Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Clutch. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Clutch. Sort by date Show all posts

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Clutch

Clutch (pronounced kluhch)

(1) To seize with or as with the hands or claws; snatch.

(2) To grip or hold tightly or firmly.

(3) In slang, to spellbind; grip a person's emotions, attention, or interest; to become tense with fright or panic (both archaic and rare outside US).

(4) To operate the clutch in a vehicle.

(5) The hand, claw, etc when grasping.

(6) Power of disposal or control; mastery (usually in the plural).

(7) The act of clutching; a snatch or grasp; a tight grip or hold.

(8) A device for gripping something.

(9) In automotive and other machinery, a mechanism for readily engaging or disengaging a shaft with or from another shaft or rotating part (a specialized form of coupling); a control, usually a pedal, for operating this mechanism.

(10) In sports, an extremely important or crucial moment of a game (rare outside US).

(11) Any critical position or situation; emergency (rare outside US).

(12) A small purse that can be carried in the hand and usually has no handle or strap (also called clutch bag).

(13) In poultry production, a hatch of eggs; the number of eggs produced or incubated at one time; a brood of chickens.

(14) One of several collective nouns for books or dancers.

1175–1225: A variant of (the now Northern English dialectal) cletch, from the Middle English clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen & cleken, a variant of clicchen, from the Old English clyccan (bring together, bend (the fingers), clench), akin to the Scots cleck (to hatch) from the Old Norse klekja (to hatch) and related to the Old Frisian kletsie (spear) & the Swedish klyka (clasp, fork).  It was cognate with the Irish glac (hand).  The origins of the English verb were Germanic, the source the Proto-Germanic klukjaną, from the Proto-Germanic klu- (to ball up, conglomerate, amass), from the primitive Indo-European glew- (to ball up; lump, mass).  It was cognate with the Swedish klyka (clamp, fork, branch). The noun is from Middle English cleche, cloche, & cloke (claw, talon, hand), related to the Scots cleuk, cluke & cluik (claw, talon), of uncertain origin, with the form probably assimilated to the verb.

The meaning "to grasp" is early fourteenth century; that of "to seize with the claws or clutches" from later that century.  The sense of "hold tightly and close" is from circa 1600, influenced by the Middle English cloke (a claw) whereas "a brood, the number of eggs incubated at any one time" (in reference to chickens) dates from 1721 and is a (southern England) dialectal variant of cletch (1690s), noun from the verb cleck which is from the 1400s Middle English clekken (to hatch, give birth to), most likely from a Scandinavian source such as the Old Norse klekja (to hatch), perhaps of imitative origin in the same way as cluck.  The original meaning (a grip, grasp, tight hold) dates from circa 1200, the form clutches (in the sense of “the hands" suggesting grasping rapacity or cruelty) not emerging until the 1520s.  A product of the industrial revolution, the mechanical clutch (movable mechanical coupling or locking and unlocking contrivance for transmitting motion) is from 1814 with the "seizing" sense extended to "a coupling device for bringing working parts together".  Originally applied to the static machines in mills, it was first used to describe the transmissions (as the coupling between crankshaft and gearbox) in 1899.  The now rare meaning "moment when heroics are required" is attested from the 1920s but never gained currency outside the US

The clutch purse

One’s eye is always drawn to a nice clutch purse.  Salma Hayek with Alexander McQueen skull clutch, Evening Standard Theatre Awards, London, November 2015.

The modern definition of a “clutch” is a handbag without handles but with a detachable (sometimes a chain) strap and (usually) rectangular in shape.  Most often an evening bag, they can be used during the day, the most defining characteristics being they’re slim and primarily hand-held.  Bags and purses predate pockets and the clutch bag seems to have been a very early solution to the problem of carrying small, high-value possessions.  Evidence survives in the historic record in paintings and tapestries but few examples remain extant because almost all were made from perishable materials, a seven-hundred year old relic on display at London’s Courtauld Gallery the oldest known to exist.

Lindsay Lohan with Carmen Steffens evening clutch, annual amfAR fundraiser at the Cannes Film Festival, Hotel Eden Roc in Cap D’Antibes, May 2017.

In many parts of the world, clutch bags never went away but in the west, the increasing emancipation in the nineteenth century meant bags became larger and the clutch all but disappeared.   It was the resurgence of classical style dresses in the 1920s which led to its revival because it was an ideal accessory for the diaphanous flapper dresses of the era, a style which didn’t detract from the line of the body.  They’ve not since faded from popularity and are now an essential fashion accessory, performing also the socially invaluable function of giving the hands something to do. Because clutch purses so often tend to the rectangular in all aspects, they’re often styled using the motifs associated with the art deco era of the early-mid twentieth century and most designers seem to favor the elaborate, decorative styles of the earlier (pre 1929 Wall Street crash) art deco.  Given the small size of a clutch purse, this can be a challenge to implement but so can the more simplified plays of flattened and stylized geometric shapes or abstract patterns.

Cadillac, Ferrari and the clutch pedal

Although not all early Ferraris were so equipped and by 1976 the 400 GT was even offered with an automatic transmission (General Motors’ famously robust Turbo-Hydramatic 400), the open-gate shift was for decades a motif associated with the marque.  However, advances in hydraulics and electronics meant that by the early twenty-first century, the inefficiencies and technical disadvantages attached to automatic transmissions had been overcome to the point where no Ferrari with a manual transmission, however expertly driven, could match their performance.

Using automatic transmissions meant a clutch pedal was no longer necessary but it didn’t mean clutches were deleted; instead they were automated.  Scuderia Ferrari first used the technology in the Tipo 640 Formula One car in 1989 and any doubts about its speed or reliability were quickly allayed, the machine winning at its maiden appearance in the Brazilian Grand Prix.  Development continued and in 1997, the automated system, dubbed F1, was offered as an option in the F355, the first road car so equipped, the electro-hydraulic system operated by paddles behind the steering wheel linked to the F355's otherwise conventional 6-speed manual transmission.

It certainly started a trend and paddles quickly become almost a de rigueur piece of technology for high-performance cars, the occasional old style, three-pedal model released only to cater for the dwindling number of drivers who enjoyed the experience of the way things used to be done.  In Ferrari dealerships, the numbers dwindled fast and the last Ferrari with a manual transmission left the factory late in 2011, the replacement a dual-clutch transmission (also called twin-clutch or double-clutch) which used two separate clutches for odd and even gear sets.  The two separate transmissions had their respective clutches contained in one housing and worked as a single unit.  The model which enjoyed the distinction of providing a swansong for the old open gate was the California.  Upon release in 2008 it was estimated between 5-10% of buyers would opt for a clutch pedal but, between then and late 2011, a mere three were ordered (some sources say two or five but the factory insists it was three).

