My late father, Eduardo Muñoz Sanchez-Monge used to race an MGTD
in Venezuela, in the early 1950's. He was Subchampion in the 1500 cc. category
in 1953. He raced against other MGTD, Singers and Porsche speedster 1500. I do
not have much information on the car, other that it was a special order from
the factory, it had a high compression engine and beefed suspension, according
to a friend of my father, Francisco Mastropaolo, who had a similar car.
1953 was the first year that a regular car racing championship was
organized in Venezuela. There were several categories, and my father raced in
the 1500 cc sports car categories. The rivals were Singers, other MG TD's and
Porsche 1500 cc. Speedsters. The racing was done in street circuits that were
closed to traffic and in open roads, also closed to traffic. There were no road
circuits on that time in Venezuela. I am attaching photos from two races: A -
Los Proceres circuit, near Fuerte Tiuna Military base, in Caracas, in
12-Apr-53. This circuit was used later with several modifications in three
Grand Prix of Venezuela races for Sport Cars were held in 1955, 1956 and 1957
(but that is another story). In that race my father arrived second to a Porsche
1500 cc. (Photos 1,2,3,4,5,6) B- Tanaguarena street circuit in the Vargas
State, near the La Guaira Seaport, in 08-Nov-1953. This area suffered extensive
damage in the mud slides of December 1999. (Photo 7)
La Vuelta de Aragua Road Circuit: More pictures from the MG TD that my
father raced in 1953. These are from the road race held in the Aragua State in
Venezuela in 14 June, 1953, the race was called the "Vuelta de Aragua" (Race
Around Aragua), it was three loops of an 80 Km road race. In this race my
father arrived 10 in the general position and third in the 1500 cc class,
behind two Porsche 1500.
For the record, here is the general qualification of that race:
Atilio Cagnasso, Hudson Hornet , 1hr, 59 min, 13 sec, average of
120.78 km/hr.
Leopoldo Garmendia, Hudson Hornet, 1hr, 59 min, 49 sec.
Rezende Dos Santos, Porsche 1500, 2hr, 06 min, 14 sec.
Pedro J. Puertas, Ford, 2hr, 06 min, 36 sec.
Reina Morales, Porsche 1500, 2hr, 08 min, 37 sec.
Eduardo Muñoz, MG-TD, 2hr, 9 min, 25 sec
Cars placed 1 to 6 and 8 were the equivalent of modified American Stock
Cars, with big in-line 6 cylinder and maybe flathead V8 engines (Ford)! Eduardo
Muñoz and the MG-TD placed just 48 seconds behind the Porsche 1500 that
arrived in 9 place.
This set of pictures courtesy of Eduardo Antonio Muñoz
Pecchio of Venezuela.
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Description of Pictures
7-sep-1952, from Los Proceres street race track, in Caracas,
Venezuela. (My father won that race.)
A newspaper clipping of the same race race.
Another newspaper clippings of the same race.
12-Apr-1953, MG TD Los Proceres: In hot pursuit of the first place
Porsche 1500, driven by Rezende Dos Santos.
MG TD at Los Proceres pits. Before the race, my father working at the
car. Please notice the dashboard details.
MG TD at Los Proceres: Another photo before the race
08-Nov-1953: Tanaguarena street circuit in the Vargas State, near the
La Guaira Seaport. My father won that race. This is a very nice picture,
scanned at 300 Dpi, from a large size picture. The original is a little
blurry.
10 place in general MG-TD , passing through one of the small towns in
the Aragua State.
Various pictures of MGTDs and MGTFs in racing events during the period.
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Description and Credits of Pictures
(Photo by John George Robitschakj, ran in "MotoRacing" Feb 5-12,
1960, contributed by Bill Watkins)
1951 TD, source Unknown
2nd Grand Prix for production cars on May 20 1951 in Francorchamps, at the borders of 'l Eau Rouge, Belgium. The car with number 39 was driven by Serge Oban who finished 5th. In 1953 this Serge was one of the founders of the MG Car Club Belgium. Source Unknown
1950 MG TD Von Neumann Special Roadster - 1951 Pebble Beach Road Races (Photo: Martine Inn)
John Von Neumann in his supercharged MG Special (Photo: Qvale Collection)
MGs Racing At Thompson 1 (Note Both Left And Right Hand Drive MGs) (Thompson Speedway Gallery)
Bob Falcon, driving MG TD number 57, admires his handiwork at putting number 188 into the dirt during a mid 1950s Road Racing Register event at Willow Springs Raceway (mid 1950's), source Unknown
