The following story is based on an interview with my father, John V. Pellegrino (b. 1935), conducted on August 19th, 2025. Dad provides some fascinating insights on what it was like to own a British car in the USA in the 1960s and early ’70s.
Our story begins in 1960, which was the year my father was honorably discharged from the United States Army. He had been drafted in 1958, and was inducted on March 24th of that year–the same day as Elvis Presley. Elvis got out earlier–and Dad always resented that…another example of how “The System” unfairly favors certain people.
So now Dad is out, he has a job, and needs a car. In my father’s opinion, the American cars of the time were not particularly special or elegant in any way. They were mundane, had mediocre engineering, questionable styling, and were not screwed together with any particular care. European cars had much more appeal. Driving a foreign car in those days gave you a certain sense of élan–of being “above the fray”–more intelligent and sophisticated than the average schmoe driving a Ford or a Chevy.
Dad goes out and buys–a new Austin Healy Sprite! If there’s a car cuter than this, I don’t know what it is. Leaf Green. What a car that must have been! Dad drove it all over. But in 1964, Dad had an accident with it resulting in front-end damage. He took it to a local body shop, who promised to get a new hood and repaint everything to match. When Dad went to pick the car up, he found that the body men had simply Bondo’ed the old hood, and didn’t do such a great job on it. So what do you do when you’ve been had? You pay your money and move on.
Because of the sloppy repair job, Dad got disgusted with the Sprite and decided to trade it in on a new car. What to buy? The lines of the Renault Caravelle were very appealing, but the Caravelle was priced a little high. He thought about a Saab, but didn’t like the idea of mixing oil and gas to refuel. Finally he decided on–a new MG 1100 2-door sedan.
I personally liked the MG–I thought it had an elegant look with its classical radiator and pointed taillights. It had a real wood dash too. The 1100 was not a sports car, but that same year (1964) my father married my mother, and the little sedan was much more practical.
Besides its distinctive looks, one of the big attractions of the MG 1100 was its unique engineering.
The MG was front-wheel-drive and had a transverse-mounted engine (turned sideways, not front-to-back). Engine, transmission, and differential were all one unit, and they all shared the same oil. There were two carburetors. Disc brakes. The chassis featured a liquid suspension system, with no steel springs or shock absorbers. This was all rather innovative, very unlike the conventional domestic cars of the time.
According to Dad, the ownership experience was generally positive, and the car (partly because of its innate simplicity) was very reliable. However, the MG did develop some rather unique problems.
Over time, the motor mounts supporting the engine/transmission/differential unit deteriorated and compressed. This weight shift threw the front end out of alignment and resulted in increased noise and vibration. Dad’s solution was to screw new rubber pieces to the old mounts, raising the engine height back to design level. However, because the front end alignment had been out of spec, the edges of the tires wore out, necessitating new tires. Dad bought radials for the first time, and WOW! The steering and handling improved greatly. No one realized at the time that radial tires were so superior to bias ply, because everyone was so used to crummy bias ply tires and had nothing to compare them to.
A coworker at Dad’s place of employment was telling everybody how great Quaker State motor oil was. So Dad says, maybe I’ll try some. He changes the oil in the MG and fills up with Quaker State. He then sets out on a trip down the shore, and the manual transmission is shifting terribly. It gets worse and worse, and he barely makes it home. He immediately drains out the Quaker State, fills up with Castrol, and everything’s fine. Since the engine, transmission, and differential all share the same oil, this was a true test showing how bad the lubricating qualities of Quaker State were at that time. To this day, I will avoid buying any motor oil labeled Quaker State, even though I’m quite sure that today’s product is vastly different and superior to anything sold in the 1960s.
Unlike GM’s disastrous air suspension designs of 1958, the MG’s liquid suspension system proved quite reliable. However, one of the liquid tubes rubbed against something and developed a leak. The car sank but was still driveable. Instead of replacing the whole tube, Dad patched it with fittings. But to replace the liquid (antifreeze and water), you need a special machine to add the liquid and remove any trapped air. Only the dealer has that. So Dad went to the dealer, had the system refilled, and he was back on the road again.
Especially in later years, finding MG replacement parts wasn’t always easy. There was a plastic “wishbone” piece in the steering column that cancelled the directional signals after completing a turn. It snapped. The dealer doesn’t have it. So Dad writes to BMC in England and receives a very cordial reply and a new wishbone, which Dad installs. Problem solved.
Many times in life, there is some small, niggling problem with a car, something around the house, or even our own bodies, and we can’t figure out how to fix it. The accelerator pedal on the MG never operated smoothly and freely. Dad went over the whole linkage multiple times, but it never worked quite right. Then he discovered that the cable that went through a hole in the firewall was bent and scraping against the hole. Dad straightened it, and the accelerator operated smoothly for the first time!