2012 Ferrari California (top) and 2012 Cadillac CTS-V sedan.

So the last decade at Maranello has been automatic (technically “automated manual transmission”) all the way and although a consequence of the quest for ultimate performance, it wasn’t anything dictatorial and had customer demand existed at a sustainable level, the factory would have continued to supply manual transmissions.  Amusingly, Cadillac had in 2004 begun offering a model with a manual transmission for the first time since the 1953 Series 75 (among the Cadillac crowd the Cimarron (1982-1988) is never spoken of except in the phrase "the unpleasantness of 1982" ) and by 2013, while one could buy a Cadillac with a clutch pedal, one could not buy such a Ferrari.  For most of the second half of the twentieth century, few would have thought that anything but improbable or unthinkable.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Gate

Gate (pronunced geyt)

(1) A movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.

(2) An opening permitting passage through an enclosure.

(3) A tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park etc.

(4) Any means of access or entrance.

(5) A mountain pass.

(6) Any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.

(7) A sliding barrier for regulating the passage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.

(8) In skiing, an obstacle in a slalom race, consisting of two upright poles anchored in the snow a certain distance apart.

(9) The total number of persons who pay for admission to an athletic contest, a performance, an exhibition or the total revenue from such admissions.

(10) In cell biology, a temporary channel in a cell membrane through which substances diffuse into or out of a cell; in flow cytometry, a line separating particle type-clusters on two-dimensional dot plots.

(11) A sash or frame for a saw or gang of saws.

(12) In metallurgy, (1) a channel or opening in a mold through which molten metal is poured into the mold cavity (also called ingate) or (2), the waste metal left in such a channel after hardening; (written also as geat and git).

(13) In electronics, a signal that makes an electronic circuit operative or inoperative either for a certain time interval or until another signal is received, also called logic gate; a circuit with one output that is activated only by certain combinations of two or more inputs.

(14) In historic British university use, to punish by confining to the college grounds (largely archaic).

(15) In Scots and northern English use, a habitual manner or way of acting (largely archaic).

(16) A path (largely archaic but endures in historic references).

(17) As a suffix (-gate), a combining form extracted from Watergate, occurring as the final element in journalistic coinages, usually nonce words, that name scandals resulting from concealed crime or other alleged improprieties in government or business.

(18) In cricket, the gap between a batsman's bat and pad, used usually as “bowled through the gate”.

(19) In computing and electronics, a logical pathway made up of switches which turn on or off; the controlling terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

(20) In airport or seaport design, a (usually numerically differentiated) passageway or assembly point with a physical door or gate through which passengers embark or disembark.

(21) In a lock tumbler, the opening for the stump of the bolt to pass through or into.

(22) In pre-digital cinematography, a mechanism, in a film camera and projector, that holds each frame momentarily stationary behind the aperture.

(23) A tally mark consisting of four vertical bars crossed by a diagonal, representing a count of five.

Pre 900:  From the Middle English gate, gat, ȝate & ȝeat, from the Old English gæt, gat & ġeat (a gate, door), from the Proto-Germanic gatą (hole, opening).  It was cognate with the Low German and Dutch gat (hole or breach), the Low German Gatt, gat & Gööt, the Old Norse gata (path) and was related to the Old High German gazza (road, street).  Yate was a dialectical form which was an alternative spelling until the seventeenth century; the plural is gates.  Many European languages picked up variations of the Old Norse to describe both paths and what is now understood as a gate.  The Old English geat (plural geatu) was used to mean "gate, door, opening, passage, hinged framework barrier", as was Proto-Germanic gatan, and the Dutch gat; in Modern German, it emerged as gasse meaning “street”; the Finnish katu, and the Lettish gatua (street) are Germanic loan-words.  Interestingly, scholars trace the ultimate source as the Primitive European ǵed (to defecate).

The meaning "money from selling tickets" dates from 1896, a contraction of 1820’s gate-money.  The first reference to uninvited gate-crashers is from 1927 and gated community appears in 1989; that was Emerald Bay, Laguna Beach, California although conceptually similar defensive structures had for millennia been built in many places.

G Gordon Liddy (1930–2021) was the CREEP lawyer convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate Affair.  Receiving a twenty-year sentence, he served over four, paroled after President Carter commuted the term to eight years.  He was one of the great characters of the affair.

The practice of using -gate as a suffix appended to a word to indicate a "scandal involving," is a use abstracted from Watergate, the building complex in Washington DC, which, in 1972, housed the national headquarters of the Democratic Party.  On 17 June, it was burgled by operatives found later to be associated with President Nixon’s Campaign to Re-elect the President committee (CREEP).  Since Watergate, there have been at least dozens of –gates.

Notable Post-Watergate Gates

Billygate: In 1980, US President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy, was found to have represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent.  Cynics noted that, unlike his brother, Billy at least had a foreign policy.

Crooked Hillary Clinton has provided the lexicon many "-gates".  A marvelous linguistic coincidence gave us Whitewatergate, a confusing package of real estate deals later found technically to be lawful and Futuregate was a reference to some still inexplicable (and profitable) dabbles in her name in the futures markets.  Servergate was the mail server affair which featured mutually contradictory defenses to various allegations, the Benghazi affair and more.  There was also a minor matter but one which remains emblematic of character.  Crooked Hillary Clinton, after years of fudging, was forced to admit she “misspoke” when claiming that to avoid sniper-fire, she and her entourage “…just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base” when landing at a Bosnian airport in 1996.  She admitted she “misspoke” only after a video was released of her walking down the airplane’s stairs to be greeted by a little girl who presented her with a bouquet of flowers.  Even her admission was constructed with weasel words: “…if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement”.  That seemed to clear things up and the matter is now recorded in the long history of crooked Hillary Clinton's untruthfulness as Snipergate.  Most bizarre was Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that circulated during the 2016 US presidential campaign, sparked by WikiLeaks publishing a tranche of emails from within the Democrat Party machine.  According to some, encoded in the text of the emails was a series of messages between highly-placed members of the party who were involved in a pedophile ring, even detailing crooked Hillary Clinton’s part in the ritualistic sexual abuse of children in the basement of a certain pizzeria in Washington DC.  Among the Hillarygates, pizzagate was unusual in that she was innocent of every allegation made; not even the pizzeria's basement existed.

