Exquisite

Exquisite (pronounced ek-skwi-zit or ik-skwiz-it)

(1) Of special beauty or charm, or rare and appealing excellence and often associated with objects or great delicacy; of rare excellence of production or execution, as works of art or workmanship; beautiful, delicate, discriminating, perfect.

(2) Extraordinarily fine or admirable; consummate.

(3) Intense; acute, or keen, as pleasure or pain; keenly or delicately sensitive or responsive; exceeding; extreme; in a bad or a good sense (eg as exquisite pleasure or exquisite pain).

(4) Recherché; far-fetched; abstruse (a now rare early meaning which to some extent survives in surrealist’s exercise “exquisite corpse”).

(5) Of particular refinement or elegance, as taste, manners, etc or persons.

(6) A man excessively concerned about clothes, grooming etc; a dandy or coxcomb.

(7) Ingeniously devised or thought out (obsolete).

(8) Carefully adjusted; precise; accurate; exact (now less common except as an adverb.

(9) Of delicate perception or close and accurate discrimination; not easy to satisfy; exact; fastidious (related to the sense of “exquisite judgment, taste, or discernment”.

1400–1450: From the Late Middle English exquisite (carefully selected), from the Latin exquīsītus (excellent; meticulous, chosen with care (and literally “carefully sought out”)), perfect passive participle of exquīrō (to seek out), originally the past participle of exquīrere (to ask about, examine) the construct being ex- + -quīrere, a combining form of quaerere (to seek). The construct of exquīrō was ex- +‎ quaerō (seek).  The ex- prefix was applied to words in Middle English borrowed from the Middle French and was derived from the Latin ex- (out of, from) and was from the primitive Indo-European eǵ- & eǵs-.  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex-, out of, from) 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).  Exquisite is a noun & adjective, exquisiteness is a noun and exquisitely an adverb; the noun plural is exquisites.

The etymology of the Latin quaerō (seek) is mysterious.  It may be from the Proto-Italic kwaizeō, from the primitive Indo-European kweh (to acquire) so cognates may include the Ancient Greek πέπαμαι (pépamai) (to get, acquire), the Old Prussian quoi (I/you want) & quāits (desire), the Lithuanian kviẽsti (to invite) and possibly the Albanian kam (I have).  Some have suggested the source being the primitive Indo-European kwoys & kweys (to see) but there has been little support for this.  The authoritative Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (Lexicon of the Indo-European Verbs (LIV)), the standard etymological dictionary of the Proto-Indo-European languages, suggests it’s a derivation of hzeys (to seek, ask), via the form koaiseo.  "Exquisite corpse" is a calque of the French cadavre exquis (literally “exquisite cadaver”).  Dating from 1925, it was coined by French surrealists to describe a method of loosely structured constructivism on the model of the parlour game consequences; fragments of text (or images) are created by different people according to pre-set rules, then joined together to create a complete text.  The name comes from the first instance in 1925: Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau (The exquisite corpse will drink new wine).  Exquisite corpse is noted as a precursor to both post-modernism and deconstructionist techniques.

Although not infrequently it appears in the same sentence as the word “unique”, exquisite can be more nuanced, the comparative “more exquisite, the superlative most exquisite” and there has certainly been a change in the pattern of use.  In English, it originally was applied to any thing (good or bad, art or torture, diseases or good health), brought to a highly wrought condition, tending among the more puritanical to disapprobation.  The common modern meaning (of consummate and delightful excellence) dates from the late 1570s while the noun (a dandy, a foppish man) seems first to have been used in 1819.  One interesting variant which didn’t survive was exquisitous (not natural, but procured by art), appearing in dictionaries in the early eighteenth centuries but not since.  The pronunciation of exquisite has undergone a rapid change from ek-skwi-zit to ik-skwiz-it, the stress shifting to the second syllable.  The newer pronunciation attracted the inevitable criticism but is now the most common form on both sides of the Atlantic and use seems not differentiated by class. 

