At $10,500, Is This 1953 MG TD A Jolly-Good Deal? – Jalopnik

The vendor of at this time’s Nice Price or No Dice MG TD assures us it is “not a kit car.” Being the true deal is all effectively and good, however may this traditional roadster’s value make it an actual steal?

In basic, main change takes main time. Whether it is the evolution of a species, glacial ablation, or the maintain occasions to succeed in customer support, ready for important change can take eons.

The identical is not true of the fickle vehicle market when gas costs fluctuate. When gasoline costs are low, Americans, at the very least, exit and purchase the largest, baddest, most fuel-suckiest automobiles and vans they’ll discover. It’s like a contest to see who can mainline the bottom gas-mileage numbers attainable. Should gasoline costs tick up, as they did a number of occasions within the Seventies, 2000s, and at current, lots of these inefficient, fuel-Hungry, Hungry Hippos get kicked to the curb in favor of extra fuel-efficient rides, together with (gasp) hybrids. That was maybe one issue within the response to the Vancouver-located 2004 Ram SRT-10 we checked out on Wednesday. Rocking a Viper V10 and middle-finger-to-the-world single-digit gas economic system round city, that truck felt wholly out of tune with the occasions. At $49,900 Canadian Loonies, which works out to round $35,380 U.S., that additionally felt too wealthy for our collective blood, dropping the Dodge in a 64% ‘No Dice’ loss.

Before U.S. troopers set foot on European soil as a part of the Allied push to place Hitler in his place, the Yanks invaded England. A mass of round 300,000 American troopers staged there for air fight missions and in preparation for D-Day. So many troopers from the U.S. and Canada had been in Great Britain that their presence grew to become a chafing level for the usually welcoming and stoic Brits. A basic consensus arose that the flashy Americans stationed of their nation had been “overpaid, overdressed, oversexed, and over here.” Still, the Brits performed the position of gracious host to the American women and men there to make sure German would not turn into the nationwide language.

When the struggle was over, and the Americans left Britain, they took with them an affection for the small roadsters that had been mainly unknown again in America. This proved a godsend for the British auto trade, creating a right away export marketplace for carmakers and offering prepared money infusions to counter Britain’s war-crippled economic system. At the vanguard of this “British Invasion” was MG, which, starting instantly after the struggle’s finish, started transport the TC Midget sports activities automobile to the States. While troopers in England favored the TC, it wasn’t effectively suited to American tastes, so in 1950, MG launched the TD, which met most American consumers’ wants.

This 1953 MG TD might appear to be its pre-war predecessors, but it surely’s considerably greater and rides on a stouter chassis taken from the Y-type saloon. That means it options coil-sprung unbiased entrance suspension, exact rack-and-pinion steering, and a contemporary 12-volt electrical system. In reality, {that electrical} system was one of many minor complaints concerning the automobile since most American producers had been nonetheless caught utilizing 6-volt methods. One main change from the TC to the TD was the shift to LHD, making this mannequin MG’s first LHD export. Other updates included switching to 15-inch wheels and tires as a substitute of the sooner automobiles’ bicycle tires, and including full-width entrance and rear bumpers.

Under the hood is MG’s XPAG 1,250cc OHV inline 4, cast from strong, immutable forged iron for each block and head. That’s fed by a pair of inch-and-a-quarter SU H4 side-draught carbs, making for a stellar 54 horsepower. Fed by way of a four-speed handbook gearbox with synchro on the highest three gears, that is sufficient to rocket the TD to sixty in beneath 20 seconds, and onward to a high velocity of practically 80 mph.

We get virtually no historic info on this MG’s advert. It solely tells us the automobile has a clear title, 4 new radial tires, and that it isn’t a package automobile. What we’re not advised is whether or not the metallic inexperienced paint (not British Racing Green, we must always be aware) is unique, and even an MG colour. Regardless, it appears fairly gorgeous, and pairs effectively with the tan, three-bow roadster high. Hopefully the aspect curtains come alongside for the trip.

The engine compartment, accessed on both aspect through side-folding bonnets, appears well-managed. There are a pair of pancake air filters on the carbs, rather than the manufacturing unit aluminum plenum and single air cleaner, however that is a period-correct mod.

The inside has gained a pleasant patina, with the inexperienced leather-based on the seat again exhibiting its age, however presenting as not too ratty. The good-looking banjo-spoke steering exhibits no cracks or separations, which is a notable plus. These automobiles are primary and uncooked, with no sound deadening, so each mechanical noise enters the cabin, making the motive force and passenger really feel one with no matter’s happening beneath the hood. Mileage is reported as 60,000, however whether or not that is the present studying of a rolled-over odometer or not is a thriller.

For its mannequin run between 1950 and 1953, MG constructed over 30,000 TDs. Of these, greater than 23,000 went to the U.S. into the ready arms of apple pie-eating auto lovers. Naturally, that was over three-quarters of a century in the past, and most of the people for whom automobiles of this ilk increase fond reminiscences have handed on. People who can nonetheless respect uncooked, era-compromised automobiles like this are actually few and much between. That naturally limits the attraction, and therefore the viewers, for a automobile like this MG, making us marvel who is perhaps enthusiastic about it at its $10,500 asking value.

What do you assume? Does this TD current effectively sufficient to seek out that needle-in-a-haystack purchaser in search of some old-school sports activities automobile allure? Or does this MG’s value imply it is overdressed, overpriced, and over right here?

You determine!

Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.

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