Closetgate: References the controversy following the 2005 South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", a parody of the Church of Scientology in which the Scientologist film star Tom Cruise refuses to come out of a closet.  Not discouraged by the threat of writs, South Park later featured an episode in which the actor worked in a confectionery factory packing fudge. 

Grangegate: In Australia in 2014, while giving evidence to the ICAC, former NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell forget he’d been given a Aus$3,000 bottle of Penfolds Grange (which he drank).  He felt compelled to resign.

Perhaps counterintuitively, there seems never to have been a Lindsaygate or LohangateIn that sense, Lindsay Lohan may be said to have lived a scandal-free life.

Irangate: Sometimes called contragate, this was the big scandal of President Ronald Reagan’s second term (1985-1989).  As a back channel operation, the administration had sold weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran and diverted the profits to fund the Contra rebels opposing the Sandinista government of Nicaragua.  Congress had earlier cut the funding.

Nipplegate: Sometimes called boobgate, this was a reaction to singer Janet Jackson’s description of what happened at the conclusion of her 2004 Superbowl performance as a “wardrobe malfunction”.  In Europe, they just didn't get what all the fuss was about.

Monicagate: The most celebrated scandal of President Bill Clinton’s (b 1946; US President 1993-2001) second term.  Named after White House intern Monica Lewinsky (b 1973), with whom the president “…did not have sexual relations…”.

1973 Pontiac Trans-Am SD 455.

Dieselgate: In 2015, Volkswagen was caught cheating on emissions tests used to certify for sale some eleven-million VW diesel vehicles by programming them to enable emissions controls during testing, but not during real-world driving.  Manufacturers had been known to do this.  In 1973 Pontiac tried to certify their 455 Super Duty  engine with a not dissimilar trick but the EPA weren’t fooled which is why the production 455SD was rated at 290 horsepower rather than 310.  Later, other manufacturers in the Fourth Reich turned out to be just as guilty and, in that handy phrase from German historiography "they all knew".  Including the fines thus far levied, legal fees and the costs associated with product recalls, the affair is estimated so far to have cost VW some US$27 billion but the full accounting won't be complete for some time.  Other German manufacturers were also affected but Daimler (maker of Mercedes-Benz) avoided a penalty by snitching on the others. 

In Australia, Utegate was a 2009 campaign run by opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and his then henchman, Senator Eric Abetz, which accused prime-minister Kevin Rudd of receiving a backhander from a car dealer, the matters in question revolving around an old and battered ute (pick-up).  Based on fake evidence from Treasury official Godwin Grech, it led to the (first) downfall of Turnbull.  Abetz went on to bigger things but Turnbull neither forgot nor forgave, sacking Abetz during his second coming (which started well but ended badly).

The first Nutellagate arose at Columbia University early in 2013 with allegations of organized, large-scale theft by students of the Nutella provided in the dining halls. Apparently students, unable to resist the temptation of the newly available nutty spread, were (1) consuming vast quantities, (2) pilfering it using containers secreted in back-packs and (3) actually purloining entire jars from the tables.

In the spirit of the investigative journalism which ultimately brought down President Nixon, the Columbia Daily Spectator, breaking the story, reported that, based on a leak from their deep throat in the catering department, the crime was costing some US$5,000 per week, the hungry students said ravenously to be munching their way through around 100 pounds (37 or 45 KG (deep throat not specific whether the losses were weighed on the avoirdupois or troy scale)) of Nutella every seven days.  The newspaper noted the heist was on such a scale that, unless addressed, the cost to the university would be US$250,000 a year, enough to buy seven jars for every undergraduate student.

The national media picked up the story noting, apart from the criminality, there were concerns about the relationship between the wastage of food, excessively expensive student services, the exorbitant cost of tuition fees and a rampant consumer culture.  It seemed a minor moral panic might ensue until the student newspaper (now a blog) deconstructed the Spectator’s numbers and worked out the caterers must be paying 70% more for Nutella than that quoted by local wholesalers, casting some doubt on the matter.  The university authorities responded within days, issuing a press release headed “Nutellagate Exposed: It's a Smear!"  Their audit revealed that the accounting system had booked US$2,500 against Nutella purchases in the first week of term but that was the usual practice when stocking inventory and that consumption was around the budgeted US$450 in subsequent weeks.  Deep throat lost face and was discredited.

Nutellagate II broke in 2017 when a consumer protection organization released a report noting the recipe had, without warning, been changed, the spread now having more sugar and milk powder but less cocoa and, as a result, was now of a lighter hue.  Ferrero’s crisis-management operative responded on twitter, tweeting “our recipe underwent a fine-tuning and continues to deliver the Nutella fans know and love with high quality ingredients,”… adding “…sugar, like other ingredients, can be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.”

#Nutellagate soon trended and users expressed displeasure, many invoking the memory of New Coke or the IBM PS/2, two other products which appeared also to try to fix something not broken.  The twitterstorm soon subsided, the speculation being that, because it contained more sugar, consumers would become more addicted and soon forget the fuss.  So it proved, sales remaining strong.  Nutella though remains controversial because of the sugar content and the use of palm oil, a product harvested from vast monocultural plantations and associated with social and environmental damage.  Ferrero has now and again suggested they may be ceasing production but the user base has proved resistant although, recent movements in the hazelnut price may test the elasticity of demand.

Open-Gate Ferraris

The much admired but now almost extinct open-gate shifters were originally purely functional.  At a time when more primitive transmissions and shifter assemblies were built with linkages and cables which operated with much less precision than would come later, the open-gates served as a guidance mechanism, making the throws more uniform and ensuring the correct movement of the controlling lever.  Improvements in design actually made open-gates redundant decades ago but they'd become so associated with cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis that they'd become part of the expectations of many buyers and it wasn't hard to persuade the engineers to persist, even though the things had descended to be matters purely of style.  A gimmick they may have become but, cut from stainless steel and often secured with exposed screw-heads, they were among the coolest of nostalgia pieces.  

Reality eventually bit when modern, fast electronics meant automatic transmissions both shifted faster and were programmed always to change ratios at the optimal point and no driver however skilled could match that combination.  Once essential to quick, clear shifts, by the late 1990s, the open-gate had actually become a hindrance to the process and while there were a few who still relished the clicky, tactile experience, such folk were slowly dying off and with sales in rapid decline, manufacturers became increasingly unwilling to indulge them with what had become a low-volume, unprofitable option.  

