The MG Midget is one of the most famous and oldest in the British sports car pantheon. First introduced in 1929 as the M-Type, the Midget was one of the earliest ways to get a cheap sports car, as MG undercut the traditional formula with a low power, low weight car with a relatively tiny footprint.
MG discontinued the Midget in 1955, when the larger MGA arrived, leaving a gap in the market which sister brand Austin filled with the Austin-Healey Sprite in 1958. The first Sprite – the “Frogeye” - sported its famous inboard headlights, but for the second generation model in 1961 it reverted to a more standard arrangement. BMC opted to create a new, badge-engineered MG Midget using this Sprite as a basis.
Over the next decade, the car evolved through two further generations until the Austin was itself discontinued, leaving the Midget to succeed the car that had succeeded the original! The final generation, as you see here, was the Midget 1500, which boasted the same engine as the Triumph Spitfire.
This Midget dates back to 1977, hitting the roads in August that year. As with all Midgets now, that means it's officially an historic vehicle, with zero-rate VED and MOT exemption.
Prior to 2010, we didn't know that much about the car. At some point in its life the Midget seems to have rapidly passed through the hands of several owners, as the current custodian is its 20th in total, but in the last decade it's become a restoration project.
Over the past 11 years, the whole car has been tidied and fettled, with a handful of owners in Yorkshire, to create a competition-spec car in as close to original condition and appearance as possible. The most recent owner picked the car up in November 2020, and continued in that spirit, but with a second, earlier Midget to restore, this first project is now surplus to requirements.
Like the Midget's history, the paperwork is very much split into two eras. The volume of information is pretty wide-ranging, but only from 2010 onwards.
You will find receipts and invoices for everything from the moment the car became a project. No matter how big or small the job was, there's documentation for it in there; quickly totting up the totals reveals over £8,000 in parts and specialist work on both body and mechanical components.
As the name might suggest, the cabin of the Midget is pretty compact, and with both the lightweight aim of the original car and the more recent competition focus of the project, there's little by way of toys. If it's not absolutely necessary for the car to function, it's not there – and that even includes a radio!
There's only two seats, and they're adequate for now. Although the passenger seat is in pretty good condition, the driver's seat is a little more worn and sports some basic repairs. The current owner suggests he'd replace them with seats from an MR2 – a fairly common upgrade – if he weren't selling.
Elsewhere, the cabin is in generally good condition. The carpets are clean on both sides, and the coverings on the centre stack and door cards are unmarked – the door cards in particular appear brand new.
There's an aftermarket steering wheel in the classic British sports car style, and the interior is rounded off with a large roll bar in a contrasting grey colour.
Over the course of the project phase of the Midget's life, a lot has been spent on making sure the exterior is just right. That includes replacement body panels and a full respray, and we can't find a mark on the paintwork.
To add to the sporting image, the Midget boasts a set of Minilite wheels, although one original - and classic Midget wheel – is retained as a spare. A very obvious exterior change is the lack of the rubber bumpers of these later cars, and this car also has a pair of spotlights which can be used on the main beam for that full tarmac rally look.
The roof is brand new too, so the plastic rear window is in perfect condition without folds, creases, or cracks. It operates smoothly enough, though there is an area where it might contact the roll bar on its way past if you're not careful.
Underneath, the Midget seems solid enough, and while it has seen some road miles there's no particular evidence of anything amiss.
This is probably this car's party piece, with almost everything that can move replaced and upgraded. It's fair to say that the bulk of what's been spent on the car comes in making it go, turn, and stop better than the original, and with around 110hp from the 1.5-litre engine it's significantly up on the original.
The engine has been stripped down, acid flushed, mildly rebored and gas flushed. There's a racing camshaft, new valves, springs, rods, pistons and a reground crank, and a long-branch exhaust manifold, in addition to upgraded and balanced carbs. The list of upgrades keeps going – new oil and water pumps, an oil intercooler, Kenlowe electric fan, electronic ignition, duplex cam chain kit, K&N filters, and braided hoses throughout.
This all gives the Midget a pretty fruity sound, although it takes a little while to warm up and settle into idle; that's down to the race cam. As it also somewhat boosts the torque, there's a refurbished gearbox with a 3.7 differential – replacing the stock 4.2 – and slightly larger wheels and tyres to keep everything together.
The suspension and brakes are all new too, with upgraded front springs and 11/16-inch sway bar, lowered rear suspension with adjustable Spax gas dampers, and a Peter May Panhard rod. All in, it's very much a competition-ready car and, though we've not had a chance to drive it, the owner reports it's an excellent thing out on the open roads and a good match for some more expensive cars.
The owner has fitted a new genuine alternator with a new pulley wheel.
Also both front brake callipers replaced, both rear slave cylinders and to Finnish of a new master brake cylinder.
This car comes with an abundance of new and new spares including a diff, half shaft, fuel pumps, spare sealed beam headlights, full set of new poly bushes for all rear springs and sox shocks A lovely replacement alloy rocker cover, spare exhaust manifold and downpipe all together with loads of spare gasket sets.
This cars last owner was a professional Mini Cooper S rally driver but he couldn't complete the project.
The Midget is already a much-loved car, and perfect for countryside drives with summer coming up. This particular one has had a lot of attention poured into it over the last decade that you could benefit from too, and is ready to hit both the highways and the hillclimbs for its new owner.
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