The Car Challenge

[STEVE G]

Yes MG. I am a bit surprised nobody picked this up before. The Mark is a British icon to this day!

That's the problem Nereus, the earlier ones were never anything like affordable to the average man in the UK, anything pre-1950's were way too costly. I did have a 1972 Midget for a while in the eighties.

[Nereus]

Yes MG. I am a bit surprised nobody picked this up before. The Mark is a British icon to this day!

That's the problem Nereus, the earlier ones were never anything like affordable to the average man in the UK, anything pre-1950's were way too costly. I did have a 1972 Midget for a while in the eighties.

I have no idea what the average wage was in 1932, or how it relates to today's values, but this from one of the clubs tends to say otherwise:

http://www.mgownersclub.co.uk/mg-j1-midget.html

The J series of MG Midgets was to be a refinement of the C and D Type forerunners, announced in 1932 at the Motor Show a whole new series of cars made their debut. The J1 was offered with 4 seater open or closed bodywork and the J2 was strictly a two seater sports and the racing variants, the J3 and J4 although launched to the public, were not to go into production until early 1933. The J2 was very well received by the motoring public and was soon to become one of the classic sports cars of the era, it was within reach of many enthusiasts, sensibly priced at £199 10s it gave outstanding performance and value for money. The J1 was sold for £220 with a Salonette version at £255.

[Frank Hovis]

1930's UK average annual salary was around 200 pounds.
An MX5 is a mass produced equivalent today at about 20,000 pounds but todays average annual salary is somewhere around 35K making the MG look expensive or the MX5 look cheap. A Lotus Elise S at 37K is maybe a better comparison at roughly the same price:salary ratio as the MG.

[Dannie Boy]

1930's UK average annual salary was around 200 pounds.
An MX5 is a mass produced equivalent today at about 20,000 pounds but todays average annual salary is somewhere around 35K making the MG look expensive or the MX5 look cheap. A Lotus Elise S at 37K is maybe a better comparison at roughly the same price:salary ratio as the MG.

By comparison to car prices, houses were very cheap - here is an extract from an article on the web -

85% of new houses sold for less than £750 (£45,000 in today’s money). Terraced houses in the London area could be bought for £395 in the mid-1930s when average earnings were about £165 per year.

So it looks as though this type of car was about half the price of a terraced home - Compare that to today and you can multiply the car price by at least 5-6 times the cost of a terraced house in London.

[STEVE G]

I have no idea what the average wage was in 1932, or how it relates to today's values, but this from one of the clubs tends to say otherwise:

I didn't make myself clear, my point was that in the early eighties, when I first started driving, a pre-50's MG was way beyond my price range.

[BrownWendy]

I agree !!! Now a days it becomes too easy to afford a car..Most of the leading brands of Automobile launch their master pieces at very low price.

[Dannie Boy]

Ok car fans, let's get this thread going with a proper posting - what's this unusual beauty?

[PeteC]

A Sunbeam?

[Dannie Boy]

A Sunbeam?

Afraid not, but not too far off the mark!!

[lindosfan1]

Triumph but not sure which model

[dtaai-maai]

A Triumph? Blimey, what makes you think that?

[Dannie Boy]

Triumph but not sure which model

So tell me more!!

[STEVE G]

I don't know what it it is but Triumph Heralds used to have that crossed flags logo on the rear wing.

[Dannie Boy]

I don't know what it it is but Triumph Heralds used to have that crossed flags logo on the rear wing.

Both you and lidosfan are on the right track. I must admit that I had never come across this model before, so I will give another opportunity for somebody to identify what it is, before giving the answer.

[dtaai-maai]

It's left-hand drive and with a license plate that I can't make out - were there many Triumphs manufactured in Europe? It certainly has a (continental) European look to it.