For many years, the Y-Type was the overlooked MG of its era. But its flame was kept alive by a select band of aficionados, including John Lawson, who published his book MG Y Types and Tourers in 1988. Dave Lawrence, a Y-Type owner in South Africa, knew John Lawson well and studied his book in great detail. Also having read Clausager’s Original M.G. T Series book, Dave came to the conclusion that something similar to the latter work might be worthwhile. He set to work in 1989 and completed his 290 page book eight years later, in 1997. The book, which has now become the definitive book on the MG Y-Type, was titled: Let There Be Ys (LTBYs).

Dave commissioned an initial run of 500 books, which at the time seemed a realistic number. The book retailed for £40 and soon became a must-have for every Y-Type owner. The books were available for a couple of years, but as the popularity of both the book and the MG Y-Type increased, the stock was soon exhausted and copies changed hands on eBay for up to £175!

A number of owners made contact with Dave following publication, providing further details and information. As a direct consequence Dave published the first Supplement in 2002, containing a further 16 pages of corrections, additions and updates. 

There was a definite requirement for a reprint but unfortunately Dave’s printer in South Africa, who had used somewhat dated technology originally, had lost many of the plates.  Eventually it was decided to produce an electronic (E-Book) version of LTBYS. The book would be produced as a direct reproduction of the original text, but now with two supplements integrated with the book via hyperlinks. A further advantage of the E-Book version was that it could be indexed both by chapter and heading, and made text searchable.

After numerous hours of work and proof reading (undertaken in the USA, UK and South Africa), the product was eventually made available earlier this year. The E-Book is competitively priced at US$35 (approximately £21), and works on all versions of Windows, while a copy that will run on the MAC operating system is under evaluation.

Initial reaction to the electronic version of the book has been extremely favourable. The publishers, YZ Publications, have also used the same technology and approach with a number of other E Books for the MG Y and MG Z owning community – John Lawson’s MG Y Type Saloons and Tourers is also available at a cost of US$25 (approximately £15), and includes three bonus publications: Wheelspin Abroad By C.A.N. May, Discovering the Y Type and the Alternative Parts list, the latter being two of John Lawson’s other works. A full list of publications can be accessed directly from the International M.G. Y Register website at http://www.mgcars.org.uk/imgytr/stores/yzpublications.shtml