When Stirling Moss set the world speed record in the MG in 1957
MG had already made a name for itself in the 1930s when it set speed records. Twenty years later, the MG makers set their sights on new records.
This time they enlisted none other than Stirling Moss to drive the new car. And a vehicle was developed in which everything had to be subordinate to aerodynamics and the achievable top speed. The MG EX 181 had a teardrop shape, with the driver sitting far forward in the middle of the car. The car was powered by a 1.5-liter MG A TwinCam engine. The MG engineers teased 290 hp (at 7,000 rpm) out of the power unit thanks to special fuel, a supercharger and other refinements.
On August 23, 1957, Stirling Moss roared across the salt lake near Bonneville in the car and set five world records in the 1100-1500 cc class. The vehicle reached an average speed of 391.31 km/h from both directions.
Just two years later, on October 3, 1959, the American driver Phil Hill followed suit with the improved MG EX 181, now equipped with an enlarged 1506 cc and 300 hp engine, and reached 410.23 km/h. This is still the world record to this day. The EX 181 remains the fastest MG of all time to this day.
