About Us
MG Specialists was founded by “Lou” Shorten in 1964, at which time the MG Magnette Series “ZA” & “ ZB” had been out of production for a number of years & spares were no longer easy to obtain. Lou had a personal need for spares for her own beloved 1955 ZA which she had purchased as a second hand trade in car from a garage in Sussex in 1957 & realised that there were other owners that also needed parts or their own cars. Lou continued to run her business by sourcing spares from wherever she could & having parts remanufactured as & when demand & finances permitted. Lou ran a successful business for just over 50 years before her sad death last year. She kept her ZA until the end, and was President of the MG Car Club Magnette Register.
Husband John joined the business in the early 1980’s to take charge of making repair panels from jigs often hand crafted by himself & to restore the bodywork of many customers cars which then offered a fully rounded service by this husband & wife team who lived & breathed all MG’s, but very much concentrating & specialising on the ZA & ZB models. The business was featured in Safety Fast! and in MG Car Club magazines in Germany, Holland, Japan and USA, and Lou and John completed over 60 total restorations and 40 part-restorations.
Peter Martin was officially asked by Lou to take on a “behind the scenes” role helping with the business in 2004 which he readily agreed to do. Lou asked Peter to take over at the end of 2014 when she realised that she would not be able to carry on. The business today therefore carries on with John still making the repair panels & Peter supplying the parts. Panels can be ordered either direct from John or from Peter. All other parts should be ordered from Peter. Staying true to the businesses original roots, we cater solely for the ZA & ZB Magnette range which we believe is a unique & valuable service for owners of these wonderful cars.