Car of the Month: Bryce Gliddon’s 1957 MG COUPE

by Murray Stanley

Bryce Gliddon turned an absolute basket-case MGA Coupe into a thing of beauty. He purchased the vehicle back in 1983 from an elderly gentleman in Torbay Auckland, who had found it languishing in a paddock in Kaukapakapa. The old chap had done little with the car, and it had no engine, the doors had been removed, and there was rust in the body. While that might be a reasonably common condition at the start of a major restoration, this car had also originally been left-hand drive. It had been converted, somewhat roughly, to right-hand drive and sported a crude non-standard dashboard made from a roughly hewn piece of rimu.

This was not going to be an easy restoration, and you have to admire anyone tackling such a task. Not only did Bryce want the car restored, but he also wanted to do as much as possible himself. Good with his hands and a quick learner, Bryce was capable of doing all but the hardest tasks himself. The first assistance required was with the panel beating. Thankfully a friend and local panel beater, Graeme Bell, got Bryce started with that, and he was soon up and running on his own.

The only major problems occurred when he tried to line up the front guards with the doors and, in turn, the doors with the rear guards. Look at the pictures (later in this article), and you will see that he got it right! Painting the body was a daunting prospect, and Bryce didn’t make it easy when he decided to swap the original Old English White paint job for a glossy black finish. Friend, and fellow MG enthusiast Brian Grace, put his skills to good use, and together they painted the car in Bryce’s garage. While all the body restoration was in progress, so too was the restoration of the engine. Originally fitted with the ubiquitous BMC 1500cc ‘B’ series engine, the car

now sports the 1800cc version of the same power plant. Work done to the engine includes a full balance; a ported head; extractor exhaust; a “fast road “ camshaft (as opposed to “full-race”); a lightened flywheel; and a 45 DCOE Webber sidedraught carburettor. This all contributes to reliability rather than outright speed - although the car can still get along at a fast pace. The gearbox was replaced with a Ford Sierra 5-speed unit; the shocks have been uprated to heavy-duty performance, and a front anti-roll bar has been added. The original 1957 drum brakes were changed to genuine 1962 MGA 1600 discs. The pressed steel wheels have gone and were replaced with some second-hand MGC 72-spoke competition wire wheels. However, due to difficulties eliminating vibrations at high speed, these were also replaced by period-style minilite alloy centre-lock wheels. It was at an MG event that Bryce got chatting with a member of the public, as you do. “I used to visit a schoolmate during the holidays,” the visitor said, “ and we used to thrash around a paddock in Kaukapakapa in one of these - an Old English white coloured one.” It’s amazing who you bump into, isn’t it? Bryce had, by then, also found out that the car had been brought into New Zealand in 1962 and started its time here in Christchurch. Having been left-hand

drive, it could possibly have been imported by one of the American servicemen attached to Operation Deep Freeze. The MG has had an interesting history since its restoration. Bryce and Marion have toured extensively in it throughout the North and South Islands. But it has not been molly-coddled. Instead, it has been driven enthusiastically on both the road and in competition, as befits the MG “Safety Fast” slogan. Interestingly, the MGA design has a racing pedigree in that it was originally conceived by MG Chief Designer Syd Enever as a streamlined body for the company’s entry into the Le Mans 24-hour race in the mid-1950s. Bryce began circuit racing in 1998, starting with intermarque Sprints at Manfield and Taupo, together with a few motorkhanas thrown in for good measure. He also took part in the first-ever Castrol Charity Classic (plus many more) at Manfield. Since then, Bryce had run the car in the Leisuretime/tracer series at Taupo and appeared in several Whittaker’s MG classic events in Manfield. And if that’s not enough, he has also enjoyed numerous sealed hill climbs around the North Island.

The most recent event that Bryce has competed in was this year’s 5-day VCC Targa NZ Time trial. The event started in New Plymouth and finished in Havelock North, covering distances of 760 Km in special stages and 1,241 Km of touring stages, making a total of 2,000kms. The car performed exceptionally well without any mechanical issues due to Bryce’s meticulous preparation for the event. The emphasis has always been on enjoyment, and Bryce (and Marion) do get maximum pleasure from their immaculate car.

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