Not all the Ferraris with manual gearboxes used the open-gate fitting, some of the grand-touring cars using concealing leather boots but both are now relics, the factory recently retiring the manual gearbox because of a lack of demand.  The 599 GTB Fiorano was made between 2006-2012 and included the option but of the 3200-odd made, only 30 buyers specified the manual.  That run of 30 was however mass-production compared with the California (2009-2014) which was both the first Ferrari equipped with a dual-clutch transmission and the last to offer a manual, ending the tradition of open gate-shifters which stretched back 65 years.  Testing the market, a six-speed manual option had been added to the hard-top convertible in 2010 and the market spoke, the factory dropping it from the order sheet in 2012 after selling just two cars in three years.  The rarity has however created collectables; on the rare occasions an open gate 599 or California is offered at auction, they attract quite a premium.

1965 250 LM

1967 330 GTC

1968 275 GTS/4 NART Spyder

1969 365 GTC

1972 365 GTB/4

1988 Testarossa

1991 Mondial-T Cabriolet

1994 348 Spider

2011 599 GTB Fiorano

2012 California


Sunday, January 2, 2022

Rigger

Rigger (pronounced rig-er)

(1) A person who rigs.

(2) A person whose occupation is the fitting of the rigging of ships.

(3) A person who works with hoisting tackle, cranes, scaffolding etc (the protective or supporting structures on or around construction sites).

(4) A mechanic skilled in the assembly, adjustment, and alignment of aircraft control surfaces, wings, and the like (eg parachute rigger); a person skilled in the use of pulleys, lifting gear, cranes etc.

In rowing, rowing a bracket on a racing shell or other boat to support a projecting rowlock or other fixed fulcrum.

(6) In digital animation, one whose occupation is to outfit a computer model with controls for animation.

(7) One who rigs or manipulates (an election, a market etc).

(8) A plastic bottle of beer, typically between with a volume between 1.0-2.5 litres (1-2.6 quarts) (New Zealand).

(9) In (usually graphic) art, a long, slender, pointed sable paintbrush for making fine lines etc; said to be so called from its use for drawing the lines of the rigging of ships.

(10) In the role-playing behavior of sadomasochism, a person who applies functional or artistic rope or strap bondage to another person's body.

(11) A cylindrical pulley or drum in machinery.

(11) One whose occupation is to lift and move large and heavy objects (such as industrial machinery) with the help of cables, hoists, and other equipment.

1490s: The construct was rig + -er.  Rig was from the Early Modern English rygge, probably of North Germanic origin and related to the Danish & Norwegian rigge (to bind up; wrap around; rig; equip), the Swedish dialectal rigga (to rig (harness) a horse) and the Faroese rigga (to rig; to equip and fit; to make function”).  The source was perhaps the Proto-Germanic rik- (to bind), from the primitive Indo-European rign- reig-, & reyg- (to bind) or it was related to the Old English wrīhan, wrīohan, wrēohan & wrēon (to bind; wrap up; cover) which are linked also to wry (to cover; clothe; dress; hide).  The late fifteenth century verb rig was originally nautical in the sense of "to fit (a ship) with necessary tackle; to make (a ship) ready for sea" and gained the extended sense of "dress, fit out with, furnish with, provide (with something) emerged in the 1590s; that of "to adjust, put in condition for use, set in working order" is from circa 1625.

The slang meaning "pre-arrange or tamper with results" is attested from 1938, although the noun rig (a trick, swindle, scheme) had been used as early as (1775) and, apparently unrelated was the meaning "sport, banter, ridicule" dating from 1725.  The phrase “to rig the market” was used, firstly in stock exchange c=slang and later more generally to convey the idea very familiar in modern times: "raise or lower prices artificially to one's private advantage".  One use as a verb which faded was that meaning "ransack", from the 1560s.  It’s strange rig & rigger took that long apparently top evolve given rigging was known as a verb meaning "action of fitting (a ship) with ropes” circa 1400 and as a noun meaning "the ropes that work the sails of a ship" from the 1590s.  It may be rig and rigger in this context existed in oral use.  The use in nautical & naval architecture to describe the "distinctive arrangement of sails, masts etc on a ship; the characteristic manner of fitting the masts and rigging to the hull of any vessel," without regard to the hull is documented from 1769 although a number of sources insist the first use was in 1822, probably because that’s the earliest known reference in Admiralty papers.

Use extended to costumes, and clothing outfits (especially if as a fanciful description) by 1843.  In engineering, it was widely used to describe just about any creation added for some purpose but was by 1831 most associated with horse-drawn vehicles and this was later adopted to refer to trucks, buses etc, a use still common today, especially for large trucks.  In oil extraction, the apparatus used for well-sinking was known as a rig as early as 1875.  Rig was 1570s slang for “a wanton girl or woman" which, although long obsolete had had the odd idiosyncratic revival; it was probably related to the also obsolete use from the same era describing "to play the wanton; to romp about".  As a noun, a rigger by 1610 was "one who rigs ships", that sense later adopted to describe aircraft mechanics (1912) and those employed on oil rigs (1949).

The –er suffix was from the Middle English –er & -ere, from the Old English -ere, from the Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, thought usually to have been borrowed from Latin –ārius and reinforced by the synonymous but unrelated Old French –or & -eor (the Anglo-Norman variant was -our), from the Latin -(ā)tor, from the primitive Indo-European -tōr.  The –er suffix was added to verbs to create a person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.  If added to a noun it usually denoted an occupation.

Flying Cloud (launched 1851) (1921) drawing by George Robinson, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

“Square-rigged” ships are those with (approximately) square sails rigged onto horizontal spars attached to perpendicular masts, sitting therefore square to the keel.  The spars are known also as yards and their tips, beyond the last point of attachment (or stay) are called yardarms, the part of a rig associated with the phrase “hung (ie hanged) from the yardarm”, in folklore the Admiralty’s preferred means of executing death sentences though practiced less frequently than the legend suggests.  The square-rig formation evolved as the standard ocean-going form because, when sailing downwind, it’s aerodynamically the most efficient shape which survived into the steam age, many of the early steam-ships (including naval vessels) constructed as hybrids which combined powered propulsion with square-rigged sails.  To reduce running costs and carbon emissions, there’s now a renewed interest in using sails (or sail-like structures) on commercial vessels to augment the power from oil-based engines.  Square was from the Middle English square, sqware & squyre, from the Old French esquarre & esquerre, (which persists in modern French as équerre), from the Vulgar Latin exquadra, the construct being ex- (from Middle English, from words borrowed from the Middle French, from the Latin ex (out of, from), from the primitive Indo-European eǵ- & eǵs- (out)).  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek ξ (ex) (out of, from), the Transalpine Gaulish ex- (out), the Old Irish ess- (out), the Old Church Slavonic изъ (izŭ) (out) & the Russian из (iz) (from, out of).  The “x” in “ex-“, sometimes is elided before certain constants, reduced to e- (eg ejaculate)) + quadro, from quadrus (square), from quattuor (four).