An exquisite: Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (1907–1974)

Exquisite is used almost exclusively as an adjective, applied typically to objects or performances but it’s also a noun, albeit one always rare.  As a noun it was used to describe men who inhabited that grey area of being well dressed, well coiffured, well mannered and somewhat effeminate; it was a way of hinting at something without descending to the explicit.  PG Wodehouse (1881-1975) applied it thus in Sam the Sudden (1925) and historians Ann (1938-2021) & John Tusa (b 1936) in The Nuremberg Trial (1983) found no better word to apply to Hitler Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach, noting his all-white bedroom and propensity to pen bad poetry.  The companion word to describe a similar chap without of necessity the same hint of effeminacy is “aesthete”.

Nazis at the Berghof: Adolf Hitler, Martin Bormann, Hermann Göring, and Baldur von Schirach, Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany, 1936.  All were guilty as sin but von Schirach would survive to die in his bed at 67.  

Convicted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT, 1945-1946) for crimes against humanity, von Schirach received a twenty year sentence escaping conviction for his role as Nazi Party youth leader and head of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) between 1931-1940 (though he was a good deal more guilty than Socrates in corrupting the minds of youth), the sentence imposed for his part in deporting Viennese Jews to the death camps while Gauleiter (district party leader) and Reichsstatthalter (Governor) of Vienna (1940-1945).  Had subsequently discovered evidence against him been available at the trial, doubtlessly he’d have been hanged.

Exquisite: A style guide

Lindsay Lohan in a Gucci Porcelain Garden Print Silk Gown with an all-over Dutch toile in blue and white, high ruffled collar and bib, flared sleeves, pussy bow and a blue and red patent leather belt around a high waist, Savoy Hotel, London, June 2017.  The gown was said to have a recommended retail price (RRP) of Stg£4,040 (US$7300).  The occasion was the launch of the charitable organization One Family, dedicated to combating child trafficking.

Within the one critique, the word exquisite can appear, used as a neutral descriptor (an expression of extent), a paean to beauty and even an ironic dismissal.  A gown for example can be “exquisitely detailed” but that doesn’t of necessity imply elegance although that would be the case of something said to be an “exquisite design”.  That said, most were drawn to the gown in some way, the references to Jane Austin many (although historians of fashion might note Gucci’s creation as something evocative more of recent films made of Jane Austin novels that anything representative of what was worn in her era) and the fabric’s patterning & restraint in the use of color produced a dreamily romantic look.

Coriaceous

Coriaceous (pronounced kawr-ee-ey-shuhs, kohr-ee-ey-shuhs or kor-ee-ey-shuhs)

(1) Of or resembling leather.

(2) In botany, a surface (usually a leaf) distinguished having the visual characteristics of leather.

1665-1675: from Late Latin coriāceus (resembling leather in texture, toughness etc), the construct being corium (skin, hide, leather (and also used casually to refer to belts, whips and other leather items, and upper layers (ie analogous with a skin or hide) in general such as crusts, coatings, peels or shells)), from the Proto-Italic korjom, from the primitive Indo-European sker & ker- + -aceous.  The suffix –aceous was from the New Latin, from the Classical Latin -aceus (of a certain kind) and related to the Latin adjectival suffixes –ac & -ax.  It was used (1) to create words meaning “of, relating to, resembling or containing the thing suffixed” and (2) in scientific classification, to indicate membership of a taxonomic family or other group.  The comparative is more coriaceous and the superlative most coriaceous.  Coriaceous & subcoriaceous are adjectives and coriaceousness is a noun.

Botanists classify coriaceous leaves by degree.  The common greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia) (left) is listed as subcoriaceous (ie somewhat or almost coriaceous) while the Shining Fetterbush (Lyonia lucida) is distinguished by glossy coriaceous leaves with a prominent vein along margins (right).