Another thing worth noting is that for some reason, MG 1100s had no provision for a radio. Dad’s a big radio guy, so he bought an aftermarket radio and put it in himself. This of course included a front fender antenna, which Dad put a little American flag on. I remember that over time the wind frayed the cloth fibers, and the flag didn’t last too long.
How does this story end? Well, in the lead picture of the car, you can see that some rust is forming, and the paint finish is pretty dull. Grandma made cloth seat covers to go over the worn upholstery. Dad says, “The car just wore out.” So one evening in 1974, we all head down to a used car lot in Dover, New Jersey, to trade in the MG for a new (used) car. Under the glowing street lights–shining, glistening seductively–I see the car that Dad is about to buy, and I can’t believe my eyes! It’s orange, and it looks like a race car. Wow, is this possible? Eight-year-old me couldn’t believe what I was seeing–it was a 1970 Opel GT! I never saw or heard of such a car before, but I knew without doubt that we were going to have the coolest car in the neighborhood! Of course there was no back seat in the Opel, so my brother and I would have to sit on this hard, loop-carpeted package shelf; but hey, such is the price of riding around in a car that is so hip and cool, like Get Smart or Speed Racer!
Looking back on the MG saga, I get the impression that the 1100 was a nice-looking, well-engineered car that provided good service. However, I think that a lot of “average” American owners would be befuddled and unable to cope with the idiosyncratic problems and servicing issues that would come up. Dealer parts and service were not so easily obtained, and you need an “engineer’s mind” like my father’s to understand the unique workings of this car and properly diagnose and fix things in order to keep going.
Because of this, the survival rates on these old 1100s is abysmally low–I haven’t seen another one in years, decades even. Which is kind of a shame, in a way. It would be hard to keep an 1100 running even now–where do you go to re-fill the liquid suspension? Can you find parts? I’m sure there must be 1100s still driven somewhere–but owners of such cars would have to be mechanically inclined and really dedicated to them in order to keep everything working as it should.
I guess something of the British car bug rubbed off on me, because my “daily driver” is a 2005 Jaguar S-Type. This Jag is several notches up in luxury and sophistication from that old MG, but it still has that Old World European charm–the wood dash, the classical grille, the compact size; and the wonderful chrome “Leaper” on the hood! I get positive comments on my S-Type, but these cars are around twenty years old now, and any major repairs will cost a fair amount of money. It can be hard to justify sinking big bucks into repairing a car that isn’t worth that much in terms of resale. But for now, I’m still cruising around in my Jag, which makes everyday trips seem a little more elegant and exciting!
Related CC reading
Curbside Classic: 1965 MG 1100 (ADO16)–BMC’s Greatest Hit
Vintage R&T Owner’s Report (1968): 100,507 Miles In An MG 1100
I knew someone in the mid-’70s who drove another ADO16 variant called the Austin America, though there was nothing remotely American about it. It was a really good car if you knew a mechanic skilled at working on them (or were one yourself). For everyone else, it was very unfamiliar. Did availability of the MG version (or any others) overlap the America? Sad these were replaced by the Allegro and Marina, both which occupy roughly the same place in British automotive lore as the Chevy Vega does in the US.
A neglected footnote in the multi-brand (six!) ADO16’s tale was the MG Princess 1100, sold in the US between 1964-1966. The MG Princess was the by then familiar Vanden Plas 1100 (all with a manual transmission, no automatic ever offered) modified to the extent of being adorned with an MG badge on the trunk (boot) lid and hubcaps although it must have been though that wasn’t getting the message across because in mid-1964 the octagonal symbol was added also to the Vanden Plas grill. The rationale behind this curious hybrid was the perception the US market would respond well to a “luxury version” of the basic vehicle (and how the US industry would handle that notion in the next two decades proved the idea was sound) but the “Vanden Plas” name was essentially unknown in the US whereas MG had strong “brand recognition” because of the post-war success of first the updated pre-war “square riggers” (the TC, TD & TF (1945-1955)) and the later MGA (1955-1962), Midget (1961-1979) & MGB (1962-1980) sports cars. Thus the MG Princess 1100 was introduced in February 1964 at the New York Motor Show but while the sports cars enjoyed strong demand, BMC shifted a paltry 156 of the MG Princess and in 1966 the model was withdrawn from the US market. As the Austin America, the ADO16 would later be sold in the US between 1968-1972; it was not a great success.