The square-rigger MGs

1949 Jaguar XK-120 OTS (Aluminum body).

The “square rigger” sports car was one made in the style which evolved in the 1920s and 1930s, characterized by the upright, angular lines of its many disparate parts, the point of comparison being the classic big ships of the sail age.  The term came into use in the immediate post-war years to differentiate these old-style sports cars from the new, modernist generation, typified by the Jaguar XK-120, which featured lower profiles and curvaceous, flowing lines.  The term is thus often used casually to apply to any sports car of the old, pre-war style.

1958 Citroën DS19 Décapotable Cabriolet d'Usine by Henri Chapron.

In the post-war years, the term “square rigger” came most to be associated with the T series MGs.  Replacing the P series which in two models had run between 1934-1936, the T series was, excluding the war years, in production between 1936 and 1955, the year Citroën introduced the DS which provides a comparison as amusing as the XK-120.  Somewhere during those two decades the cars descended into obsolescence but their attraction lay in their charm and the sheer entertainment they delivered, offering an intimate and tactile experience which belied their miniscule power and performance which was, at least in a straight line, modest when compared even to mundane family cars of the era.   

MG PA Midget (1934-1935, 1973 built)

1934 MG PA Midget.

The P series Midget replaced the rather more exotic J series and although the relationship to previous models was obvious, the P was well-received and thought much improved.  The new overhead camshaft (OHC) 847 cm3 (52 cubic inch) engine attracted particular praise, the revised lubrication and induction system delivering a willing and lively character well suited to a sports car.  Knowing many customers would use them for competition, MG installed a strengthened four-speed gearbox and heavy-duty clutch, drivers assisted in their ability to harness the additional performance by brakes fifty percent larger.  It featured also one of the first safety innovations (a thing that would in coming decades become an accelerating trend), a flat-fold windscreen made from toughened non-discolourable “Triplex safety glass".

1935 MG PA Midget Airline coupé by H W Allingham of London.

The P series was offered in the colors which would come to be associated with the marque (Ulster Green, Dublin Green, Oxford Blue, Cambridge Blue, Carmine Red & Saratoga Red) but the most popular choice remained gloss-black.  The standard factory bodies were the two-seater roadster and four-seat tourer but specialist coachbuilders made available more elaborate drophead coupés (DHC) although the style most memorable was Allingham’s Airline Coupé although, being as expensive as many larger vehicles, few were ordered.  At the time of release, the factory listed the two seater at £220, the four seater an additional £20; the Airline cost £290.

The three 1935 MG PAs of the "Dancing Daughters", Brooklands, 1935, prior to departure for Le Mans.

Unlike many of its predecessors, the factory didn’t envisage a competition programme for the P series but a three-car team was entered in the 1935 24 hour Le Mans race. Remarkably, the drivers were six young ladies, bright young things soon dismissively dubbed "The Dancing Daughters" by the even then nasty British tabloids, the reference being to a popular BBC radio programme of the time (a broadcast of a troupe of teenage tap-dancers, perhaps a challenging concept for radio although, in the studio, the girls were costumed skimpily “to get the atmosphere”).  They attracted much publicity but little success, the cars under-powered for such a circuit.

MG PB Midget (1935-1936, 525 built)

1936 MG PB Midget.

The Le Mans experience in part prompted the more powerful PB which was introduced in 1935, the engine was enlarged to 939 cm3 (57 cubic inch) and a close ratio gearbox was fitted.  There were detail changes too, one of which the consequence of an early example of environmental legislation.  In 1935, fearing an ancient species was under threat, the US government banned the export of Sequoia redwood timber so the PB’s dashboard was instead finished in the more familiar burr walnut.  Very much a transitional model, the PB was available only briefly but its debut depressed interest in the PA to the extent that not even a substantial price was enough of an inducement to buyers so the factory converted the two-dozen odd remaining PAs to PBs, both variants sold for the same £222.  Production of the PB ended in February 1936.

MG TA Midget (1936-1939, 3,003 built)

1937 MG TA Midget.

Corporate restructurings are nothing new and nor is the tyranny of the cost-accountant.  In 1935, the MG Car Company was sold to Morris Motors and in the inevitable agonizing reappraisal which ensued, MG lost its autonomy and became a corporate badge and one expected to deliver a better return on capital: profits had to be higher.  The first sacrifice was the competition department, followed almost immediately by the MG design office and the cancellation of the spirited little OHC engine which had given the PA & PB so much of their sporting character.  It was a harbinger, a rationalization which would spread and over decades drive almost all the UK’s motor industry to extinction.  Under new management, the design imperatives were now profitability, simplicity of production and uniformity in parts to maximize interchangeability between ranges.

1938 MG TA DHC by Tickford.

The purists were thus not hopeful but the T series, released in 1936 was the first in a successful line which would be in production for a dozen-odd years, the run till 1955 interrupted only by six war years during which MG’s industrial capacity was given over to military needs.  The T might not have had the OHC engine but the overhead valve (OHV) pushrod unit which replaced it, although borrowed from a pedestrian little saloon, was a larger 1292 cm3 (79 cubic inch) and generated some 50 horsepower, a useful increase over the 36 & 43 the P series engines had managed and delivered it in a more effortless manner than its smaller predecessors which actually made it more suitable for both the road and in competition.  Longer and wider, the T was much more spacious and the hydraulic brakes were a welcome addition, all for the same £222 as the PB. 

1936 MG TA Midget Airline coupé by H W Allingham of London.

The T series made the Midget suddenly civilized although, as part of the corporate rationalization, factory coachwork was limited to a single two-seat roadster but separate chassis were still supplied to coachbuilders and Tickford (the brand of Salmons and Sons (1830)), produced some two hundred and fifty elegant DHCs with such luxuries as wind-down windows, full carpeting and a clever convertible top which could be closed, partially open or fully thrown back.  The Airline style was reprised by Allingham, Whittingham & Mitchel and Carbodies and although much-admired, being still expensive, only a handful were built.  Despite the misgivings, the T proved a great success and was built until 1939 when it was replaced by the TB which included a new engine which would become one of the most storied in MG’s history: the XPAG.

MG TB Midget (1936, 379 built).

