V8 Register - fun and practical support for V8 enthusiasts over 25 years!
Practical mutual support and the camaraderie of a band of V8 enthusiasts have clearly been the essential features which have driven the V8 Register for 25 years. But how has the V8 Register developed as the leading specialist group for MGBV8 and RV8 enthusiasts and achieved recognition as one of the most successful classic car groups? This review looks at where the V8 Register is today and how it has come about, and then some of the key personalities who have contributed to the successful development over the years.
Bracken 1218 owned by Peter Forstner in Germany and formerly by David Waterton for many years. (Photo: David Waterton)

"What does the V8 Register do?"
This is understandably a frequent query from new members and they soon see the emphasis is on providing both useful technical and spares information for running and maintaining V8 powered MGs, together with a compact programme of social events. The practical mutual support provided by the V8 Register is best illustrated by the technical and spares information in the two popular workshop notes series which began shortly after the V8 Register was formed in 1978. The two series have produced a staggering 555 useful notes in 14 volumes and today they are available on convenient CDs in Word and PDF formats. Those notes have come from contributions from members with useful explanations of maintenance concerns and spares tips they have found from running their V8s. So in that sense the V8 Register facilitates sharing of information for mutual benefit and one of the most memorable examples was the late Ian Lloyd and fellow members tracing the changed part number of an RV8 clutch slave cylinder when faced with a report from his local MG Rover dealer that such a vital part was "no longer available"! The V8 Register is a particularly sociable group with the annual gathering at the International MG Meeting at Silverstone organised by the MG Car Club, an annual long weekend V8 Tour, visits to le Mans, the V8 Curry Evening each February and the Sunday lunchtime gatherings at Hazeley Heath in Hampshire.
Geoff Allen, a founder members of the V8 Register and formerly in Rectifications Department at Abingdon for over 27 years. (Photo: Victor Smith)

Peter Beadle, a founder member of the V8 Register member when he was parts manager at University Motors, Epsom back in 1978. (Photo: Victor Smith)

The key factors behind the formation of the V8 Register
They were an early sense of camaraderie between V8 enthusiasts even before the Abingdon Factory had ceased production of the MGBGTV8, and of course the natural attraction of V8 power for an MG enthusiast! The first gathering of V8 enthusiasts was at the Club's Silverstone meeting over the May Bank Holiday in 1979 with an inaugural V8 annual general meeting and dinner on the Sunday evening at a hotel at Weedon Beck, just north of Towcester. Geoff Allen, Peter Beadle, Jerry Bright, Paul Busby, John Dupont, Alan Kingwell, Mike Maude-Roxby, Victor Smith and Tom Studer were there and a V8 Committee was formed. Over the following five years the enthusiasm and energy of V8 enthusiasts resulted in an enormous rate of growth in terms of the V8 Workshop Notes series and membership. The very popular annual V8 Gatherings at Silverstone and entertaining V8 Dinners in a marquee on the lawn of the Thatched House Hotel at Sulgrave were well attended and enjoyed.

The understated character of the BGTV8 is for many V8 enthusiasts the attraction of the model - "a nimble car with effortless performance with the luxury of V8 power which is both flexible and economical - features which continue to have a special appeal for V8 enthusiasts today!". In many ways the V8 has remained an undiscovered classic sports car and consequently prices have never been driven up by "chequebook investors" - so it remains a car which is seen as good value in every sense!

"Do you welcome V8 conversions?"
This has been another frequent query from new members and the clear answer is Yes! - V8 conversions have been a very welcome feature of the V8 Register from those pioneered by Ken Costello and the many examples subsequently produced by Beer of Houghton, the Huntsman Garage, Brown and Gammons, Clive Wheatley, Medway Sports Cars and MG Motorsport to name just a few of the V8 Conversions specialists.
BRG 5018, a good looking Costello GTV8 owned by Paul Denton in Cornwall. (Photo: Paul Denton)
This report was first published in the V8 Newsletter in Safety Fast! in April 2003

