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*Click on the above
thumbnails to view full screen photographs of this automobile.
More photos
available upon request.
Additional Details:
(VIN: TD011488),
ivory paint with red leather int. and black carpeting, tonneau cover is
black with ivory piping, top is black
as well, manual trans., 100,068 original miles shown, body type: 22381,
body #: 10859 / 78549, engine # XPAG TD2 LHX
11943. We are proud to offer this 1952 MG TD Midget for
sale. This car has been lovingly cared for by the same family
since 1963, and has never been driven in the rain since. To the
knowledge of the family it has also never been in any type
of accident prior to their purchase, or since. There is a file
folder of service records and receipts dating back to 1965. The
son of the 2nd owner recalls the car receiving a restoration and engine
rebuild / balancing (though remaining stock) in 1967,
and a strip and repaint in the mid 1980's. The body, engine and
trans are all original and correct to this MG. While not
perfect, this MG drives very well and has the perfect amount of patina
to give it that quaint British-ness and period "feel."
Photos will give you a better idea of the condition of this MG, so
please request them! The original steering wheel will come
with this TD. A very nice driver that turns heads everywhere you
take it.
Some general
data on the MG TD can be found at the following URL: LINK 1
& LINK
2
MG's famous Midget series of T models ran through TA, TB, TC, TD and TF
before the entire series was replaced by the MGA. The 1950
release of the MG TD Midget caused quite a stir. Despite the car
looking essentially the same as the TC it replaced, under the skin much
was new. The car was five inches longer, and the body four inches
wider than the immediate post-war TC which it replaced. The 1950
TD Midget combined the TC's drivetrain, a modified hypoid-geared rear
axle, the MG Y-type chassis, a familiar T-type style body and
independent suspension using coil springs from the MG Y-type saloon.
Also new were rack and pinion steering, smaller 15-inch (380 mm) disc
type road wheels, a left-hand drive option and standard equipment
bumpers and over-riders. Top speed was increased to 80mph from
the 1,250cc overhead valve engine. It was the handling that saw
the greatest improvements over the TC. The MG TD featured
independent front suspension with coil springs, together with rack and
pinion steering and 15" disc wheels for the first time. A TC
drivetrain with modified hypoid geared rear axle and a completely new
chassis developed in the Y-Type saloon and making use of box-section
side rails and crossmembers and it was of all-welded construction; this
provided a much sturdier and stiffer frame than the old Midget chassis.
Styling changes to the MG TD, which was created largely at the Abingdon
factory rather than Morris's Cowley design office, over the MG TC
include new bumpers front and back and new 15 inch pressed-steel wheels
in place of the old 19 inch wire-wheels (although these looked slightly
odd on such an old fashioned car and didn't quite manage to fill the
arches). Using the traditional steel on a wood-frame
construction, the TD's body retained some of the classic T-series lines
while updating them ever so slightly. This was a huge leap
forward for the company, who were now able to offer the option of left
as well as right hand drive, and helped make the new MG TD of 1949 by
far the most popular of the Midgets. 1950 saw MG release the MG
TD Mk II. With a more highly tuned version of the XPAG engine producing
57bhp at 5,500rpm, bigger carburetors and further improvements to the
suspension, the MK II furthered the MG TD's sales success. An
example tested by The Motor magazine in 1952 had a top speed of 77 mph
(124 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 18.2
seconds. A fuel consumption of 26.7 miles per imperial gallon (10.6
L/100 km; 22.2 mpg-US) was recorded. The MG TD was dropped to
make way for the MG TF and MG TF 1500, with the last MG TD being sold
by an MG dealer in 1953. Nearly 30,000 TDs had been produced,
including about 1700 Mk II models, with all but 1656 exported, 23,488
of them to the US alone. In 1998, the rights, intellectual
properties and trademarks associated with the production of MG TD is
acquired by TD Cars Sdn Bhd in Malaysia to reproduce the TD series as
TD2000.