1939 MG TB Midget.

By May 1939, war clouds were gathering over Europe and Finnegans Wake by James Joyce (1882–1941) was published.  Into this strange and uncertain environment, MG released the TB, visually apparently as little changed from the TA as the PB had been from its predecessor but under the louvered bonnet now sat the new XPAG engine which would until 1955 power just about every MG made and provide numerous builders of race cars with a light, robust and tunable power-plant, one which would see some of the specials it powered top 200 mph (320 km/h).  Over the years, extraordinary power outputs were achieved, the tough little engine able to withstand supercharging at pressures which broke many others.  Totally new, although a slightly smaller 1250 cm3 (76 cubic inch), there was now a bigger bore which lent itself to a sportier state of tune but, under the dopey calculation of the time, attracted a higher tax-rate.  With the introduction of the TB, the designation TA was applied to the earlier car which hitherto had been known simply as the T series, the same act of retrospective re-christening which had turned P into PA.  The TB was priced at £225 for the 2 seater and £270 for Tickford’s DHC but there would be no more of the exquisite Airlines. 

1939 MG TB Midget.

The XPAG restored some of the character of the old OHC engine, the bigger bore and shorter stroke delivering the maximum 55 horse power at 5,250 rpm against the 4,500 rpm of the TA, performance generally improved in all aspects and made easier to exploit with the fitting of a new four-speed gearbox which included synchromesh on all but the lowest ratio.  The TB was in production for only a few months before the declaration of war in September; the brochures for the 1940 model-year were actually ready for printing and the range had been announced when production was abruptly halted after 379 TBs had been completed.  Rapidly, the Abingdon factory was cleared of all the machinery of car assembly and devoted for the duration to parts for aircraft, machine guns and the servicing of tanks and trucks.  In hibernation for six years, the TB would return in what would prove to be a new world and it would be called the TC. 

MG TC (1945-1949, 10,001 built).

1947 MG TC.

On both sides of the Atlantic, the cars released in the early post-war years were almost all barely revised versions of those last available before the outbreak of hostilities.  The MG TC, the first of which left Abingdon in 1945 actually was structurally more different from the TB than most of the cars of 1945-1946 were from their predecessors because the passenger compartment had been widened by four inches (100 mm), creating more interior space without the need otherwise to alter the body or chassis.  Other than that and some detail mechanical and electrical upgrades, it was essentially a re-birth of the same basic design as the TA of a decade earlier.  Despite that, just resuming production to the extent of the few dozen examples completed before the end of 1945 was something of an achievement given the chronic shortages of steel and other raw materials or components.

1948 MG TC.

Immediately, it was an outstanding success.  The UK’s new government understood the parlous state of the nation’s finances and extorted the manufacturing sector with the simple mantra “export or die” and MG responded, much early TC production allocated to the export trade.  The volume of sales to the Commonwealth’s southern dominions (Australia, New Zealand & South Africa) had been expected because these had been receptive markets in the pre-war years but what was surprising was the demand from the United States and Canada, triggered it was suspected by the number of returning servicemen who had so enjoyed or at least yearned for the little sports cars during their time in the UK.  Although only 2000 of the 10,001 TCs made went to the US, the interest was enough for the factory to do a run of US-specific models (still all right-hand-drive) and it was the TC which whetted the American appetite for small sports cars and in the 1950s, MG would benefit from what became something of a craze, one which the square-riggers and their successors would for decades exploit.

MG TD (1949-1953, 29,644 built)

1950 MG TD.

The TD was the most popular of the T series and was the car which both established the brand in the US and encouraged others to realize the sports car craze was real and thus a market segment to explore.  From what General Motors initially regarded as the improbable success of the TC and TD, would come first the tentative toe in the water that was the Chevrolet Corvette show-car and later the long line of production cars which, over eight generations, continues to this day.  The TC however was, even before it was discontinued in 1949, a museum-piece, if an entertaining one, and it was clear that for MG further to succeed in the US market would require a more modern interpretation of the sports car.  The budget was limited but the culture of simplicity of production and uniformity in parts to maximize interchangeability between ranges now proved advantageous, a small team allocated to develop a prototype using mostly what fell immediately to hand.  In what was a master-class in improvisation, they shortened by five inches (127 mm) and then stiffened the chassis of a MG YA saloon, grafted on an independent front suspension & rack and pinion steering, made the changes necessary to ensure it could easily be made with either left or right-hand drive and overlaid a (slightly) modernized rendering of the TC’s body.  The design team would have preferred to create something more sophisticated and certainly something which looked more contemporary but, given the constraints under which they worked, the TD was a good result, both as a piece of engineering and, more critically, one that made commercial sense.

1952 MG TD.

Underneath, the changes were transformative and they needed to be.  The TC’s platform was little changed from the cars of the 1930s, themselves just refinements of a decade-old concept and while antiquated even compared to its stop-gap contemporaries of 1945-1949, it looked prehistoric against the new generation models of the early 1950s.  The TD’s saloon-based chassis was hardly innovative but was rigid and well-executed with a modern arrangement for the independent front suspension and a rear-end which accommodated additional travel by sweeping the frame up over the axle instead leaving it underslung.  The XPAG engine differed in being derived from that used in Y type so included its improvements to lubrication and the attached accessories.  The most obvious change was to the body, substantially revised for the first time since 1936 and, while the stylistic legacy was apparent, was considerably wider and thus more spacious.  Structurally, the engineering was carried-over, body panels still mounted on the traditional wooden frame of English ash.

1953 MG TD.

A mix then of old and new as many products are.  Even though not one body-panel was unchanged and the interior fascia was new, the aesthetic was entirely square-rigger with cutaway doors, separate flowing front wings, running boards, stand-alone headlamps and the characteristically upright MG radiator with vertical slats.  As had been the motif since the 1920s, a centrally hinged bonnet, an exposed slab-sided fuel tank and a rear-mounted spare wheel carrier maintained the period-look.  Where modernity's intrusion was unobtrusive, such as the independent front suspension, it was welcomed but some changes attracted criticism from a few.  The sturdy chromium plated bumper-bars added weight which it had be MG’s practice to avoid but reflected the needs of the US market where sales were overwhelmingly in urban areas where owners shared parking spaces with domestic automobiles increasingly equipped with substantial bumpers with something of the quality of the battering ram.  Also controversial were the smaller diameter, pressed-steel disc wheels which replaced that sports-car staple, the TC’s tall, spindly spoked wire-wheels.  It was again the intrusion of the rationalists.  Because different wire-wheels would have had to be made to accommodate the arms and links of the rack and pinion steering, the corporation refused to authorize the design, tooling and production for a part unique to one, low-volume model.  The disc wheels actually offered advantages, being much easier to clean and not as prone to the damage and distortion the wire wheels suffered when used on secondary roads.

