Fantastic photos, cheers Squire! Yup I have seen many of them, especially the Rytecraft ones, but great to see them again. I used to have a MG Midget, 72 model in musrad yellow.
And as soon as I saw the top photo I too thought of the late great Terry Thomas and Those magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, St Trinians, School or Scoundrels, I'm Alright Jack etc!
A few years ago I was driving my Trojan DUF through Hyde Park and in a small car park by the Serpentine spotted a small group of old cars and just had to investigate. They were just about to set off on the London-Peking, retracing the 1903 race, and the cars included the 1903 Itala which won it. Somewhere I have photos DUF and all these great old machines. The Itala is magnificent, and again that top photo here reminded me of the Itala. The husband and wife team looked magnificent in their ground-length Motoring Overcoats and all-period dress.
I wonder if those "Helmet Flower Vase Sockets" might actually be for holding some sort of rain/wind deflector in front of the driver's face?