(upbeat music) The MG Midget is all about fun! It’s a simple, cheap little car that promises
open-top thrills which it delivers in spades. It’s a story that spans seven decades from
humble roots in Oxfordshire to a world-beating car that conquered America. It was loved by weekend tinkerers, American
G.I.’s coming home from the war and F1 racers. This is the MG Midget Story! (music) The story starts way back in 1928 with the
original Midget – the M-Type. Morris Garages, or MG for short, produced an affordable open-top
two-seater sports car that grabbed the public’s imagination, and its affordability was a key
selling point during the recession of the early 1930s. It was superseded very quickly by the J-Type
and P-Type. These were discontinued by 1936 and the MG
T-type that was already produced was badged with the Midget name. The T-type was so popular that production
started up again after the Second World War, and Morris started exporting them to North
America. Despite being right-hand drive only they sold
well, with approximately 80% of them going to the USA by the early 50’s. Selling to ex-G.I.’s who’d seen them in
the UK during the war helped Britain’s battered economy with useful export orders. Morris went on to sell over 50,000 T-types,
but despite the new MG TF bringing a significant styling update in 1953, the T-type was starting
to look dated. It was discontinued in 1955 to be replaced
by the venerable MGA, which was pricier and larger, so the “Midget” name didn’t
quite seem appropriate! But if you want a new T-type today you can
still buy one! A Malaysian company, TD Cars, brought the
rights to produce the car and in 1998 released the TD2000. It features classic styling, but uses a modern
steel chassis, fibre glass body and a modern Toyota engine. The MG name was now owned by the British Motor
Corporation or BMC, and they saw a way to capitalize on the Midget name with their Austin-Healey
Sprite. Austin had started a relationship with the
Healey Motor Company, run by motorsport legend Donald Healey. Their first car, the Austin Healey 100 had
been very successful, and they thought a smaller car would be a good follow-up. They designed the Sprite around BMC’s Austin
A35, with Morris Minor steering thrown in. The Sprite had been introduced in 1958 and
was already being produced at the Abingdon factory in Oxford where previous MG Midgets
had been manufactured. It was a cute looking frog-eyed little car,
like a 1950’s Renault Twingo. It had its quirky features, such as no door
handles or boot lid. The owner was expected to reach into the car
to open it, and to lower the seat backs to reach under the rear deck, a process likened
to spelunking or potholing by many owners! But the Sprite also had it’s cutting edge
features. It was the first volume-production sports
car to use the body panels as a stressed member of the vehicle, not relying solely on the
chassis. So, when BMC launched the Mark II Sprite in
1961 they figured they could put the red octagonal MG badge on it and sell it to nostalgic MG
fans as a new MG Midget, especially as many former Midget owners had looked to the Sprite
as the spiritual successor of the old T-type Midget. BMC figured right, as although the Midget
was more well equipped and expensive, it sold in equal numbers to the Sprite throughout
the 1960’s. Customers affectionately called both cars
“Spridgets” and they grew to love this cheap, fun little open-top. Ever since the Sprite launched, BMC raced
its Sprites and Midgets to boost sales. Special competition versions were raced in
the UK, and in the USA BMC encouraged racing where they often competed against Triumph
Spitfires. BMC works entries recorded class wins at Sebring
with drivers including Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren and Steve McQueen. This helped fuel sales in North America. Export orders for the frog-eye Sprite had
always been strong, with 80% being sold outside the UK, and this trend continued. 57% of all MG Midget Mk I’s were sold in
North America, and this percentage only increased over time. The Sprite Mark II or MG Midget Mk I was a
big upgrade over the original Sprite. Gone were the cute frog-eyed looks, replaced
with a more stylish, conventional appearance, and the rear was styled to look like the upcoming
MGB. It got a boot lid, so customers could access
it without folding down the seats. The same A-series Austin Mini and future Austin
Metro engine was used with an uprated 46 bhp, and it was to get a further boost in 1962
to 56bhp in a reaction to the recently released Triumph Spitfire that was beating it from
a standing start to 60mph. In 1961 BMC started work on a replacement
to the Midget, codenamed ADO34. This was to use the Mini subframe, with an
open-top body styled by Pininfarina and a coupé version was also considered. Making use of the highly successful Mini chassis
made a lot of sense, as it would reduce the cost of chassis development in the future. It’s unclear why, but in 1964 ADO34 all
came to naught and the project was cancelled. Maybe because of the focus on ADO34, the 1964
Mk II Midget wasn’t much of an update. The changes that were made were done mainly
for the US market, where sales were starting to become more and more important. The car received wind-down windows, exterior
door handles with locks, fitted carpet, a new windscreen and an all new dashboard layout. With the optional hard top this was a much
more secure vehicle. New rear suspension gave the car much improved
ride and handling. As the Midget was now competing against the