Very nice story. I believe about ten years ago, I saw such car parked in a garage in Route 516 & Route 18, Old Bridge, NJ. I was quite sure it was an Austin. As this car now unique front wheel drive configuration, the transmission and engine share the same oil for lubrication, this often contributes some unforeseen consequences. I think it was the reason for your dad problem with Quicker State oil.
Actually my uncle had a similar vehicle in Hong Kong in late 1960s, his was a Morris Mk2. His then boss, an American dentist from San Francisco, owned that car before sold to my uncle. He used for few years before he migrated to Quebec City and eventually settled in Philly. Because he was from Hong Kong, he was keen in European cars, he originally wanted to have VW Beetle, but his new US boss was a very nice Jew dentist, he decided to get a Chevy Vega with manual transmission, a vehicle with Opel influence. That was a tragedy in its own making. He has its engine blown up on his way to visit my aunt in Quebec City after his car was struck in a snow. I believe GM replaced with another Vega later.
Great write-up! We had a ’66 1100, first car I remember riding in. I know Dad changed the oil and did other little stuff. We replaced it about 5 years later with an Austin America. I don’t remember any major issues with either but then I was only 9 when the Austin was replaced.
Dad drove a 1958 Hillman Husky for at least four or five years (long enough that I remember rattling around in the back with my next-younger brother). The only comment I remember him making about it was that it leaked oil (of course), which is likely why it’s parked curbside rather than in the driveway.
The only other “foreign” car he and Mom owned was the ’59 Beetle they purchased new, and in which I rode home from the hospital after greeting the world. A Chevy Biscayne replaced the Beetle, and I presume the Husky was added as Dad’s ‘work’ vehicle.
I worked for a Dodge dealership in Hampton VA that also sold Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and MG. We had the suspension pump and I actually had to use it, I believe it was a Mini (it was over 40 years ago) I had no manual for the pump, so just sort of winged it (unlike your dad, I am not an engineer by degree, but have a good engineer’s abillty to analyze and devise a solution). I got the car leveled out and the owner was happy.
One of the idiosyncrosies of the Britsh Leland FWD cars, waas the engine orientation, it placed the distributor on the front side of the engine (great for servicing unlike GM’s first batch of FWD with the “Iron Duke” where it was on the back side and only really accesible from underneath). If you didn’t have the protective boot on that Lucas distributor, a heavy rain could leave you stranded.
On Quaker State oil, I refer to it as “Quaker Sludge” after using it in a 1970 1/2 Falcon station wagon (my later wife bought it from a friend’s used car lot). I switched to Pennzoil and after a while found the sludge in the valve covers slowly disappearing.
My parent’s first car was a 1954 Hillman Minx. I think I actually remember it; though that may be influenced by a handful of photos in family albums, I do have a vivid visual memory of its maroon color and all our photos from that era are black and white. My mom (our family car buyer and driver) had nothing but good things to say about it. We had it for 6 years and it took several trips from the San Francisco Bay Area to Lake Tahoe. It was replaced by a Volvo 544, which influenced our neighbor to buy one. But she didn’t like it and just a few years later the neighbor’s 544 was replaced by an Austin America, with the manual transmission. Within a few years the Austin was replaced yet again by a Triumph TR3 which endured into the early Nineties.
Surprisingly a lot of those cars survive in NZ, yes they sink when the fluid leaks out but thise BMC suspension pumps are still around too, they were Citroen done cheap,
Using engine oil in manual transmissions isnt unusual on British cars, sulphur in hp gear oils eats the bronze syncro cones in Hillmans so its engine oil in the gearbox, it doesnt share oil with the engine though,
No parts for it anywhere local, yeah I can see that being an issue, I have two cars that have that problem now thankfully there is the internet, and the difficult to find heater on/off valve for a Superminx was shared with a couple of other brands so I have somewhere to look,
parts for my daily are somewhat harder to get, the engine and trans were an experimental fitment to see if it was any good actually it was the trans that had to be modified to cope with the new engine that had to be proven and they went into regular production 4 years later, in Citroens Pugs and Jaguars.
Your father is about the same age as my father, and my dad also gravitated to foreign cars in the very early 1960s. Many of your stories here sound extremely familiar. Dad often spoke about the “engineer’s mindset” for many foreign cars owners of the time, lots of common niggling problems, and also a strong camaraderie among many owners.
My dad’s foreign car progression went from a Karmann Ghia (abt. 1961) to a Porsche 356 to a Peugeot 404 to a Triumph TR-4. The Porsche met its fate in an accident similar to your dad’s Sprite.
I’m glad you took the time to talk to your dad about all this, because those little details of everyday life are mighty hard to resurrect years later.