In late 1967, as a prelude to the next year’s introduction of the XJ6, Jaguar rationalized its saloon car line-up, pruning the long-running Mark II range from three to two, dropping the 3.8 litre model and re-designating the smaller-engined pair (the 2.4 becoming the 240, the 3.4 the 340), thus bringing the nomenclature into line with the recently released 420.  The standardization exercise extended to the big Mark X which became the 420G but curiously the S-Type’s name wasn’t changed and it became the only Jaguar in which the 3.8 litre engine remained available as a regular production option, the E-Type (XKE) having earlier adopted the 4.2.  So the 240, 340, S-Type (3.4 & 3.8) and 420 (all based on the 1959 Mark 2 (itself a update of the 1955 2.4)) all remained in production, along with the Daimler 250 (the re-named 2.5 fitted with Daimler’s 2.5 litre V8) and to add a further quirk, a dozen 340s were built to special order with the 3.8 liter engine.  Production of all ceased in 1968 with the coming of the XJ6 except the big 420G (which lasted until 1970 although sales had for some time slowed to a trickle), the 240 (available until 1969 because Jaguar wasn’t until then able to offer the 2.8 liter option in the XJ6) and the Daimler 250 (which also ran until 1969 until the Daimler Sovereign (an XJ6 with a Daimler badge) entered the showrooms).

1967 Jaguar Mark 2 3.8 with leather trim (left) and a "de-contented" 1968 Jaguar 240 with the "slimline" bumpers, Ambla trim and optional  rimbellishers (right).

Given the new revised naming convention wasn’t carried over the XJ6 (rendering the 420G an alpha-numeric orphan for the last year of its existence), there’s since been speculation about whether the Jaguar management had a change of mind about how the XJ6 was to be labeled or the changes were just an attempt to stimulate interest in the rather dated Mark 2 and its derivatives.  That certainly worked though perhaps not quite as Jaguar intended because Mark 2 sales spiked in 1968 and the oldest models (240 & 340) handsomely outsold both the newer 420 and the by then moribund S-Type.  Probably the change in name had little to do with this and more significant was the price cutting which made the 240 & 340 suddenly seem like bargains, the 240 especially.  Dated they might have looked in the year the NSU Ro80 debuted, but they still had their charm and the new price drew in buyers whereas the 420 suffered because it was known the XJ6 would soon be available and expectations were high.

The renewed interest in the 240 was at least partly because Jaguar had finally devoted some attention to the breathing of its smallest engine, straight-port heads and revised SU carburetors increasing the power to the point where a genuine 100 mph (160 km/h) could be attained, something not possible since the lighter 2.4 (retrospectively known as the Mark 1) ended production in 1959.  The 100 mph thing was something the factory was quite sensitive about because in the 1950s (when it was still quite an achievement) it had been a selling point and for most of the Mark 2’s life, Jaguar were reluctant to make 2.4s available for testing.  The 240’s new performance solved that problem and it was the biggest seller of the revised range (4446 240s vs 2800 340s) although those who read the small print might have been disappointed to note the fuel consumption; both models weighed about the same but the small engine had to work much harder, the 340 barely more thirsty.

1962 Jaguar Mark 2 3.8 with leather trim (left) and 1968 Jaguar 240 with Ambla trim.  It was only when the optional leather trim was specified that the fold-down "picnic tables" were fitted in the front seat-backs. 

The real thing: Lindsay Lohan in leather (albeit with faux fur sleeves).

Still, with the 240 selling in 1968 for only £20 more than the what a 2.4 had cost in 1955, it was soon tagged “the best Jaguar bargain of all time” but that had been achieved with some cost-cutting, some of the trademark interior wood trim deleted, the fog and spot lamps replaced by a pair of chromed grilles, the hubcap design simplified and “slimline” bumpers fitted in place of the substantial units in place since 1959, this not only saving weight but a remarkable amount of the cost of production.  The revised cars were not as generously equipped as before (although some of the “de-contenting” had been introduced late in Mark 2 production) but a long option list remained and on it were some items once fitted as standard, the list including a choice of five radio installations with or without rear parcel shelf-mounted speaker, a laminated windscreen, chromium-plated wheel rimbellishers for steel wheels, Ace Turbo wheel trims for steel wheels, a tow bar, a locking petrol filler cap, front seat belts, the choice of radial, town and country, or whitewall tyres, automatic transmission, overdrive (for the manual transmission), wire wheels, fast ratio steering box, a fire extinguisher, Powr-Lok differential, rear window demister, heavy-duty anti-roll bar, close-ratio gearbox, tinted glass, a driver’s wing mirror, childproof rear door locks, an integrated ignition & starter switch (steering column), reclining front seats, power-assisted steering & leather upholstery.