Production:
1950–1953 of approx. 30,000 examples built
Body style:
2-door roadster
Engine:
1,250 cc (1.3 L) XPAG type I4
Wheelbase:
94 in (2,388 mm)[6]
Length:
145 in (3,683 mm)[6]
Width:
59 in (1,499 mm)[6]
Height:
53 in (1,346 mm) [6]
The MG Car
Company and Its Brethren
Lord NuffieldFirst off I would like to clarify the meaning of the
letters MG. It does not stand for Morris Garages, although it was
intended as a tribute to William Morris and his company Morris
Garages. William Morris (right) was later created as Lord
Nuffield. MG is just a title rather than an acronym.
In 1922, William Morris appointed Cecil Kimber as manager of the MG Car
Company. Kimber was an avid motor sports enthusiast and is also
credited with introducing the classic MG radiator shape, recognizable
on so many cars such as the T-Series MG's.
The MG marque was first used in 1923 on a range of sporting cars based
on the chassis of the bull-nosed Morris saloon car. This formed the
basis of the MG Car Company, based in Oxford, England. They moved to
Abingdon, England in 1930, where they remained until production ceased
in 1980.
Over the years the Nuffield Organization not only owned the MG Car
Company but also took over a number of other marques as well. These
included Wolseley, SU and Riley.
At times it seemed that MG could never get the resources they needed to
become world leaders in the marketplace. Not only were they competing
with rivals such as Triumph and Austin, but the real battle seemed to
go on internally within the Nuffield Organization. This continued right
through the merger of Nuffield and Austin in 1952, when the British
Motor Corporation (BMC) was formed.
For example, in 1952, MG was refused permission to develop the MGA,
because BMC had just announced the Austin Healey 100/4 and they did not
want MG to announce a modern sports car to rival it. All MG were
allowed to produce at that time was a face-lifted TD, hence the TF was
born.
The MG T-Series
In 1936 the MG Car Company made a dramatic change in the design of
their sports cars. In this year they introduced the MGTA Midget. The
MGTA originated the familiar T-Series design element and to the casual
observer, it is hard to distinquish from the MGTC. The MGTA sported the
famous radiator design, the swept wings, running boards, folding
windscreen, and large accessible bonnet. It was a two seater sports car
with a foldable hood and side curtains. Just over 3,000 MGTA's were
produced in three years of production. The MGTA suffered from a poor
performing engine and in 1939 the MGTB was introduced with the now
famous XPAG engine. Only a few were produced as in a few months World
War II broke out.
During World War II production of MG's ceased as the MG Car Company was
put into service for the war effort making tanks and airplane parts,
and other military items. When the war ended the the MG Car Company was
anxious to get back to making sports cars. They revisited the MGTB and
made a few subtle changes. These were in the form of a wider body and
shackles replacing sliding trunnions for the spring mounts. The
Nuffield Organization also made another drastic change. They started
taking an active interest in selling their sports cars in North
America. It appears that during the War a number of American GI's had
an opportunity to experience the T-Series MG's. When the War ended a
number of these cars were imported and then formally sold into North
America, especially the United States. The MGTC was produced from 1945
to 1949 with a total production of about 10,000 cars.
Due to the fact that the United States had much more cash available to
spend on entertainment and sports than did war torn Britain, the
Nuffield Organization made a drastic change in their marketing,
focusing on North America. In 1949 the MGTC was fitted with many
elements to make it more North American such as front and rear bumpers,
twin horns, and dual tail lamps. Even by making these changes only a
fraction of the MGTC's were imported into North America. There were
still too many issues with a car of this type for different North
America conditions. Amongst those were driving on the right hand side
of the road rather than the left, more high speed maneuvers such as
freeways, a softer ride, and some additional creature comforts. What
was needed was a total redesign of the MGTC if the MG Car Company was
to capture a significant portion of the North American market. What was
missing was a total commitment from the Nuffield Organization to do so.
