MG Midget

[MountainBoy]

Never much of a fan of the Midget...I had a 59 MGA I wish I still had though... [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Yep, the MGA was quite a nice care. Of course, I bought my Sprite from Overseas Motors in Dallas and at the time time they sold the Austin Healey. MG, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, and Mercedes. I never drove one, but I still think the Jaguar XKE was one of the finest looking cars ever built, but was way out of my price range. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] I later got acquainted with a guy who had one and he said it was a fine lookiing car, awkward to get in and out of, hard shifting and steering, and rode like a lumber wagon, but like me, he liked the looks. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[NSbound]

Not sure what year this is, but that's my Dad in I think an MG-A at Wasaga Beach Ontario - likely around 1949, before I existed!

[MountainBoy]

Nice car! Not sure but it looks like a MG TC to me...

[Pat]

Roger that! TC, TD, TF, and then the A. My A was a 1500 cc 1959 in bright red.

The MG midget was identical to the Sprite except for trim, stuff like the contrasting piping on the seat material. Oh, and of course the MG had the octagon emblem and a narrow chrome piece down the side that the Sprite didn't have.

I sold our 1959 MG-A to another USAF dude after I bought a new Sunbeam Tiger. The MG didn't like to start (at midnight in Minot, North Dakota during the winter) so very good after being parked out in the street for 8-9 hours. Also there was no heater and no defroster. It had sliding side curtains (removable) instead of roll up windows in the doors. They flapped a bit in the breeze so that was a cold ride between my wife's job and the air base between midnight and one AM.

I'd love to have an MG-A or older if in good shape.

Egon said, "Seeing as several posters here have owned one I'd be real interested to see if they could still get into one??? "

I never actually so much got into a Midget or a Sprite as much as I "put it on" sort of like wearing a car suit.

Pat

[Bird]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
The MG midget was identical to the Sprite except for trim, stuff like the contrasting piping on the seat material. Oh, and of course the MG had the octagon emblem and a narrow chrome piece down the side that the Sprite didn't have.


[/ QUOTE ]

And in 1962, at least, the MG had a chrome grill while the Sprite had stamped aluminum. The MG had some pretty contrasting colors in the instrument panel while the Sprite was just black and white.

[Pat]

Right, Bird, the MG was a Sprite with a little "lipstick and eye shadow" to justify the added expense, at least the post Bugeye models. There was no MG analog to the Bugeyed Sprite so far as I know. I personally liked the bugeye way more. A simple mod and you could make the hood open at the back and pivot at the front of the car giving terrific acces to the engine compartment. You could sit on a front tire to work under the hood. I had a competitioin orange bugeye with a Schneider racing cam, 4 inch diameter chrome roll bar, nerf bars fore and aft.

When I was in jr high school, TV adds showed Sprites for about $2K or a tad less and a little station wagon for very little more. I recommended to my mom and dad that they get one of each but instead they "blew" $4k on a 1959 Buick with the variable ratio tranny with no shifts. The chrome headlight trim continued down the side of the car and on to the EXTENSIVE tail fins. As it was black and had tail fins starting at the headlights it got nicknamed "The Batmobile."

Pat

[Bird]

Pat, of course, my 1962 Sprite was (I think) the first post bugeyed model. I liked the looks of it much better than the bugeyed ones, but I recall the Triumph (was it a TR3?) that had the hood that was hinged at the front so it opened from the rear so you could sit on the front tire while working under the hood. I've never had that kind of vehicle, but always thought that was a great design.

And my dad had no use for "compact" automobiles. He preferred Buick or Oldsmobile. They had a 1953 Buick Super (first year for the V-8 I believe), then a 1959 Olds 88, then a 1966 Buick, and next a 1969 Olds 98.

[egon]

Fellows, I well recall the 59 Buick, the 59 olds and the 66 Buick.

For me there was a slight debate between a Tr4-A and a 66 Chrysler 300. The Chrysler won out and was followed later by a 69 Chrysler.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Egon, I don't remember the 66 Chrysler 300, but I do remember once driving a '57 red Chrysler 300 convertible that I couldn't afford. I don't remember exactly what the engine was, but it was a big one with two 4-bbl. carbs; sure was pretty and would really get up and go.

My dad would never buy new vehicles, always said let someone else take that first year or two of depreciation, so the 59 Olds was a year old with about 7k miles on it when he bougbt it, but in '66 it had over 100k miles on it and they had moved to Anchorage. They were looking for a newer car when a Buick dealer in Alaska went under and the bank was liquidating the stock, so he got a good enough deal that he bought that 66 Buick new. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]