It was the moving of the leather trim to the option list which is said to have made the greatest contribution to the price cuts.  The replacement fabric was Ambla, one of a class of coriaceous materials which have come variously to be referred to as faux leather, pleather, vegan leather, Naugahyde, synthetic leather, artificial leather, fake leather & ersatz leather.  First manufactured in the US, most production now is done in China as well as upholstery, the fabric is use for just about anything which has ever been made in leather including clothing, footwear, gloves, hats, belts, watch bands, cases, handbags, sports items, firearm holsters, luggage and a myriad besides.  It does appear that as early as the fifteenth century, the Chinese were experimenting with ways synthetic leather could be manufactured but it doesn’t appear anything was ever produced at scale and it was only when petroleum-based plastics became available in the US in the late nineteenth century that it became viable to mass produce a viable alternative to leather.  Historically, most of the products were petroleum-based but vegetable-based alternatives are now attracting much interest as attention has focused on the environmental impact of the traditional petro-chemical based approach.

1967 Mercedes-Benz 250 SE with MB-Tex trim (left) and 1971 Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 with leather trim.

One of the best known coriaceous materials in the 1960s and 1970s was MB-Tex, a vinyl used by Mercedes-Benz which by far was the synthetic which most closely resembled genuine leather.  That was something made easier by the Germans using a process which resulted in slightly thicker tanned hide than those from Italy, Spain or England and this meant that replicating the appearance was more easily attained.  What most distinguished MB-Tex however was the durability and longevity.  Unlike leather which demanded some care and attention to avoid wear and cracking, it wasn’t uncommon for 20 or 30 year old MB-Tex to look essentially as it did when new and many who sat in them for years may have assumed it really was leather.  It certainly took an expert eye to tell the difference although in a showroom, moving from one to another, although the visual perception might be much the same, the olfactory senses would quickly know which was which because nothing compares with the fragrance of a leather-trimmed interior.  For some, that seduction was enough to persuade although those who understood the attraction of the close to indestructible MB-Tex, there were aerosol cans of “leather smell”, each application said to last several weeks.

For the incomparable aroma of leather.

The factory continued to develop MB-Tex, another of its attractions being that unlike leather, it could be produced in just about any color although, now colors (except black, white and shades of grey) have more or less disappeared from interior schemes, that functionality is not the advantage it once was.  As a fabric though, it reached the point where Mercedes-Benz dropped the other choices and eventually offered only leather or a variety of flavors of MB-Tex.  That disappointed some who remembered the velour and corduroy fittings especially popular in the colder parts of Europe but the factory insisted MB-Tex was superior in every way.  Also lamented were the exquisite (though rarely ordered) mohair interiors available for the 600 Grosser (W100, 1963-1981).  Apparently, the factory would trim a 600 in MB-Tex upon request but nobody ever was that post modern and most buyers preferred the leather, however coriaceous might have been the alternative.

Fragile

Fragile (pronounced fraj-uhl (U) or fraj-ahyl (non-U))

(1) Easily broken, shattered, or damaged; delicate; brittle; frail.

(2) Vulnerably delicate, as in appearance.

(3) Lacking in substance or force; flimsy.