1952 MG TD (Eduardo Muñoz) and 1953 Porsche 1500 (Rezende Dos Santos), Vuelta de Aragua Road Circuit, Aragua State in Venezuela, 14 June, 1953.

The TD was much improved but there was a price to be paid.  Weighing some 200 lbs (90 KG) more than the TC while enjoying only the same 54 horsepower, the TD was less lively than its predecessor, something a change in gearing only partially disguised so for those who wished for more, in 1950 the factory made available a "competition" version with a higher compression ratio which delivered 62 horsepower, a useful increase of more than 10%.  Officially, the "competition" TD was sold only in markets where high-octane petrol could be purchased at the pump but dealers entered into arrangements with the factory so those with access to supplies of aviation fuel could enjoy the experience.  However, few had bought TCs for their outright performance numbers and the increasing gulf between the little sports cars and the ever more powerful vehicles which began to surround them seems not to have been sufficient to dampen demand, customers flocking to buy TDs upon its debut in 1949 and over its four-year run, some thirty-thousand would be build, most destined for the US market, sales encouraged somewhat by Sterling in September 1949 being devalued to US$2.80, an adjustment of around a third, correcting the absurd post-war maintenance of the Stg£1=US$4.03 peg set in 1940.

MG TF (1953-1955, 9600 built).

1953 MG TF 1250.

The TF was the last of the square-riggers.  It was also an accident of history, the result of corporate intrigue within the BMC (British Motor Corporation) conglomerate of which MG was one, small part and, even at the time, it was no secret the TF was a stop-gap model there to fill the showrooms with something (sort of) new before the arrival of the much anticipated MGA.  What had happened was the Healey company reached the BMC boardroom with a proposal for the Healey 100 before MG got there to make the case for the MGA and the board, thinking the two too similar to be released at the same time, put the MGA on hold.  It was emblematic of the way business would be done at BMC and the many successor corporations; Healey had pipped MG by several days, history for centuries recording how such luck influences events.  Thus evolved the TF, a just slightly less-square rigger launched into the age of the Citroën DS and Porsche 356; even the Triumph TR2 of the time making cutaway doors look less archaic.  The TD obviously couldn’t be made to look modern and the facelift it gained to bridge the gap between the square riggers and the sleek MGA was a quick job, essentially grafting the streamlining techniques of the 1930s to the once upright front, the headlamps now fared-into the wings, the same expedient Morgan had that same year been forced to adopt when Lucas advised there would no longer produce the separate housings; without the demand from MG, the economics of scale to maintain the product just in the low volume Morgan would absorb, no longer existed.  Mechanically, so little-changed was the TF that it could have be thought the TD Mark II had the appearance not so differed.  Visually refined with a sloping radiator grille that for the first time concealed a separate radiator, the bonnet now sloped forward, something achieved by lowering the radiator housing by three and a half inches (90 mm) in relation to the top of the scuttle, the view from the screen that of a Hurricane compared to the Spitfire-like TD.  The front wings with the now partially integrated headlamps were themselves fared into the bonnet sides in conventional streamlining style while the rear end gained modifications to the fuel tank and spare wheel mounting which resulted in a neater finish.  In a nod to tradition, perhaps to distract from other changes, the revised facia panel re-gained the octagonal instrumentation of the pre-war years, a nostalgic touch very well received, as was the return of the option of wire-wheels. 

1955 MG TF 1500.

The TF in 1953 was released using the faithful 1250 cm3 XPAG engine which dated back to the TB Midget in 1939 and there were many who hoped for and expected more.  Whatever aerodynamic improvement the streamlining had delivered, the TF was still barely able to top 80 mph (130 km/h) while the Triumph TR2 tempted many with the lure of the then rare “ton”: 100 mph (160 km/h).  It was still an appealing drive with fine road-holding and handling but was, by any standards, sluggish.  The factory were well aware of this and discussed exotic solutions such as aluminum components to improve the power to weight ratio but it didn’t take much thought to works out the solution was that the Americans had taught: a bigger engine with more power.  In mid 1954, the TF 1500 was released, using a 1466 cm3 (89 cubic inch), big-bore version of the XPAG, now designated XPEG, power increased to a more useful 63 horsepower.  While it didn’t permit the TF to match the pace of the TR2 or other competition, almost 90 mph (145 km/h) was now possible and the XPEG did stimulate demand, almost all the 3,400 TF 1500s shipped to the US.

MGA (1955-1962, 101,181 built)

MG Factory Competition Team with three MGAs (EX 182), Le Mans, 1955.

The TF was the end of MG’s square-rigger era, the introduction in 1955 of the MGA both long awaited and much overdue.  Neither mechanically nor stylistically was it ground-breaking and even during its lifetime would come to be thought old fashioned but at the time of release the sensuous, flowing lines were much admired and in the decades since, appreciation has increased, the MGA today a desirable classic.  It was powered by a 1489 cm3 (91 cubic inch) version of the corporate 'B' series engine and as a design exercise had actually been finalized some two years before it was introduced and slated to replace the TD but corporate politics prevailed.  By 1955, it had been intended to announce the MGA and use three pre-release cars (code-named EX 182) to contest the Le Mans 24 hour race in June.  That was thwarted by delays in the supply of parts so the three were forced to compete as prototypes rather than in the production class for which they'd been prepared.  Against the more formidable competition of pure race cars, success was unlikely but reliability was proved, one finishing an outright twelfth and the team finished a creditable fifth and sixth in their class although everything was overshadowed by the horrific crash that year which killed eighty-four, one of the MGs involved in the aftermath of the disaster.  Encouraged, three were entered in September’s RAC Tourist Trophy in Ulster, the fifth round of the FIA World Sports Car Championship, two with experimental double overhead camshaft (DOHC) engines, a configuration which later and unhappily would figure in MGA history.

1957 MGA 1500 Roadster.

First shown at the 1955 Frankfurt Motor Show, the MGA 1500 was an immediate success; some 60,000 built between 1955-1959, the great bulk of which were exported, the US again the most popular destination.  In 1956, the roadster was augmented by a fixed head coupé (FHC) which, in a sign of the times, included many of the refinements saloon buyers had come to expect including wind-up windows and lockable door handles which, while appreciated luxuries, did make the FHC about 100 lb (45 KG) heavier so acceleration suffered a little but, such were the vagaries of aerodynamics that top speed increased a little, a well tuned FHC able to attain the magic ton which just eluded the roadster, the owners of which turned to the multitude of tuners if they wanted more.

