THE FULL WORKS

The short-lived MGC suffered a poor reputation as a driver's car. The racing GTS suggests it could have been so much greater, as Richard Meaden discovers

- Richard Meaden

For a glorious spell during the 1960s, the British Motor Corporation enjoyed an exceptional period of overseas motorsport success. Fuelled by the desire to promote export sales in the USA and Europe and facilitated by a talented team of engineers and drivers, the BMC Competitions Department was a force to be reckoned with on the international race and rally scenes.

While the giant-slaying antics of the Monte-winning Mini-Cooper S came to define the Competitions Department's efforts in the eyes of the wider public, the Abingdon-based outfit fielded a raft of impressive and versatile machinery. They ranged from the aptly named 'Big Healeys', which revelled in rallying and long-distance road races, to numerous MGs that also proved adept at circuit and stage driving. Even the unlikely Austin 1800 saloon got the Abingdon treatment to compete in the gruelling London-Sydney Marathon.

Among the most appealing - not to mention last - of the cars built by the Competitions Department cars was the Lightweight MGC GTS. The car you're admiring is the first of only two cars built, chassis number ADO 52/1060, but affectionately nicknamed Mabel on account of its registration number, MBL 546E.

Between 1967 and 1969 Mabel raced successfully in four blue riband endurance races, scoring some deeply impressive results in the hands of some of the quickest and most celebrated drivers of the period. MBL's first outing was on the 1967 Targa Florio, where somewhat confusingly it was entered as an MG GTS (the S standing for 'Special', not Sebring, as is commonly suggested; also hence the 'missing' C from the tailgate badge) and ran with a special 2004cc four-cylinder B-series engine and the flat MGB bonnet. The reason? Because the six-cylinder MGC road car was still secret at that time.