PA 1209

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Current Owner: Keith Elwell-Gavins,  Queensland
MMM No: 464
-Information: Built at Abingdon as a two-seat roadster and dispatched from the export dept. 26/7/34 to South Africa.
Finished in black paint with blue trim and silver wheels.
History:  written by Ross Letten.

“My first knowledge of the car dates back to my secondment from British Leyland to the South African subsidiary in Cape Town in 1983.  One of my work colleagues, Ron Ott, had bought the car in bits from a deceased estate and the restoration work was overseen by another colleague, the extremely knowledgeable M.G. expert, Ralph Clarke.  Anyway Ron had rather wide feet and so struggled to drive her without simultaneously engaging both throttle and brake pedals. Perhaps people had narrower feet in the 1930s?  But anyway he parted with her not long after to Heyns Stead in Pretoria.

In 1996 I was transferred back to South Africa and was casting around to purchase a PA (it has to be said: in a quite pathetic attempt to recapture my long lost youth having had my first PA as a 17-year old in the UK).  After joining the M.G. Car Club in Johannesburg I was introduced to Heyns Stead and promptly bought the car.  The coincidence with my former work colleagues only emerged later.
In 2000 Rio Tinto transferred me to Australia and so PA 1209 came too.”
Ross sold 1209 now known as Pandora to Keith Elwell-Gavins in 2022.
  • Listing ID: 2372
  • Midget: PA
  • Chassis Number: 1209
  • Year of Production: 1934
  • Previous Owners: 1983 Ron Ott, ZA. Ralph Clarke, ZA. Heyns Stead, ZA.
    Ross Letten, Qld 2000-22.
  • Current Owner: Keith Elwell-Gavins
  • Original Engine Number: 1466AP
  • Date Acquired: 10/8/2022
  • Current Reg: 34MGP (QLD.)