1957 MGA 1500 FHC.

Having earlier boosted the 1500 from 68 to 72 horsepower, the factory in 1959 again gave owners more, the engine enlarged to 1588 cm3 (97 cubic inch), the new model named MGA 1600, the additional 6 horsepower and the more relevant 17% increase in torque meaning the “ton” was now topped by all models and there was a dramatic improvement in braking, vastly superior (and really overdue) discs fitted at front.  Revisions to the suspension were part of normal product development but what was much appreciated on the roadster were the Perspex siding side windows which now sound primitive but were quite an improvement on the celluloid flaps used on the 1500.  In 1961, for the MGA’s swansong, capacity was again enlarged, this time to 1622 cm3 (99 cubic inch), additional internal changes boosting power to 90 horsepower, top speed now a heady 106 mph (170 km/h).  To mark the change, the factory designated the 1622-equipped cars the MGA Mark II, production of which totaled 8,198 roadsters and 521 FHCs.

MGA Twin Cam (1958-1960, 2111 built).

1959 MGA Twin Cam Roadster.

In the English way of things, the most famous and celebrated of the MGAs is the least successful and the one at the time damned as a failure.  The first MG since the OHC PB in 1936 not to use an OHV engine, the DOHC Twin Cam used an engine not fitted to any other car and in that sense of uniqueness ranks with the Triumph Stag in the annals of British engineering failures although MGs problems were at least (sort of) excusable given the analytical tools of the time and, as ultimately transpired, easily fixable, unlike Triumph’s unfortunate V8.  Although not used in the production MGA Twin Cam until 1958, the DOHC engine had enjoyed a long development, the basic design completed in 1954 and two prototype versions were in 1955 fielded for the RAC Tourist Trophy in Ulster and although not successful, the factory wasn’t deterred, refining the concept and using them to set world speed records in various classes in 1956 & 1957.  Critically however, most development work was in high-speed competition rather than the conditions under which most motorists operate their cars on public roads.  Using the 1588 cm3 block, the DOHC “B” series was in the classic mold of small 1950s high-performance engines: an aluminum cross-flow cylinder head with twin overhead camshafts operating valves angled at 80o in hemispherical combustion chambers with a high compression ratio.  Twin 1 ¾ SU carburetors provided the induction while on the opposing side, an imposing exhaust manifold boasted separate downpipes for each cylinder.  The impressive specification yielded a healthy 108 bhp @ 6700 rpm and top speed was rated at 113 mph (180 km/h), testers reporting sparkling acceleration at all but the lowest speeds.  Cognizant of the pace, the factory fitted disc brakes on all four wheels and this time, wire wheels weren’t even optional, the required Dunlop Road Speed tyres suitable only for the ventilated Dunlop centre-lock disc wheels.  Radically different though it was under the skin, there were few visual differences to distinguish the Twin Cam from its more mundane cousins, an approach Mercedes-Benz would later adopt for its 300SEL 6.3 and 450SEL 6.9 Q-ships.  Only the purposeful wheels, discreet Twin Cam badges and some details changes to the interior (including a tachometer and speedometer that accommodated the higher limits) provided the external visual clues.

1959 MG Twin Cam FHC.

Like the Stag, the Twin Cam attracted praise upon release and, like the Stag, the reliability issues soon surfaced.  Reports emerged first of excessive oil consumption which fouled spark plugs and the factory experimented with several variations of piston rings before settling on the replacement of the top chrome ring with one of cast iron and a scraper with an expansion ring; these changes resulted in normal oil consumption.  What was not solved until the Twin Cam had been discontinued was what ruined its reputation and doomed the engine: the propensity to burn holes in the top of pistons #3 or #4.  Applying conventional wisdom, the factory first retarded the ignition timing, then, assuming owners were, contrary to operating instructions, using cheaper, lower octane petrol, lowered the compression ratio from 9.9:1 to 8.3:1, both changes reducing power in the quest for reliability, a trade-off well-known to engineers.  The sacrifice however failed to solve the problem and pistons continue to fail.  What baffled the engineers was they were unable to replicate the issue in their tests, even under sustained and extreme loadings.  Their tests however, while imposing demands beyond what any road car would be subjected to, were performed usually in a workshop, on a static test-bed.  By mid 1959, the factory gave up and the Twin Cam was withdrawn from sale, the engineers not discovering the cause until 1960 and those findings they chose not to publicize.  Later, amateurs would trace the problem to resonant vibration which, under conditions encountered when actually driving (as opposed to what happens under extreme load on a test-bed), at certain engine speeds, the SU carburetors would suffer foaming of the fuel in the float chamber which caused the fuel/air mixture to run lean, greatly increasing the heat in the combustion chamber causing the aluminum pistons to begin to melt.  The solution was no more complex than the insertion of flexible, vibration isolating mounts between the intake manifold and carburetors.  It was a cheap and simple fix.

1959 MGA Twin Cam FHC.

In 1960, MGs engineers had reached the same conclusion.  After disassembling several engines, they noted the balance of the production units was well below the levels of precision they had specified as a result of testing the prototypes, the production engines exhibiting two periods of natural vibration around 3200 and 5600 rpm.  With the stock gearing which most Twin Cams used, 3200 rpm coincided with what were then typical highway cruising speeds.  So, they returned to the test bed and, instead of pushing the engines beyond their limit, instead ran them to the point of vibration and found the float on the rear carburetor would hang on its spindle and not drop, inducing a lean mixture which burned holes in either #3 or #4 piston.  In minutes they improvised a flexible mounting using nothing more exotic than some thin sheet-rubber but the solution came too late, the discontinued Twin Cam’s reputation too sullied for a revival.  A decade on, much the same tale would be told of Norton’s 750 Combat.

1962 MGA 1600 Mark II “De luxe” Roadster.

So only 2,111 Twin Cams were sold, 1,801 of which were roadsters.  Making the best of a bad situation, the factory used the residual stockpile of Twin Cam bits and pieces (other than the engine) and created some up-graded models often referred to as the “De Luxe” which, although MG never formerly applied the designation, shameless dealers advertised them as the “Deluxe”, "De Luxe” or De-Luxe”.  Production was limited by the availability of parts and only 82 1600s were built, along with 313 of the more desirable Mk II 1622.  Except for the Dunlop wheels and four wheel disc brakes, there’s no commonality in the specification, some using a genuine Twin Cam chassis, some with the “hybrid” competition shell and a mix of other options while many were essentially standard MGAs differing only in the wheels and brakes.  Because of the rarity and upgraded specification, the “De luxe” models are now second only to the Twin Cam in desirability.

The other MGA: Lindsay Lohan at MGA Entertainment's "Bratz", 2003 Teen Choice Awards,  Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, California.