It might be related to Lucas having difficulty keeping the smoke inside the wiring.
I thought only the Italians had that problem! FIAT!..............I had a 75 X1/9. Spent more time UNDER IT THAN IN IT!...............
Funny.
I’ve heard so many reports of how bad Lucas was - but my 1965 midget still has all its original Lucas parts and I never had a problem in the 25 years I’ve owned it.
And when I go on MG forums, the actual owners of these antique cars don’t seem to be complaining either. They talk about what is the proper brake fluid, replacing worn out leaf springs, setting up the carburetors, stuff like that - but you don’t hear horror stories about the wiring.