MEET THE OWNER – SIMON DWYER AND HIS 1959 POLICE MGA

As Goodwood has scheduled the Revival for the 17th to 19th of September, there is no better time to celebrate its famous “Pace Car”. Just as notable, Simon Dwyer’s 1959 MGA 1600 Mk 1 is one of the few surviving cars from Lancashire Constabulary’s traffic fleet.

For many years Britain’s police forces were one of MG’s most high profile customers. Abingdon devised several ‘Constabulary’ modifications for the A, including the dynamo from the BMC C-Series engine and heavy-duty batteries. MGAs served in Bristol, Cardiff, Northumberland, Scotland and, most famously, Lancashire – then the UK’s biggest force outside of London.

Lancashire started using MGs in 1932 with a batch of six J2 Midgets, and in November of 1955, they ordered XTC 251, the first of their 55 MGA patrol cars. Four years later, they commissioned 592 KTB as one of a 12-strong batch of 1600 Mk 1s. At that time, the force’s Area Cars had a black livery, but their Traffic Cars were painted white, which was highly unusual in the late 1950s.

The Dwyer MG is fitted with illuminated signs fore and aft, a rear ‘stop’ warning and red warning beacon, a blue flashing lamp on the front wing, two 12-volt batteries in upgraded trays and replica loud hailers. Either two-note horns or the gong could summon errant Ford Consul drivers while the dashboard features a recalibrated Smiths speedometer. Only those officers who had passed their Standard A advanced driving course would be issued the keys to such a fine vehicle.

However, the MGA does lack a heater (an extra costing £17 7s 1d) as controls for the two-way radio displaced it. Nor did the blanket issued by Lancashire to its officers prove useful when patrolling the roads near Bowland Fells in winter. Simon readily insists that motoring in January and February is “absolutely freezing!”. The boot-mounted Pye wireless transmitter, plus white coats, hurricane lamps, flares, first aid and ‘incident’ boxes, a fire extinguisher and ‘Accident’ signs, also meant there was no space for a spare wheel.

Aside from the MG’s appearance, what truly started many a 1950s motorist was that WPCs crewed it. In 1957, an excited journalist ranted: “It is no reflection on their character to say that these women of Lancashire County Force are ‘fast’. They are equipped with MG sports cars, capable of 100 miles an hour, as the first women drivers in the traffic patrol branch.”

At a time when the popular cinematic image of the police was a pipe-smoking male Detective-Inspector in a Scotland Yard Wolseley, this was indeed radical policing.

Lancashire decommissioned 592 KTB in 1965, and after a varied civilian career, it was restored to its police livery in the 1990s. The first Goodwood Revival took place in 1998, where the MG was a star attraction. Simon became its custodian in 2005, and he is still tracing its history, including which region it patrolled. Another mystery is its whereabouts between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s. And to say his A causes a sensation at every one of its show appearances is an understatement. One might even say it is a very arresting sight…

With Thanks To Simon Dwyer of Originalvintagemovieposters.co.uk

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