BOOKS
The man who gave Morris a sporting edge
A weighty tome on Cecil Kimber, the driving force behind MG, is a frank account of a flawed maverick, says Gordon Cruickshank
‘Kim’ produced affordable sports cars but for Morris’s accounts department, models weren’t shifting quickly enough
NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM/HERITAGE IMAGES/GAMMA-KEYSTONE VIA GETTY IMAGES
How many people first competed in an MG? Until diluted to a mere badge, these unassuming machines based on common mechanicals were a reliable way into many competitive car pleasures. Here is the man who made it happen – Cecil Kimber, known as ‘Kim’, warts and all.
Jon Pressnell, known for detailed research on lesser-known figures of the motoring sphere, goes to town on Kim, including his infidelity and his conservative views such as loathing jazz and disapproving of increasing women’s rights – he refused to let one daughter take up her scholarship to Oxford – alongside his more positive capabilities. You have to be impressed by his work ethic – running his several Morris garages and developing his own sporty variations on a Morris theme.