Le Mans Legend – MaBeL at Le Mans
Steve Dixon’s ex-works MGA MBL 867 or MaBeL is the earliest known surviving example with chassis number 5 to play an extensive part in this year’s MGA 50th birthday celebrations. To mark the event Steve felt it would be fitting to take part in the Le Mans Legends race. MaBeL was built in the spring or early summer of 1955 almost the same time as the prototypes that made up the works team for Le Mans that year.
Scrutinnering in the town square
To prepare for the event although in semi competition trim from the Mille Miglia specification it was decided to make MaBel into more of a racer. The MGA was treated to a complete engine rebuild which included a fully balanced bottom end by Don Loughlin and a specially prepared cylinder head by Peter Burgess. It was also decided to fit a 45 DCOE Weber after considering 13/4” SUs. The suspension was stiffened and set up with more negative camber. It was also necessary to remove some of the Mille Miglia equipment although the MGA looks much the same externally.
The Golden Anniversary celebrations have been extensive and MaBeL appeared alongside the Le Mans Twin Cam Coupe SRX 210 at a special departure ceremony at Abingdon. The two historic MGAs were subsequently driven down to the circuit at La Sarthe calling in at the special exhibition at Argentan on the way. Steve Dixon drove MaBeL down in convoy with Bob West in the Le Mans Twin Cam. Steve was accompanied on the journey by Jim Cox an ex-works mechanic who attended the 1955 Le Mans race and was also part of the team that saw Stirling Moss and Phil Hill achieve a land speed record with an MG twin cam powered car in 1957.
Steve Dixon in the pits at Le Mans with the Twin Cam Coupe next to MaBeL
On the Wednesday before the race it was time for scrutineering and this was done in the town square at Le Mans with all the entrants proceeding in a cavalcade. Then it was time for the first practice sessions. The race requires a team of two drivers and it was decided that the honour would fall to Barry Sidery Smith who is well known to readers of this magazine and David Mylchreest. David is a Manxman and dealer principal for MG Rover on the Isle of Man, incidentally David’s father Brian drove MaBeL just two weeks after it returned from the Mille Miglia in 1956. He drove it as the official Roads-Opening car for the TT motorcycles races of that year and David will be driving MaBeL in the same role at the TT next year.
MaBel ahead
MaBeL acquitted herself well on the famous circuit
Barry had the first practice, and knowing the circuit well, kept it to just a couple of laps the best of which was 6:18. Then David went out and despite not having driven MaBeL before nor the Le Mans circuit he still put in some good times, not far off Barry’s. However at the end of David’s final practice disaster struck and he had to be towed back to the pits. Unfortunately a nut that held the dynamo bolt had come loose which in turn caused the fan to slice into the radiator. Things were looking rather desperate but for the intervention of Phillipe Douchet, the owner and driver of the Le Mans replica MGA, who guided the team to a local radiator specialist at Arnage who deftly repaired and re-cored the radiator in two hours and as Steve says he made an excellent job. Even Bob West was impressed with the quality of the work and they were back in action by Friday afternoon. There was then only time for a spanner check before the race. They had suffered from a coil failure on the way down and had fitted an extra coil in the engine bay.
It was an early start on Saturday the race day and it fell to Barry to make the classic Le Mans start or the ‘ear of corn start’. However Barry had a little difficulty with getting away and was almost last, this did not really matter as once rolling he was able to regain his grid position and made a decent getaway on the subsequent rolling start. Barry drove a stint of five laps and the David took over for another five. Between them they brought the MGA home second in the two litre class (1954/55) and twenty second overall. The class winner was a 2-litre Frazer Nash Sebring, although there were some quite competitive machines in the class including three Lotus 9s. Some special pleasure was taken from beating the TR2 of Tony Dron (itself one of the actual cars that the MGAs beat at Le Mans in 1955) although it had more than a fair share of mechanical problems.
Saviour of the radiator Phillipe Douchet
Steve was very pleased with his second in Class Trophy and MaBeL acquitted herself admirably, the only competitor in the race actually driven to and from the event just as they did in 1955.
Roger Parker