‘Kimber’s passionate belief in motorsport as a publicity tool is comprehensively covered, all enhanced by his own photography’
Book of the month
Perfectly timed for MG’s centenary is this superb biography of Cecil Kimber, the company founder and mastermind of the sporting image behind the octagon badge. There’s no stopping author Jon Pressnell, who has switched from award-winning titles on the Lamborghini Miura and coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout to a subject close to his heart.
Since Jon reviewed the little-known The Cecil Kimber Centenary Book, edited by US enthusiast Richard Knudson and published in 1988 by the New England MG T Register, the C&SC senior contributor has been determined to produce a more expanded offering. After 35 years it took another American, Glyn Morris of Dalton Watson, to commission it, but the 536-page title with more than 700 illustrations has been worth the wait.
As always, Jon digs deep in the research and Kim is packed with fresh material on both Kimber’s career and family life. Motorcycling was his first passion, but a serious ’bike accident changed his life. After failed operations on a smashed thigh, his leg was nearly amputated but he never complained about the pain he suffered for the rest of his life.
Unable to ride, Kimber switched to driving with a jaunty-looking Singer based on the Brooklands racer ‘Jabberwock’, which pioneer aviator Vivian Hewitt converted for the road. The wealth of early photos – Kimber was also fascinated by cameras – includes evocative shots of his honeymoon in Wales with first wife Irene Hunt in the Singer.
After leaving his father’s print engineering business, Kimber worked at Sheffield-Simplex, AC Cars, EG Wrigley – which supplied components to William Morris – and Angus-Sanderson, where he gained his first design credits. But it was with his appointment as sales manager for Morris Garages in 1921 that Kimber’s career really took off. The idea of a special-edition
