After the pleasant diversion of a blog award it's back to the meat and potatoes of this blog, the "vintage-item-found-in-odd-place" story. In this case the vintage item is a 1928 MG 14/40 Mark IV and the odd place - underneath a cowshed!
In one of those bizarre instances that I love so much this MG, dismantled and buried shortly before the Second World War, was rediscovered 60 years later and has since been restored to show-winning standard.
What it must have been like to unearth (literally!) an almost complete pre-war MG - in such unusual and unexpected circumstances - can only be imagined. The story of its fate prior to this is quite remarkable and remains open to speculation. The idea that it was buried to save it from use in the war effort is an interesting one, but to the best of my knowledge cars of the time were not reused for war materiél although some were of course converted for military service. The likelihood of a sporty MG being used for such purposes is doubtful, though. It is always possible, I suppose, that the owner was anticipating the worst-case scenario on the outbreak of hostilities.
Whatever the reason for it ending up where it did its wonderfully preserved condition (albeit in pieces!) has allowed for a splendidly original restoration, allowing it to take its rightful place alongside the few examples of its mark and bodystyle as a rare MG with a fascinating story to tell.
Wow. It just goes to show you never know what you might unearth!
ReplyDeleteMy barn's coming down in a few months, I'll get digging and see what I can find - A car wouldn't suprise me! Fingers crossed for an MG :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so fantastic! I heard of the military burying things to later be assembled and used, but never any civilian doing it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Note to self: buy old country house with shed and wait for awards to come flooding in.
ReplyDeletePenny Dreadful Vintage
People buried all sorts in case of invasion by the enemy. My great Granddad buried all the family treasures in the woods behind the house at the start of the war. By the time it ended he couldn't remember where exactly it was he buried them......they never have been found!
ReplyDeleteThat's an amazing piece of restoration work.
ReplyDeleteRe; Miss Magpie's great-granddad; I visited the Pavlovsk summer palace near St Petersburg in the early 1990s, and the staff there told us that the statuary from the house and garden had been buried to keep it safe from the Germans, and after the war no-one could find it again!