MGs, the Mini and Me by Dudley Pike.
MGs, The Mini and Me by Dudley Pike.
"Working
on a production line can be tedious and boring, and you would need to take
breaks in order to maintain your focus and concentration."
It
had been a family tradition to work for MG. Pike's father and two brothers were
well-established before Pike served his apprenticeship in Abington. He spent 45
years in the motor industry with many interesting tales included in this book.
"I
didn't have a particularly privileged childhood." Travelling around the world with
the rally circuit compensated for an uneventful childhood, with plenty of
celebrations, champagne parties and glamorous women waiting to fulfil a young
man pumped with testosterone. We are presented with glimpses of his personal
life, from school to marriage, chaotic, marked by infidelity and marital
breakups.
He
reminisces over the camaraderie of the past, explaining how bad weather in 1947
caused extreme havoc and chaos with flooding. People were much closer and they
made their own entertainment unlike today when they expect it to be provided
for them.
"I
hated school with a passion."
He's in good company. There were a few exceptions though, his English teacher
was one mentioned. The class would sit silently "enthralled and hanging off his every word." He indicates
his admiration for his maths' teacher although he suffered from Little Man Syndrome. He admired the
music teacher with her "stunning
figure." It seems that everyone was infatuated with her. We also hear
about her sexual antics with the P.E. teacher in the school garden shed. This
excited a young Pike who had never seen a naked woman before.
There
were signs when he was 14 of his delight in exploring the female body. He
refers to Irene as one of his conquests: "I
delighted in exploring her body and ample curves." It was April 1958
when he left school and started working with the MG car company. He was given a
good grounding into the company starting with the Goods Inwards Department. Then he moved to the MG front line where
he learnt about working on the production line. He spent three months in the
trim line department, moving onto the MGB assembly line.
The
apprenticeship lasted 5 years because of the intricacy of the work within all
of the departments. His first task was to file a metal block followed by making
different tools which had to be "exact,
precise and perfect." The Nuts
and Bolts Department was described
as being a "complete and utter
nightmare." One month seemed like hell.
MG
was not a modern factory by today's standards-production lines were not
automated so each operator had to push the car to the next stage of completion.
Pike worked for 6 months in the Tool Room
and he enjoyed this experience. For those of you mechanically minded, you'll
understand the work of the Production
Lines. This is where Pike learnt to assemble a car. Six/seven months of
heaven.
He
worked alongside his mentor Eddie Burnell, a month of training of production
road tests. "His driving ability
shone out above the rest." The author felt that this training was "quite a cushy and relaxing
number." Burnell became chief road tester for any track testing that
the Competitions Department (or the
company) were involved in.
A
six month stint in the Service Department
involved stripping engines and rebuilding them. It was deemed "more practical, efficient and
cheap" to rebuild an engine rather than replace it. How times have
changed. The technical content was described as being extremely high and
complex. On one occasion his mentor had warned him to be careful. Pike missed
the nut and smashed a mallet into the wing of the car. As expected, he got a "huge bollocking" and a
warning from the foreman:"If I ever
made the same mistake again that meant that I was a lousy mechanic and I would
find it nigh on impossible to find employment as one."
All
the apprentices dreamt of ending up in the Competitions
Department where they would prepare rally cars for BMC and later, British
Leyland: the Mini Cooper S, the Austin Healey 3000 and the MGB. Pike spent six
months here. He helped Brian Moylan, the longest serving mechanic at the
factory to build a car for the Monte
Carlo Rally. It was one of the minis that was going to be used as a recce
(a car used for practice) for The Tulip
Rally. The car completed the recce without incident.
Two
years later Pike joined another department. In the Drawing Office he “drew and
designed the rear tail light plinth for the MGA Mark III.” Once fully trained, he worked in the Show Department for three months before
moving onto the Competitions Department working
on rally and race cars with a starting salary of £1,200 plus overtime. It took
Pike six weeks to build a recce car for the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally. There was wonderful publicity with several
drivers and staff appearing on “Sunday
Night at the London Palladium.” The Alpine Rally was one of Pike’s
favourite events from Marseille through the Alps and back. A 100% finish was
good news. Winning the manufacturer’s prize although it was a disappointing result
for Rauno, Timo and the Morley brothers.
The
1960 Monte Carlo proved more
problematic. The Minis were competing against Porsches, the Lotus Cortina.
Stories in the French press suggested that the British team had cheated so they
were disqualified. The Sun newspaper sponsored the 1966 RAC Rally. Two formula 1 drivers were recruited: Jim Clark and
Graham Hill. There are further accounts of the San Remo Rally in 1967 and it was here that Pike built an event car
that Paddy Hopkirk would drive. During 1967 there were many rallies: the Tulip Rally, the Acropolis Rally and the
Austrian Rally.
In
the 1968 Monte Carlo Rally competition
was stiff, yet again. The Minis had to compete with the Porsches and the
Renault Alpine. If conditions were dry it favoured these cars. The British team
preferred it cold or wet. Consequently, Timo’s car suffered overheating but
overall, we are told the result was fantastic. Rauno came third, Tony
twenty-fourth and Paddy fifth.
1968
was the East African Safari Rally
covering Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in four weeks. Brands Hatch was Pike’s first race meeting followed by Silverstone and Mallory Park. 1970 saw the World
Cup Rally Experience London to Mexico. Andrew Cowan drove the car that Pike
had prepared. It was an 8 week event covering 16,000 miles. He had won the London to Sydney Marathon in 1968. Bobby
Moore started the rally at Wembley Stadium, then it was onto Munich, Vienna,
Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia ending in Lisbon. Then the cars were shipped to Rio
de Janeiro. An illegal entry into Uruguay proved a costly expense for Pike and
Tommy. 2,000 dollars was handed over to release them from prison. Pike appeared
on tv and was asked if his arrest had been drugs-related (possessing cannabis).
“I
was obviously the celebrity of the night and I was flooded with offers of
marriage, autographs and young ladies wanting to celebrate the night with me.”
Publisher: Create Space (with assistance from
Word Play Publishing Ltd.)
ISBN: 978-150778516
Copyright 2016. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.
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