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Home of the TT F-Xtreme |
And in the same way it all happened again in 2008 the lead up to the MGFest 08 led to a couple of MG fans saying I want one, and so I found a new manufacturer and handed over the original prototype and said make these. This time reverting to the Mk1 fitments and design also producing them only with the instantly recognisable cut off tail pipes. This time the exhaust ends will be polished and the silencer boxes too making them instantly recognisable. Once again the exhaust sold quickly for a short run of only 15. |
The History of the TT Exhaust |
by Neil Willetts |
When I was younger I had an old Honda CB200. Not a very rapid or great bike but it was a four stroke and it could be modified to make a great sound. I found a manufacturer now alas long gone called Campbell Geometrics who supplied me with a very extreme exhaust system. It came with a large nut in the centre of the silencer which could be turned to adjust the volume of the exhaust. What an excellent system! Needless to say that the exhaust was only ever adjusted once and that was on fitment to max volume where it remained for the next 4 years. |
Neil Willetts |
At the time I worked at TRW United Carr a company that supplied parts to the automotive industry and so it was inevitable that the TT exhaust or something like it would come into existence. |
With prototype TT MK1 exhaust fitted |
Meanwhile there was a little community of motor service operators in Mitcham where I had bought a large chunk of negative equity. The primary parts of this were two operations. The Exhaustman and Trevor Taylor Conversions an MG specialist of some note. Both are now unfortunately closed. |
On the job side of things I was doing well and joined a Business Strategy Consultancy at the time I was driving a 1969 Triumph 2000 (with of course a modified straight through exhaust). One evening I got lost and joined a very heavy traffic jam. My mobile ran out of power so I pulled into Trident MG just as they were shutting to use their phone to call the wife. In the showroom was one of the first MGFs in Flame red, you know what happens next… |
From the first incarnation of the MG EX-E I’ve always wanted a mid-engined MG . The original image of the EX-E adorned my office wall back in the mid late 80s so it was inevitable that I would get an MGF and on March 10th 1996 I collected my Red MGF. What a great experience …apart from one thing… Rev the engine and it went phut-wheeze. This wasn’t an MG sound. Old Bs blat around making a sound like spanners being flushed down a drain BV8s sing a song written in heaven. Older MGs get even greater soundtracks. No something had to be done about this. So in 1999 I went to see Trevor Taylor armed with some basic sketches and we discussed design. |
The original sketches |
I wanted a straight through design I am not a big fan of chambered silencers and I wanted to apply what we had learned. We went to the Exhaustman and he created from our brief the first of the TT pipes. At this time I had a cat bypass made and fitted, probably one of the first. When we first started the car up in Trevor’s garage OMG!! I’ve never heard anything like it. Absolutely perfect, spot on. Loud, powerful and deep. Just what I had hoped happened. This was the MGF sound for me. |
The first TT F-Xtreme |
Trevor and I agreed that he could make these and sell them as the Trevor Taylor Fxtreme exhaust. I am not sure how many were made but they all carry the original straight-through design and the brutal cut-off ends. These pipes were never polished only made for early MGFs and had mild steel flanges with bolt on fixtures for easy removal at MOT time so you can refit the cat. I still have the original prototype on my MGF. Unfortunately Trevor died of cancer soon afterwards. In 2005 at the 10th anniversary of the F at Gaydon I was accosted by ….I’ll remember his name in a moment … who heard me arrive, came up to me and said.. “that’s a Trev Taylor isn’t it, and you’re going to tell me their made of unobtanium and you cant get them anymore but I want one” Needless to say I thought this through and decided that I should get another batch made. Thus was born the TT Mk 2. Again only ever made in low numbers (14) and again made to the original straight through design with a few modifications. The Mk 2 sold well to MGF and TF fanatics mainly created as labour of love, an exclusive pipe for those in the know. |
A batch of MK2 exhausts with the MK1 Prototype |
In 1988 the lady who was to become my wife Janet bought a black X1/9, I suppose you could call that a predecessor to the MGF. That was a brilliant little car. I went and bought myself a matching red one. The black one’s exhaust fell off but on examination somebody had fitted a 4-1 manifold onto it. This got me thinking. |
Trevor Taylor |
I went along to the Exhaustman and had many long conversations about how to make exhausts; he had considerable experience making them for Tyrell and Brabham F1. I learned a lot and armed with a bunch of bends and the Exhaustman’s guidance I made a pretty good job of creating my first straight through exhaust for the X1/9. I was very pleased with what I had learned put into reality. It was outstanding, it transformed the car adding what seemed like a hundred horsepower and a real dose of Italian bravo to an already decent little car. My wife drove that car until she couldn’t physically get behind the wheel pregnant with James. |