A Bespoke Car Portrait

A bespoke car portrait is not just about what the car looks like: lines, colour, texture and so on. It’s also about the life of which the car has been a part. The human journeys it’s been a part of, and the places it’s been…..All this can be reflected in the aged finish of its paint, the slouch of its tired suspension, or the stuttery obstinacy of its engine……

This MGB GT was my uncle’s youthful companion from sparkling new in 1968, when he was in his mid twenties, right up until 1988. I remember it parked outside his dental surgery, dull and dirty and unremarkable. For me however, it symbolized my uncle’s enthusiasm, technical know-how, and sporty style in general. In any case, the throaty rasp of the MG was part of the UK’s natural roadscape at the time. At night as I lay drifting off to sleep, I might hear the distant tone of an MG’s exhaust, and knew all was well with the world: Somewhere nearby, a young gallant was out in his MG, rescuing princesses and defeating dragons!

The original designer of the MG roadster, Don Hayter, has only recently passed away. Guiding his original design was the streamlined EX 181, MG’s land-speed-record breaking project car of 1957. Later, the GT variant of the MGB was designed by Pininfarina, although it doesn’t wear the famous design marque’s badge. This pedigree puts it in the most distinguished company, notably that of the Fiat 130 Coupe, which features in my earlier car portrait, here.

Technique

This bespoke car portrait was made in two panels: Exterior (side view), and interior. I began by pencil-tracing a photograph of an MG directly onto the wood. It was important to find the view which would capture the heavy roundness of the MG’s ‘fuselage.’ This main quality of the design always reminds me of World War Two aircraft. (Don Hayter had in fact worked on the design of aircraft earlier in his career, including on the Avro Lancaster, a key aircraft in the family lore of my uncle). A photograph, with its inbuilt perspective, rather than a flat architectural side view, helps convey how the volume of this car actually feels to the viewer.

Once the outline of the MGB was down, I blocked in the main shape with white. I drew in the details with pencil. The most difficult part of this painting was actually getting the colour just right. At first I mixed burnt umber with white, but this gave too yellow a colour. By adding a mid-grey to white and adding a tiny amount of burnt umber, I was able to achieve an accurate depiction of the original ‘sandy beige’.

Bespoke car portrait, MGB GT, 1968, painting, acrylic on wood — Panel 1 of this bespoke car portrait showing 1968 MGB GT, VMD 733G, in sandy beige finish. Acrylic on wood, semi-matt varnish.

custom car portrait - painting progress photos — Photos showing the first stages of the painting: the white base and the lined-up version.

The second part of this car portrait shows the interior. This was drawn freehand, using several photographs as reference. The technique was similar to the exterior view, with a white base put down first, and successive layers of paint added until it was finished.

Bespoke car portrait — Panel 2 of the MGB car portrait, showing the distinctive red interior with white piping. Acrylic on wood. Semi-matt varnish.

MGB reminiscences

Here are some of my uncle’s reminiscences about the car:

” I bought this beloved car on Friday 5^th August 1968. It was raining, and I took the car back to my neighbour’s garage (which I was renting). I leathered the car dry and went off to work (by tube). I then spent the weekend driving up and down the M1 at 40 mph to “run the engine in.” (You had to do this with a new car in those days). On the Monday I took the car in to University Motors (round the corner) where I’d bought it, for its 500 mile service. The mechanics laughed their heads off – it usually takes about a month. At the end of that week, I took a girlfriend on a week’s tour of the West Country. I’d bought a Dinky model of the MG in the correct beige colour which she nicked when we broke up!

MGB original art — This photo shows the new MG being admired by relatives on hols from America. Photo was taken in August outside my home, 27 Burleigh Gardens, Southgate, N14.

Unfortunately, cars of that period were prone to rust. In the 19 years I owned the car, it required new front wings and new castle sections under the doorsills, and a respray. When I sold the car, it was again in need of a complete rebuild. Somewhere I may still have a cassette tape of it going brmmmm brmmmm as it drove away with its new owner.

PS: Forgot to tell you that I proposed in the MGB! In February 1969. We were early for a date with two other couples, so it seemed a good way to pass the time!!! “

Restoration

Here are some photos of VMD 733G which I came across recently on a car sales website. It looks in good order, but some of the restoration decisions look rather inexpert, or at least they’re not to my taste!

This is the car as seen recently for sale on the “Car from UK” website. The condition of the front and rear looks excellent.

The side view, however, shows changes to the ride height which may look a bit more sprightly to certain eyes, but which completely change the character of the car’s stance. The red brake discs also look very wrong, as does the colour and quality of the paint finish (although that’s hard to judge from photographs).

MGB seats & steering wheel replaced — The photo on the left shows how I remember the original seats looked, as well as the original steering wheel. (This is a photo of a car with similar spec). The photo of VMD on the right shows that new seats have been fitted. The apparent orange-red colour is completely wrong, and the seats have black piping, not white. Also their texture looks in the photo to be a bit plastic-like, not leather.

Some MGB Car Portrait Photographs

For your delectation, and to recall the atmosphere around this car in its original, youthful state, here are some beautiful photographs of a similar MGB, by owner and enthusiast @granblogismo, more of whose photographs you can find on Instagram here. He also makes some elegant videos which you can see on Youtube here. (Photos used with his permission).