Heritage Motor Centre acquires model of recording breaking car EX135

The Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon has recently acquired a unique silver model of the MG record breaking car, EX135.  EX135 was the first car with an 1100cc engine to exceed 200mph, when famous racing driver Major ATG ‘Goldie’ Gardner claimed the record in Germany in 1939.  The car itself is already part of the collection at the Heritage Motor Centre.

The scale model was presented by MG’s owner, William Morris, Lord Nuffield, to Goldie Gardner in 1938 after he set his first world record of 186mph with EX135 on the newly completed autobahn near Frankfurt.  It was a personal gift by Nuffield and reflected his pride in the success of MG and also his admiration of Gardner.  Gardner received the model during a specially organised luncheon at the Trocadero Restaurant in London.  Among the guests were fellow record-breaking drivers Malcolm Campbell, George Eyston and John Cobb, three of the fastest men on earth at the time.

Stephen Laing, Curator at the Heritage Motor Centre, is delighted with the new addition.  “It’s fantastic to re-unite the model with EX135, adding another piece of the story of MG’s record breaking achievements.  It’s also great to return the model to the Midlands, as it was made not so far from here by Wilmot of Birmingham." The purchase of the model was made possible by a generous grant from Arts Council England’s PRISM Fund.

The model of EX135 will go on display together with the full-size car at the Heritage Motor Centre during the autumn.

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