Pops was also a foreign car enthusiast in the 1950’s through his death .
His work too him to Europe repeatedly so in 1954 he skipped waiting in line at the VW Dealer and brought a bare bones if brand new 1954 KOMBI home, it was perfect for carrying six screaming brats all over New England rain snow or shine .
Almost everyone knew someone who’d suffered terribly with an “L.B.C.” back then the old guys who trained me warned me away from ever buying or getting suckered into working on them, as a young adult I bought several L.B.C.s and loved them all to death .
-Nate
L.B.C. . . . ? What’s that? Little British Car?
I had that Matchbox cr too, and was thrilled to see a very similar MG1100 4 door in the carpool line at nursery school in 1969. I think I briefly thought it was a cooler car than our own dark green ride, a 1966 Mercedes 250S, which replaced a 1964 Plymouth Valiant. In the 80s and early 90s I used to pass a house in Elmsford NY that had two Austin Americas out front which had the same body as the 1100 but used the bigger 1300 engine and an automatic transmission.
I think more Americans in our general age group know this car from the Matchbox version than from any other way. It is certainly true with me, and I was always mystified that I never saw them around on the streets.
I think you hit on the mindset that fueled that import boom during the few years before and after 1960. My parents were in their 20s then and did the same thing, but with a Karmann Ghia and an English Ford Anglia. But a growing family pushed them back into American cars by 1961 and they never went back until my father sampled a couple of Honda products later in his life.
I remember when a mechanic who worked on “foreign cars” was a niche thing, but a very necessary thing for those who insisted on staying outside of the mainstream. I remember one on the outskirts of Fort Wayne, a fairly motley looking building with a collection of British, German and French cars waiting for their time in the service bay.
They made and sold 90,000 of these in Britains’ colony Australia from ’64-’69, so there were plenty about when I was a kid in the ’70’s. But even by then, they were already really cheap used cars (that, or perfectly-kept little old gloved-handed ladies cars). The populace had discovered Japanese cars, which were much easier to drive and simply didn’t break like so much of the previous English littlies did (these Morries included), and by the ’80’s, I swear there were none left. Well, few: a friend had a low-mileage 4-spd automatic, a roomy and super-comfy car of great stability. Which also overheated, sank on one side, then the other, then the starter died, then the generator, then the doorhandles, finally the transmission….you get the drift.
I think it probably took an engineer dad to respect and keep one of these on the road.
As a complete car-nerd by-the-by, did anyone else notice that in the US ad for the Michelin radials, the Michelin man is excitedly delaminating a “radial” tyre whose carcass is absolutely that of a cross-ply?
Great tale, and a nice tonic to hear about a satisfied owner of a British car in the US!
I still rate this car (and its ADO16 siblings – Austin, Morris, Riley, Wolesley and Vanden Plas) as Alec Issigonis’s finest hour and one of the most significant cars of the 1960s, anywhere. Everything you liked about the MIni but with the space of a (larger) Ford Cortina and the best ride in its class. No wonder it took 15% of the UK market on its own at its peak.
Alec Issigonis designed Britain’s 3 favourite cars of the post war ear – the Morris Minor, the Mini and this – and, even if none of them really made in North America, the proportion of British families with one of the 3 in the photo family albums has to be very, very high.
It was so good, out of the box, that BMC took its new 1100 cc engine and put it in the Minor at the same time.,….you could have a Morris 1100 or a Morris Minor 1100, but they were very different things. With BMC, you couldn’t make it up……
Full marks to your Dad for keeping it going in New Jersey for 10 years, and that S Type looks good too!
I had a Dinky model of this although it may have been the Morris version. Count my Dad as another engineer with a preference for foreign cars over USA cars in the late ’50s into the ’60s. He bought an English Ford Consul, which was replaced after being totalled in a head on crash by a 1959 Zephyr. His next car was American in 1968 – a Checker. Another favorite of engineers and academic types.
Good story, that sounds a lot like my great uncle Arch’s experience. After driving an aircraft carrier during WW2 (CVL-29 Bataan) he’d had enough of big American iron and thereafter drove British sedans.
In the early 70’s his mechanic told him to get rid of his old Austin and buy one of those new Honda civics, and he was a Honda guy for the rest of his life.
Dad did buy a Honda Civic after the Opel–a dark red ’81 2-door hatchback.
Think I’ve seen about three/four of these “MG”, models in my “64” years. The “midget, converts” on the other hand were/ are more plentiful. Just saw one two mornings ago.
I’m most amazed at the photo of that multicolored engine! Was it custom painted at a day care, or what?