Paula Hamilton and her connections with MGs and the MGBGTV8
Paula worked for only a short while at the MG main distributor University Motors in Hanwell west London in around 1968 selling different MGs especially the MGC and MGCGT including their University Special MGCs.

She bought a new Mineral Blue MGBGT in 1966 and then a new Tartan Red MGBGT in 1969 which she nearly had converted by Ken Costello after he took her for a spin in his V8 conversion. She decided against it, which was in many ways fortunate because in early 1973 she heard a rumour that MG was going to bring their own MGBGTV8 to market. As a director of the family business that did a lot of work for BL, she contacted their Sales Office and heard it was indeed true the Factory BGTV8 was being introduced that August. She said “Could I order one” and they said “No problem, what colour?” So she said “Glacier White and can it be delivered via Weybridge Automobiles, my local dealership”. So on 14th/15th August 1973, the day of the announcement of the launch she collected the car and immediately drove it into London where she was often stopped by people asking “Is that the new V8” to which she proudly said “Yes”.

Paula kept her MGBGTV8 (Glacier White 0409) until 1982 when she sold it to her friend, the late and much missed Barry Sidery-Smith who added a Webasto sunroof. He then sold it to MG racer Colin Pearcy who kept it beautifully. Colin had MG specialists Beer of Houghton lower the suspension which transformed the handling by getting rid of the dreaded roll oversteer on cornering on the limit which resulted in quite a few V8s being written off by unsuspecting owners. BL actually got that wrong because they were worried about axle tramp with the extra power of the Rover V8 engine, but in Paula’s modified V8 she said it was never a problem.

In the spring of 1983 Paula briefly purchased from Barry a Glacier White Costello MGB Roadster that produced almost 200bhp at the wheels. "That car flew and was a Porsche eater" Paula remembers. Then in 1985, via Barry, she bought HFF 416 from Colin and kept it to 1991 when she sold it back once again to Barry. During that 6 year period she took the car to Silverstone and paraded it with other MGs, especially with the late MG racer Bill Nicholson’s MGB. She recalls with a chuckle "we were all told off afterwards by the Clerk of the Course for driving at almost racing speeds”.