“Safety Fast!”
It was the marketing slogan for the 1931 MG M-Type, and while it had four-wheel brakes for safety, it was by no means fast for its time.
So, when the late Frank Widdup got his hands on one, he started taking the “safety” out of the car and focusing more on the “fast”, by stripping it down to its bare bones with a view to turning it into a beach racer.
He bought the car in 1955, in good working order, initially as a cheap runabout for work and trips to town.
His son, Pat, of Palmerston North, said his father pulled the car to pieces a few years later, threw the doors and outer shell of the car in the local dump, and left the remaining chassis, engine, gearbox and wheels under his house.
“And that’s where it stayed until after he died in 2001.”
As a memorial to his dad, Mr Widdup decided to restore it back to its original design.
While it was relatively straightforward putting the chassis, engine and gearbox back together, there was no longer an outer body or doors to put back on the car.
So, Mr Widdup put his coach-building skills to work by building a replica body out of oak and aluminium.
While it was mostly a labour of love, it cost him about $80,000 to complete.
But it was worth it, he said.
“It’s a 3-speed crash gearbox, with a bulk standard 850cc four-cylinder engine, producing a massive 27 horsepower,” he joked.
“But it runs good on 100 octane. It’ll do 65 miles an hour — that’s pushing it pretty hard.
“You wouldn’t want to be going too much faster than that anyway, with an open top like this.”
He said he and wife Lynette took the car on frequent weekend drives around Palmerston North.
And if Lynette stayed at home, he said there was just enough room to fit two small grandchildren in the car with him.
“They love it. There’s not much space, though.”
The car was one of more than 60 in Dunedin’s Octagon yesterday, as part of the 2026 MG National Rally.
It is the first time in more than a decade the rally has come to Dunedin.
Hosted by the MG Car Club Otago-Southland centre, the week-long celebration of the British brand will now tour to Invercargill, before finishing in Cromwell this Saturday.