The Legacy of
the MGTD
In 1949 a small group of MG leaders, headed by John Thornley, got
together to try to create a car that was acceptable to the North
American marketplace while at the same time would limit the investment
of the Nuffield Organization. Clearly it would be impossible to
completely create a new car, not only from a financial point but from a
timing standpoint as well. What was needed was a little of the old,
sprinkled with a little of the new. Another key factor was to borrow or
incorporate features found in other Nuffield cars of the time that were
more up to date than the MGTC.
First it was decided to start with the MGTC. It was felt that the MGTC
still provided a favorable brand image to the North American
marketplace. Many elements of the MGTC were still believed to be
important such as: The styling; Safety Fast engineering; The
powertrain; The familiarity of design. What was missing was: More
futuristic styling; Better turning and handling; A smoother ride; Left
hand drive; More creature comforts such as an optional heater and radio
Quickly a team of MG personnel took inventory of the components of the
Nuffield Organization that they had to work with. They discarded
the TC's frame because it was to light and not rigid enough. They
found what they wanted in the Y types. A small modification to
the frame was to have it sweep over the rear axle rather than
under. This gave them more travel in the rear springs so they
could increase the damping. In addition they adopted rack and pinion
steering and front coil springs and wishbones. This and the
change in rear end suspension allowed for a smoother ride and better
handling than the MGTC. One of the major changes was to reduce
the wheel size from 19 inches to 15 inches and increase the tire width
to 5.50. All of these changes made the MGTD a superior riding car over
the MGTC.
Because of the use of the larger frame the body became 5 inches
wider. Although the body increased by 5 inches, only one inch
actually found it's way into the cockpit so there is an indiscernible
difference in the seating width. The biggest change that people
notice about the MGTD from the MGTC is the lack of wire wheels.
As part of the Nuffield cost cutting challenge the more expensive wire
wheels of former T-Series cars were replaced by solid steel
wheels. For the entire production run of the MGTD the factory
took heat for this decision. They constantly tried to create
implausible technical reasons why wire wheels would not work but their
reasons were never accepted by the marketplace. In fact wire
wheels were one of the most popular aftermarket accessories at the
time. Nuffield itself had to offer an upgrade kit to wire wheels
during 1953 because the essentially identical 1954 MGTF chassis sported
wire wheels as an option.
Other changes between the MGTC and the MGTD were more stylized wings,
partially due to the smaller wheels. A dual production capable
LHD or RHD model, better brakes, adjustable steering column, and an
interchangeable dashboard for left or right hand driving were also
incorporated. An optional radio and heater, as well as many
accessories designed to improve the performance of the car were made
available.
The MGTD Models
The MG TD was produced from 1949 to August of 1953. During that
period there were many subtle changes, but nothing drastic. See the
pages on production for details on the changes of the TD over the years.
The first MG TDs were manufactured in late 1949, and the model was
formally announced in January of 1950. Only 98 TDs were made in
1949, 2 RHD and 96 LHD. There were a total of four model years -
1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953, and the models are nowadays referred to as
the MG TD, TD2 and TD Mark II.
TD
The first model set the stage for what the TD was. Because of the
short amount of time from the inception of the TD to the delivery of
the first cars, not everything was quite as the MG Car Company would
have liked it. In fact they were still making TCs on the
production line when the first TDs were being produced. In
addition, other cars such as the MG Y-type saloon and the Riley RMA and
RMB were also being made on the same assembly line at the time.
This says something for the flexibility of the Abingdon workforce and
of the factory.
Apart from revised mountings, the engine for the new MG TD was the same
1250cc XPAG unit fitted to the previous model, the MG TC.
There were many subtle changes to the TD, but most were unnoticeable to
the untrained eye. One exception was the change from solid steel
wheels to ventilated steel wheels. This change was essential
because there were complaints that the brakes on the early cars were
fading due to inadequate cooling. Another change was to stiffen
the chassis by adding an internal steel hoop under the dashboard.