1505–1515: From the Middle English fragile (liable to sin, morally weak), from the Middle French fragile, from the fourteenth century Old French fragele, from the Latin fragilis (easily broken) (doublet of frêle), the construct being frag- (variant stem of the verb frangere (break), from the primitive Indo-European root bhreg- (to break) + -ilis.  The -ilis (neuter -ile) suffix was from the Proto-Italic -elis, from the primitive Indo-European -elis, from -lós; it was used to form an adjective noun of relation, frequently passive, to the verb or root.  It was cognate with fraction & fracture and doublet of frail.  The original meaning from circa 1510 (liable to sin, morally weak) by circa 1600 extended to "liable to break" as a back-formation from fragility which was actually an adoption of the sense in Latin.  The transferred sense "of frail constitution" (of persons) dates from 1858.  The companion adjective frail emerged in the mid fourteenth century in the sense of "morally weak", from the twelfth century Old French fraile & frele (weak, frail, sickly, infirm) (enduring in Modern French as frêle), from the Latin fragilis.  The US slang noun meaning "a woman" is documented from 1908 and although there’s no evidence, etymologists have noted Shakespeare's "Frailty, thy name is woman" (Hamlet, Act I, Scene 2).  The comparative fragiler and the superlative fragilest are both correct but the more elegant “more fragile” and “most fragile” tend to be preferred.  Fragile is used usually as an adjective but can be applied as a noun (typically by folk like furniture movers) or in the same way as “exquisite”.  Fragilely is an adverb and fragility is a noun; the noun plural is fragiles.

Words which are either synonyms or close in meaning include delicate, feeble, frail, weak, brittle, crisp, crumbly, decrepit, fine, flimsy, fracturable, frangible, friable, infirm, insubstantial, shivery, slight & unsound.  The antonym most often used to suggest the opposite quality to fragile is “robust” (evincing strength and health; strong).  Robust dates from circa 1545 and was a learned borrowing from circa 1400 Medieval Latin rōbustus (oaken, hard, strong), the construct being rōbus- (stem of rōbur (oak, strength) + -tus (the adjectival suffix).

Lindsay Lohan looking fragile: Lindsay (2019) by Sam McKinniss (b 1985) (left), from a reference photograph taken 22 July 2012, leaving the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, LA (right).

However, fragile and robust, although often used as antonyms (and in general use usefully so because the meanings are so well conveyed and understood) are really not opposites but simply degrees of the same thing.  In the narrow technical sense an expression of robustness or fragility is a measure of the same thing; a degree of strength.  The traditions of language obscure this but it becomes clear if measures of fragility or robustness are reduced to mathematics and expressed as comparative values in numbers.  It's true that on such a continuum a point could be set at which point something is regarded as no longer robust and becomes defined as fragile (indeed this is the essence of stress-testing) but this doesn't mean one is the antonym of the other.

The opposite of fragile is actually antifragile (the anti prefix was from the Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-) (against, hostile to, contrasting with the norm, opposite of, reverse (also "like, reminiscent of"))).  The concept is well known in physiology and part of the object in some forms of strength training is to exploit the propensity of muscles to tear at stress points, relying on the body to repair these tears in a way that doesn’t restore them to their original form but makes them stronger so that if subjected again to the same stress, a tear won’t happen.  It’s thus an act of antifragility, the process illustrated also by the calluses which form on the hands after the skin blisters in response to work.  Fragile and robust merely express points on a spectrum and are used according to emphasize the extent of strength; antifragile is the true opposite.

The idea of antifragile was introduced by Lebanese-born, US-based mathematician and trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b 1960) in the book Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder (2012), the fourth of five works which explore his ideas relation to uncertainty, randomness & probability, the best-known and most influential was The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007).  His work was thoughtful, intriguing and practical and was well received although the more accessible writing he adopted for the later volumes attracted criticism from some who felt an academic style more suited to the complex nature of his material; probably few who read the texts agreed with that.  Apart from the ideas and the use to which they can be put, his deconstruction of many suppositions is also an exploration of the rigidities of thought we allow our use of language to create.

Cloisonné

Cloisonné (pronounced kloi-zuh-ney or klwa-zaw-ney (French))

(1) A decorative technique for metalwork, especially brass, whereby colored enamel is baked between raised ridges of the metal; sometimes disparaged as a cheaper alternative to jeweled encrustation or filigree.

(2) Pertaining to, forming, or resembling cloisonné or the pattern of cloisonné.

(3) As applied to metalwork, objects decorated by this technique collectively.

1863: From the French cloisonné (divided into compartments, partitioned (especially in reference to surface decoration)), from the twelfth century Old French cloison (partition), from cloisonner (enclosure; to divide into compartments) from the Provençal clausiō, from the Vulgar Latin clausiōn, stem of clausiō (closed), noun of action from past participle stem of claudere (to close; shut).