Triumph Spitfire which was outselling it, these updates helped the MG sales people in
their quest for customers. Tom Tjaarda, designer of such amazing sports
cars as the De Tomaso Pantera (my favorite Matchbox car when I was a kid) and Aston Martin
Lagonda Coupé got his start making a restyled Innocenti version of the Midget in 1961 called
the Innocenti Spider, with the Innocenti C Coupé following in 1966. Sales started well in the Italian domestic
market, but export sales were non-existent, and production ended in 1968. The Mk III Midget was introduced in 1966 with
a larger 1.3L engine, a result of Mini Cooper S development. The larger engine gave greater performance,
but from 1968 US emissions requirements took some of that power away. Customers were a little disappointed that
this was a detuned version of the Mini Cooper S engine, but if it had been faster it might
have beaten the more expensive MGB! Safety measures like a collapsible steering
column, rocker switches instead of toggle switches and a padded dashboard were added
for North American models. A simpler, but still fiddly soft top was introduced
and finally the seats reclined! Cars destined for Australia were shipped in
CKD or Completely Knocked Down kits, to be assembled on arrival. This made shipping much cheaper, and hence
allowed the car to be sold for a more competitive price. Up until this point competition between BMC
and Triumph had been fierce, but in 1968 both companies were merged into British Leyland. Dealers were amalgamated and both models were
sold under one roof, giving customers one place to browse the best sports cars Britain
had to offer. However, the merger also robbed the Midget
of any major upgrades. It’s a testament to how good the original
1961 MG Midget was that it continued to sell well around the world without major changes. In 1970 the Mk III was updated with some cosmetic
changes on the outside, and fabric seating was abandoned in favour of vinyl. In 1971 British Leyland dropped the Austin
Sprite variant to focus solely on the MG Midget, which by now was outselling the Sprite, and
in any case the cars were now virtually identical. The Midget enjoyed healthy sales in the UK,
USA and Canada, plus a few were sold in Japan but sales in mainland Europe had never been
strong. Only 2% of Mk III Midgets had been sold there. Competition was stronger from cars such as
the Fiat 124 Spider and X1/9. In 1974 MG focused all its efforts on the
UK and North American markets. Due to the lack of finances of British Leyland
only the minimal resources went into the Midget to keep it selling and generating much needed
revenue. Although more rounded wheel arches appeared
in 1972, allowing fatter aftermarket wheels, no other major changes came until 1974 when
the new MG Midget 1500 was introduced. This was mainly a reaction to further US emission
regulations. British Leyland realised that the old A-series
engine was never going to pass without major modifications, so they installed the 1500cc
Standard SC engine from the Triumph Toledo and Spitfire and coupled it with the Morris
Marina gearbox, finally providing synchromesh on all gears. Ugly plastic bumper blocks were added, and
the ride height was raised – all to comply with new US safety regulations. But it was a much more powerful car, and that
helped keep the car selling in large numbers through the 1970’s. British Leyland decided not to invest further
in open top sports cars, and to focus instead on high volume vehicles. Production ended in 1979 with the last 500
painted jet black to celebrate 50 years since that amazing first 1928 Midget. An amazing 355,000 Sprites and Midgets had
been sold. In the USA open top drivers turned to the
Fiat X1/9, and the Toyota MR2 became a staple pocket rocket. But this wasn’t the end. In 1982 Austin Rover investigated reviving
the MG Midget with the AR6 programme. This was an Austin Metro replacement, and
an open top variant was developed as the new MG Midget. The all-aluminium car would use the new K-series
engine that was destined for the Rover 200. MG’s would finally be back in North America! It was an intriguing design, but the project
was expensive at over £300M and Government-run Austin Rover was denied production funding
in the austere early 1980’s. What we got instead were MG-badged versions
of the Metro, Maestro and Montego. Although this wasn’t the “wind in your
hair” experience customers loved about the Midget, at least they didn’t get wet when
it rained. Customers in the 1980’s were lapping up
hot hatches like the Volkswagen GTI and Ford Escort XR3i, and cheap fun open tops faded,
especially with the high insurance rates that came in for boy racers. The Midget did make some form of a comeback
in 1995 with the MG F, but this was seen as replacement for the venerable MGB. In 2002 it was renamed the MG TF in reference
to the 1953 MG T-type TF Midget. Rover group collapsed in 2005 and the assets
were bought by Nanjing Automobile Group of China. They restarted production of the MG F but
sales never met expectations and production ceased in 2011. However, the original MG Midget was a top
seller. From 1957 to 1979 the Austin Healey Sprite
and MG Midget went on to sell over 350,000 vehicles, outselling it’s rival the Triumph
Spitfire. Quite an achievement for such a plucky little
car! If you want to hear more car histories, then
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published. And let me know your experiences of the MG
Midget in the comments below. Thanks for watching and see you in the next
video!
