In 1936 the MG Car Company made a dramatic change in the design of their sports cars when they introduced the MGTA Midget. The MGTA originated the familiar T-Series design element and, to the casual observer, it is hard to distinguish from the MGTC. The MGTA sported the famous radiator design, 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 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. A number of these cars were exported and sold into North America, especially the United States. The MGTC was produced from 1945-1949 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 manoeuvres such as on 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. Unfortunately 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.

It was decided to start with the MGTC because it provided a favourable 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; engine and gearbox; 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.

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 too 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 more travel in the rear springs so they could increase the damping. In addition rack and pinion steering and front coil springs and wishbones were adopted. This and the change in rear end suspension allowed for a smoother ride and better handling than the MGTC. One major change 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 only one inch actually found its way into the cockpit so there little discernible difference in the seating width. The biggest change to 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 received many complaints over 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.

MGTD Models The original MGTD was first produced in late 1949 and had its formal introduction in January 1950. There were a total of four model years; 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953. The first model set the stage for what the MGTD was. Because of the short amount of time from the inception of the MGTD to the delivery of the first cars, not everything was as the MG Car Company would have liked — they were still making MGTC’s on the production line when the first MGTD’s were produced. Other models were also being made on the same assembly line at the same time. Most changes to the early MGTD’s were unnoticeable to the untrained eye. One exception to this was the change from solid wheels to slotted wheels — steel, not wire. This seems to be because the brakes were fading due to poor cooling. Another change was to stiffen the body by adding an internal under-firewall tubular frame. It helped but the MGTD body bucket still seems to flex quite a bit when pressed into corners.

TD II The TD II (not to be confused with the MGTD Mark II) had more factory refinements to the car. Minor changes to the engine generated the need to create a new engine type, the XPAG/TD2. This in turn caused them to designate these cars as TD2’s, although even their marketing materials never really mentioned this change. There really weren’t any model years for the MGTD, as changes were introduced subtly. The biggest changes occurred during the 1953 model year as sales of the MGTD started to fall in favour of cars like the TR2 and Austin Healey 100. In 1953 MG introduced round tail lamps, turn signals, a three bow top or hood, and moved the windscreen wiper motor central for safety reasons.

TD/C or TD Mark II In the middle of the 1950 model year the MG Car Company began factory producing some special MGTD’s known as the Mark II. These cars were essentially regular MGTD’s that had been given extra factory accessories and tuning. There was not an exact list of these features, and in fact over the production of the MGTD the features of the Mark II would change. It was also possible at the time to buy everything for a regular MGTD that the Mark II model offered. Some of the changes were to increase the base horsepower of the engine from 54 bhp to 57 bhp, larger tyres, additional Andrex friction shocks front and rear, higher rear end ratios, dual fuel pumps, and larger carburettors. 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 customers 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.

The follow-on of the MGTD 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 completely new car — but without the support of the parent BMC Organisation.