An unusual feature of the development of the V8 Register
Many years after the model which inspired the formation of the V8 Register had ceased production, another V8 powered MG was launched by Rover in 1992 - the MG RV8. Here was a new V8 Roadster with a classic look but substantially re-engineered with sophisticated engine management systems. It has proved very popular in the UK, Holland, New Zealand and Australia. It has also been popular in Japan where an extraordinary 80% of the production was sent! Now with the tough and costly local annual "Shaken" vehicle inspection requirements in Japan from the third year after initial registration and the high cost of owning and garaging these cars, many RV8s are appearing at auctions in Japan and flowing back to the UK and over to Australia. So RV8 owners with UK specification RV8s were initially concerned as they had felt the exclusivity of the model in the UK would have maintained its £26,000 launch price but now many RV8 enthusiasts have begun to realise that the greater volume of RV8s in the UK will encourage specialist parts suppliers like Clive Wheatley to hunt out sources of RV8 spares and services. This can only be to the benefit of all RV8 owners in the long term.

Specialist RV8 reimporters like HS Imports have been very active buying up the better quality RV8s in Japan and returning them to the UK or sending them to Australia. There is now a substantial flow of RV8s to the UK, many with extraordinarily low mileages and in very good condition. Those cars are being snapped up by discerning V8 enthusiasts, some with the surprise bonus of a retrofit EPAS power steering system. A similar flow of RV8s is going to Australia but unfortunately regulations introduced in New Zealand in 1997 have blocked further imports there.

So could there be a third coming for V8 power in an MG - well it seems so with the arrival of the incredible 965bhp V8 powered MG SV. One of these cars will be in the V8 25th Exhibition of MGV8s at Silverstone in June this year as Richard Ames of Ames MG Rover of Bury St Edmunds has very kindly offered his car for display.
Flame Red 0342, the RV8 owned by Ian Cranston. (Photo: Ian Cranston)

Personalities in the V8 Register have always played a major part
John Dupont and Peter Laidler contributed many of the workshop notes in the first few years, Peter Beadle was a mine of information on V8 spares (initially at University Motors, then the Sprite & Midget Centre, later Moss), Geoff Allen ran his own business servicing V8s after the closure of the Factory where he had worked in Rectifications Department for over 27 years and has been a knowledgeable V8 Historian, the urbane Mike Maude-Roxby organised the early V8 Dinners and wrote some of the best V8 Columns we have had, the late Geoff Seaton for his technical knowledge, Philip Morgan and Paul Busby could have got jobs at a kipper smoking factory for their V8 BBQ activities, the late Chris Dodds for his energy in getting the V8 Register going downunder, Alan Kingwell for his endless good humour, Howard Gosling as an able chairman for many years in the 1980s, David Franklin for breathtaking performances in the road-going V8 on the track at Silverstone not to mention his toasts at V8 Dinners, Ron Armstrong for launching the popular V8 Tours in Scotland in 1993 whilst chairman, Gavin Bailey as V8 Scribe, Jim Gibson as chairman, David Waterton, Keith Rowson and Adrian Hand for their periods running the V8 Regalia, Roger Parker for generous technical support for many years, Victor Smith as founder and V8 Registrar, Bryan Ditchman for his editing the RV8 Workshop Notes series, David Brown as treasurer, and our current chairman Peter Buckles for the positive approach he brings to any activity. The members who contributed in the early years included Mike Dunlop, Brian Field, Chris Hall, Tony Hilton, Colin Light, Dougald MacNeil, Ian Polley, Mike Satur, Barry Sidery-Smith, Ian Storry, John Targett, Eric Studli, Jeff Ward, Norman Ward, and Tony Watts.


Upwards of 90 V8s parked up alongside the V8 Marquee at Silverstone 2002. (Photo: Victor Smith)


Tahiti Blue 4182 of Geoff Broad, a fine V8 Roadster Conversion built by MG Motorsport, was up for sale earlier this year. (Photo: Geoff Broad)


Clive Wheatley, a V8 enthusiast to the core, helps V8 owners by sourcing difficult spares and providing specialist services like back axle refurbishments for the RV8. (Photo: Victor Smith)