-engined MG EX181 at Bonneville in 1957, stepped back from the car and said, "No, this is exactly the color."  Both drivers then signed the racing helmet displayed below.  We can be sure that helmet, like EX186, is the only one of its kind...

*Footnote:  We chronicled the most recent running of the Colorado Grand in "Summertime Dream" (September 26, 2021). Morgan's design swings between traditional and modern are the subject of "Morgan Goes Modern…Almost" (June 9, 2021). This essay also tells a bit more about the revived Morgan trike, and the stillborn electric version. The stranger-than-fiction MG EX 186 story is told in "MG EX 186 at Colorado Conclave of British Cars" (October 14, 2017).

Photo Credits:  All photos are by the author.