Arkell’s Brewery has released Petrol Head, a 4.5% ABV pale beer, to mark the centenary of car maker MG. It has been brewed using traditional Norwegian Kveik yeast.
In 1923, brewery ancestor Oliver Arkell was the first person documented to purchase an MG, a Raworth-bodied Super Sports model.
Only six of these were made and, sadly, none of these 1923 models are known to have survived. But within the archives of the Early MG Society, there are many period photos of some of the cars. They even have registration dates and numbers along with the ‘client copy’ and a copy of the ‘works copy’ of Oliver Arkell’s order. These surviving copies are significant because they represent the very first documented sale of an MG sports car.
Oliver’s MG was registered FC5855. It is reported that a young John Oliver Arkell went to the Morris Garages, Queen Street, showrooms in Oxford on 11th August 1923 to buy a ‘Chummy’. Author Wilson McComb, in his book The Story of the MG Sports Car, records that Oliver spied a “yellow sports car in the window — an unusual yellow, the colour of good butter, and it had black wings”.
Cecil Kimber, manager of the garages, quoted a price of £300 for the MG, so Oliver agreed to buy it on the basis that it wasn’t much more than the Chummy. Payment of a deposit was made, and his Raworth was registered on 16th August, 1923. On 5th September it was delivered to the family home in Highworth, Wiltshire.
Following the death of Oliver’s father, James Arkell, who died aged 76 in 1925, the brewery was run by brothers James Graham, Thomas Noel (later Sir Noel), and Oliver Arkell; the grandsons of John Arkell, founder of the Swindon-based brewery.
MG owners and enthusiasts have been celebrating this weekend, with many joining road runs to a centenary event at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.
“It seems only fitting that we produce a beer for the centenary, given that our brewery ancestor is recognised as the first person to have bought an MG sports car,” said head brewer, Alex Arkell.
The one-off brew is available on draught or in bottles at participating Arkell’s pubs, and is also on sale at Arkell’s Grape and Grain Wine and Brewery Warehouse.