French Second Empire gilt cloisonné enamel carriage clock, circa 1870.

The intricate metalwork and detailed cloisonné engravings associated with the clocks of the First French Empire have always attracted collectors and there’s a view in the industry they’re superior in just about every way to those of the Second Empire.  They certainly tend to be more expensive.  There are those who prefer the later clocks, especially the more restrained.  For the discerning, a sub-genre of Second Empire horology was the carriage (or travelling) clock, small, sturdy and created in shapes suitable to packing in regular-sized boxes.  The earliest were purely functional with little embellishment but their diminutive form appealed to designers seeking to create exquisite miniatures.  From the mid-century on, an increasing number were produced for household use and it’s doubtful many were much used by those on the move.

1968 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider (#11057)

The Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider was a roadster commissioned by Ferrari's North American concessionaire, Italian-born Luigi Chinetti (1901–1994) who ran the North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.) and wanted to offer something in the spirit of the charismatic 250 California Spiders (1957-1963).  Built by Ferrari's coachbuilder Scaglietti, the NART Spider was certainly a worthy successor but, being very much a traditional sports car with few of the luxury fittings to which buyers had quickly become accustomed, demand was subdued, most preferring its less raucous companion, the 330 GTS which pampered occupants with niceties like power steering, electric windows and air conditioning.  The NART's high price didn't help and of the planned run of 25, only ten were built.  Thus mostly unwanted when new, as a used car the performance of the 275 NART has been stellar, chassis #10709 selling at auction in 2013 for US$27.5 million.  Informally always known as the "NART Spider" despite the factory not using the designation, the only hint of its unusual gestation was a cloisonné badge with the N.A.R.T.'s logo, installed on the Kamm tail.

Tobacco

Tobacco (pronounced tuh-bak-oh)

(1) Any of several plants belonging to the genus Nicotiana (of the nightshade family), especially one of those species, as N. tabacum, whose leaves are prepared for smoking or chewing or as snuff.

(2) Any of numerous solanaceous plants of the genus Nicotiana, having mildly narcotic properties, tapering hairy leaves, and tubular or funnel-shaped fragrant flowers. The species N. tabacum is cultivated as the chief source of commercial tobacco

(3) Any of various similar plants of other genera.

(4) The leaves of certain of these plants, dried and prepared, as used in cigarettes, cigars & pipes, as snuff and for chewing.

(5) Any product or products made from such leaves.

(6) To indulge in tobacco; to smoke.

(7) To treat with tobacco.

(8) A range of colors in the brown spectrum, tending to the darker.

1525–1535 (attested since 1588): From the Spanish tabaco of uncertain origin.  It was either from the Arabic طُبَّاق‎ (ṭubbāq) (Dittrichia viscosa) or from one or more Caribbean languages (including Galibi Carib, Arawak or Taíno) from a word meaning “roll of tobacco leaves” or “pipe for smoking tobacco” (there are contemporary reports citing both and scholars tend now to prefer the former), the best known of which was tabago (tube for inhaling smoke or powdered intoxicating plants).  Taino is thought by linguistic anthropologists to be the most likely source.  That the name of the inhaling implement was applied to the leaves was explained by the Spanish assuming it was the name of the plant.  The West Indian (Caribbean) island of Tobago was said to have been named in 1498 by Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) after the tambaku (pipe), a reference to the native custom of smoking dried tobacco leaves.  Derived forms include smokeless tobacco, tobaccoless & anti-tobacco and there are a wealth of slang terms for tobacco and its products (including the tax-evading illicit varieties) including occabot (the backward spelling), baccy, backy, chop chop, durrie, smoke, fag, gasper, ciggy, coffin nail, cancer stick, darb, dart, death stick, bine & stogie.  The spelling tabacco is obsolete.  Tobacco is a noun & verb, tobaccoing & tobaccoed are verbs; the noun plural is tobaccos or tobaccoes.

One attempt at social engineering began in earnest in the 1980s: Pressure was applied on film & television studios, advertisers and publishers to stop depicting smoking as "attractive, sexy and cool".  Because cigarette smoke is known to be carcinogenic and sustained use typically reduced the human lifespan by about a decade, it was an admirable part of the public health programme but the difficult thing was that images of smoking undeniably could be sexy.  Lindsay Lohan demonstrates.   

