Ottos in the press
4WD Custom Guide - Issue no 25 - Defendable
If you venture through any major suburb across Australia, you will undoubtedly see many a small hatchback and a fair splattering of soft-roaders parked around shops and in driveways. But you will also see a large handful of big tough 4WDs. The convenience and logistics of owning and running both a family day-to-day vehicle and a tough track-ready 4WD is beyond the means of many Australian families.
MotorCycle Trader - Issue 323 - July 2017 - Sharp Instruments
G'day, it's John Rooth here. I'm, working on a yarn for Motorcycle Trader magazine. Just wondered if I could speak to Lionel Otto, please?" "That could be difficult." "I'm sorry? Look, I can get back to him later or something. No rush ... " "He's been dead for almost 20 years." It was one of those 'oh shit' moments. But Tom on the end of the line must have been there before because he rolled with it and said, "You need to speak to John Robertson. I'll get him to call you back."
Sports Car World - Dec 1967 - The Green Eyed Monster
Our track test of BMC's Lightweight MG Midget seemed doomed from the start. Competitions manager Alan Kemp and his boys only finished tacking the car together pre-Surfers on the Friday afternoon and just made it up there in time for practice, so we didn't get a so we didn't get a chance for a wholesale shot at it before the race. What happened during the 12-Hour is history but we should repeat here that the car actually reached second overall before the oil pump drive expired. This caused enough havoc in the gutsy little engine to put it out of the race and Kemp only found the full extent of the damage when he got the car back to Sydney and pulled it down.
MG Enthusiast - Issue No 365 - Summer 2018 - The Aussie Pocket Rocket
Aussie Pocket Rocket This racing MG Midget was built in only three weeks and surprised many people out of the box, but was sidelined when a tiny part failed. Now it storms the tracks again, is winning new admirers and rekindling past memories wherever it races. In the first of a two-part story, Craig Watson fills in the background and details it first two years of life.
MG Enthusiast - Issue no 366 - August 2018 - Back from the Dead
Last issue, we explained how this Midget was built by BMC Australia in just three weeks to race at Surfers Paradise in September 1967. It surprised everyone by being competitive straight out of the box, and then led an active life on track through 1968. However, Leyland took over BMC in 1968 and in early 1969 they closed down the Competition Department at Waterloo, New South Wales. Comps Manager Alan Kemp moved into the Public Relations and Advertising Department, while John Cotter [one of the two mechanics who had built this Midget] went to work for John Lindsay in Quality Control.
the b.M.C. EXPERIENCE - Issue no 7 - October to December 2013 - Team Mates
At first glance there are plenty of similarities with the two cars pictured here. Obviously, they both wear similar "war paint". Both are powered by fairly "hot" 127cc A-series engines and both reside in the suburbs of brisbane, within only a few blocks of each other.
Both cars were absolute legends in their day, but their histories, while related, are vastly different. They are more like cousins than brothers, but when parked together or competing at historic race meetings attract many admirers.
