THE FULL WORKS

Mike Authers is known for his business, Mike Authers Classics, specialising in MG Midgets and other BMC-derived classics. A good friend and part of his team, Geoff Clark, used to be employed in the BMC Development Department in Abingdon and lived near fellow Works engineer Cliff Humphries, well known for his involvement with the Works 6R4 and earlier BMC projects. Cliff gave Geoff a lift to work at the Abingdon factory for over 15 years.

Now there is nothing unusual about a bit of car sharing, in fact it’s very sensible. The interesting part is the transport used. As part of the job, Cliff would have to use an array of Works rally cars, in order to rack up some mileage and test them before they were sent out on international and British rallies. We can only imagine what that could have been like, with limited conversation between the pair as Cliff listened for potential problems. Mike explains: “Cliff was the development engineer and he had to test them so he took them home. They all did. Cliff said they would do one event and they were re-built with new shells.” We may look back through misty eyes at the prospect of commuting in BMC Works cars