The unusual construct of the noun tobacconist (one who deals in tobacco) was tobacco + -n- + -ist.  The abnormal inserted consonant appeared to reflect the way the word actually was pronounced.  The sense of the commercial trader in the product dates from the 1650s although the earlier meaning, dating from the 1590s was “someone addicted to tobacco and by 1873 the word nicotinism (morbid effects of excessive use of tobacco) had been coined so the awareness of the adverse effects of tobacco are not new.  The first “tobacconist” (a shop where tobacco and related products are purchased) seems to have operated in Florida in the early 1800s.  The -ist suffix was from the Middle English -ist & -iste, from the Old French -iste and the Latin -ista, from the Ancient Greek -ιστής (-istḗs), from -ίζω (-ízō) (the -ize & -ise verbal suffix) and -τής (-tḗs) (the agent-noun suffix).  It was added to nouns to denote various senses of association such as (1) a person who studies or practices a particular discipline, (2), one who uses a device of some kind, (3) one who engages in a particular type of activity, (4) one who suffers from a specific condition or syndrome, (5) one who subscribes to a particular theological doctrine or religious denomination, (6) one who has a certain ideology or set of beliefs, (7) one who owns or manages something and (8), a person who holds very particular views (often applied to those thought most offensive).

Art deco: Snuffbox (left) and cigarette case (right).

Snuff (powdered tobacco to be inhaled) was first available in the1680s and was from the Dutch or Flemish snuf, a shortening of snuftabak (snuff tobacco), from snuffen (to sniff, snuff).  The practice of taking (sniffing) snuff quickly became fashionable in England and generated an industry in the making of “snuff boxes”; many small and exquisite, they’ve long been collectable.  The slang phrase “up to snuff” (knowing, sharp, wide-awake, not likely to be deceived) dates from 1811, the order of the words thought a reference to the upper-class association with the substance while the meaning is presumed to allude to the "elevating" properties of snuff.  The noun nicotine (which still appears occasionally in scientific papers as nicotin) describes the poisonous ,volatile alkaloid base found in tobacco leaves and was first documented in English in 1819, from the French nicotine, from the earlier nicotiane, from the Modern Latin Nicotiana, the formal botanical name for the tobacco plant, named for Jean Nicot (circa 1530-1600), the French ambassador to Portugal who in 1561 sent tobacco seeds and powdered leaves from his embassy in Lisbon to Paris.

Until the mid-twentieth century, there was much variation in packaging but in the post-war years things were (more or less) standardized in terms of size and shape.  It was a relatively small area with with to work and the convention which developed was to use the simple corporate symbol and product name, thus Marlboro's famous red-on-white chevron.  As the product range proliferated (women were a target market thought to have great potential), Philip Morris adopted the technique of semiotics to differentiate while retaining the same identifiable shape, the basic difference being in the color: red for the standard cigarette, blue for mild, green for menthol, gold for longer (ie 4 inch or 100 mm sticks) and black for higher-priced special offerings.  That didn't last and while some manufacturers stuck to the red / blue / green model, Marlboro's colors increasingly became random.       

James VI and I (1566–1625) King of Scotland as James VI (1567-1625) & King of England and Ireland as James I (1603-1625) was appalled by tobacco an in 1604 wrote the treatise A Counterblaste to Tobacco in which he left none in any doubt about how he felt and it’s a document which sounds very contemporary in its condemnation even if some of what was then medical orthodoxy is dated.  The king blamed the scourge of tobacco on Native Americans (although it was European adventurers which brought it from the new world) and is especially scathing about what is now called passive smoking, responding by imposing heavy taxes but such were the adverse consequences for the American colonies that in 1624 a royal charter was instead granted and the whole crop became a royal monopoly.  Written originally in Early Modern English (here transliterated) it still reads well:

Have you not reason to be ashamed, and to forsake this filthy novelty, so basely grounded, so foolishly received and so grossly mistaken as something good to use?  In your abuse you are sinning against God, harming both your health and your wallet, making yourselves look absurd by this custom, scorned and contemned by the civilized people of any nation.  It is a habit loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fumes are like the horrible Stygian smoke of the bottomless pit of Hell.