This helped to prevent `scuttle shake', although the later chassis
still seems to flex quite a bit when pressed into corners.
TD
II
In July 1951 the
1250cc XPAG engine received a new block, a new sump, a new bell-housing
and a new flywheel in order to accommodate a larger clutch. The
engine number prefix was changed to TD2, and MG TDs fitted with this
engine have subsequently become known as TD2 models, although
contemporary marketing materials did not use this designation.
The changeover occurred at engine number XPAG/TD2/9408. (The TD2 should
not be confused with the MG TD Mark II, see below).
Several changes were
introduced between August and November 1952 as sales of the TD started
to fall in favour of cars like the TR2 and the Austin Healey 100.
These included circular rear lamps incorporating flashing turn signals,
and a three-bow frame replacing the 2-bow frame for the hood.
Also, the wiper motor was moved to the centre of the windscreen.
TD/C
or TD Mark II
By the middle of 1950
the MG factory were also producing some special MGTD's known as the TD
Mark II or the TD Competition Model. These cars were essentially
regular MG TDs that had been given some extra factory accessories and
tuning equipment. Initially there was no standard specification for
these cars, and during the production of the MG TD the specification of
the TD Mark II would change.
The only standard
feature appears to be the provision of additional Andrex friction shock
absorbers front and rear. Some of the modifications on offer
included a modified cylinder head raising the horsepower of the engine
from 54 bhp to 57, wider wheels, larger tires, higher rear axle ratios,
twin fuel pumps, and larger carburetters. You could even have a
supercharger. Most of the features of the Mark II were a part of
the staged tuning that was described in various publications and
offered as a factory tuning manual.
From all these
changes it appeared that little changed in how the car actually
handled. Many folks opted to buy a regular MGTD and go through a
series of Stage Tunings to increase the performance of the MGTD well
above what the Mark II achieved.
It was also possible
at that time to order anything for a regular TD that the Mark II model
offered, and more, and so many owners opted to buy a regular TD and
then improve the performance of their car well above what the Mark II
could achieve.
Production of the
MGTD peaked in 1952 and 1953 found sales of the car starting to
fall. Again the MG Car Company found itself in need of a whole
new automobile but without the support of the parent BMC Organization.
Picks:
Vehicle is overall very nice - not a show car but great patina, an
excellent driver / show & shine car, it
drives very well and
has been properly maintained over the years - owned by the same family
since 1963 and
comes with a folder
full or receipts and records dating from 1965 on, if I had to nitpick
something I'd say the
engine compartment
and motor (cosmetically) are the most "original," and yes it leaks a
little oil, a quaint and
honest old British Roadster that you can
enjoy without carrying around a bucket of detailing equipment, ask
for the large number of photos I have as they will show the true
condition, nothing
else to
reasonably fault.
Numerical Condition Evaluation:
(1 denotes Very Poor / Item needs replacement, 10 denotes Excellent / Showroom New)
PAINT: 7.5
BODY: 8
CONV. TOP: 9
RIMS: 7
TIRES: 7
WINDSHIELD / GLASS: 8
LEATHER: 8.5
INT. CARPETING: 8.5
SERVICE RECORDS / OWNERSHIP HISTORY: 9
*Vehicle is located at BMI - more
information or photographs are available upon on request. While every
reasonable effort has been made
to ensure the accuracy of the above data,
mistakes regarding hp ratings, options, etc. can be made. I have also
done my best to be very
honest and very critical about the cosmetic
and mechanical condition of this vehicle. Of course, it is not possible
to pick-up on every single
detail or flaw. Please keep expectations
realistic as this is a pre-owned vehicle, and I have personally found
blemishes on brand new
undriven vehicles. If you are an
exceptionally detailed oriented person, please contact me to verify any
information directly, and I will do my
best to specifically photograph anything you
request and to answer any of your questions to the best of my ability.
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