The king’s mention of Stigian is a reference to the goddess Styx (Στύξ) (stýks (literally “Shuddering”)) who in Greek mythology took the form of a river of Elia, Arcadia which surrounded Hades nine times and flowed from a rock into silver-pillared caves.  What the king probably had in mind was the tale that Stygian waters imposed senselessness for a year and a draft of the waters was decreed by Zeus for gods who had perjured themselves.  More positively though it was said of Zeus he also insisted the oaths of the gods be sworn by the water of the Styx.

Mid-century cigarette advertising.  Even in the 1950s the public's suspicion that tobacco was a dangerous product was rising and the industry's advertising switched from the traditional "lifestyle" model to one which relied on endorsements by celebrities and scientists and much quoting of research and statistics, much of which would in the decades to come be wholly debunked.  The tactics and techniques similar to those later adopted by the fossil fuel lobby in their long campaign to discredit the science of human-activity induced climate change. 

Although there were always the fastidious types like James I who found it abhorrent, it wasn’t until late in the twentieth century that in the West governments began to crack down on the industry to the point where in many jurisdictions the stated aim is to eliminate it completely, the most recent innovation being progressively to raise the minimum age at which tobacco products can be purchased which, in theory, means that within decades, nobody will be able to buy them.  Having effected that policy, the heath advocates much have thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, only for vaping to become a thing.  Governments were however always interested in tobacco as a form of revenue and taxing an addictive, lawful product provided for centuries a constant and often gradually increasing source of income and cynics like to note the attitudes seemed only to shift when advances in surgical techniques and drug treatments meant those suffering the consequences of a lifetime of tobacco use began to be kept alive for decades, often at public expense.  Previously, the afflicted had had the decency quickly to drop dead, usually at an age when their usefulness as economic units had either vanished or significantly diminished to the point where, as pensioners, they were a cost to society.  The BBC’s comedy Yes, Prime Minister explored the math & morals in a discussion between the prime-minister and the permanent head of the cabinet office.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Notwithstanding the fact that your proposal could conceivably encompass certain concomitant benefits of a marginal and peripheral relevance, there is a countervailing consideration of infinitely superior magnitude involving your personal complicity and corroborative malfeasance, with a consequence that the taint and stigma of your former associations and diversions could irredeemably and irretrievably invalidate your position and culminate in public revelations and recriminations of a profoundly embarrassing and ultimately indefensible character.

Prime-minister: Perhaps I might have a précis of that?  It says here, smoking related diseases cost the National Health Service £165 million a year.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes but we've been in to that, it has been shown that if those extra 100,000 people had lived to a ripe old age, it would have cost us even more in pensions and social security than it did in medical treatment.  So, financially speaking it's unquestionably better that they continue to die at their present rate.

Prime-minister: We're talking of 100,000 deaths a year.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, but cigarette taxes pay for a third of the cost of the National Health Service.  We're saving many more lives than we otherwise could, because of those smokers who voluntary lay down their lives for their friends. Smokers are national benefactors.

Prime-minister: So long as they live.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: A lot of people, eminent people, influential people have argued that such legislation would be a blow against freedom of choice.

Prime-minister: Rubbish. I'm not banning smoking itself. Does every tax rise represent a blow against freedom?

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well, depends how big the tax rise is.

Prime-minister: Oh, that's fascinating. Does 20p represent a blow against freedom?  25p? 30p? 31? Is something a blow against freedom simply because it can seriously damage your wealth?

Sir Humphrey Appleby: I foresee all sorts of unforeseen problems.

Prime-minister: Such as?

Sir Humphrey Appleby: If I could foresee them, they wouldn't be unforeseen.

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 ἐξ (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 Stg£220, the four seater an additional Stg£20; the Airline cost Stg£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 Stg£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 Stg£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 Stg£225 for the 2 seater and Stg£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 80^o 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.