Background

It was before the war, in the Spring of 1936, when the replacement for the MG PB appeared. The Cowley- inspired TA Midget used many components of Morris origin and, at first, was not popular with the "hardy" MG enthusiasts. However, this resistance was soon overcome and the car widened the appeal of sports cars which had previously been looked upon as being temperamental and difficult to drive.

The TA's chassis was of traditional MG design, but the tubular crossmembers seen in previous models had been replaced by less stiff channel sections. Also, the forward portions of the side rails had been made as box sections to stiffen them, which was needed as the engine mountings were of rubber. Suspension was by the now familiar leaf springs front and rear, but the brakes were hydraulically operated for the first time on an MG.

The engine had been changed too. Gone was the neat, but demanding, ohc unit and in its place was a 1292cc, pushrod, overhead-valve, four-cylinder engine. This was essentially the same as that used in the Morris 10, but the MG was equipped with twin SU carburettors and produced around 50bhp, which was a significant increase compared to the PB. This was mated to four-speed transmission which had another first for MG - synchromesh. The mechanical specification of the TA made it a much easier car to drive, whilst still maintaining the reputation of its predecessors. This opened up a whole new appeal of sports cars to a much wider market than before.

At first, two-seater open and closed (Airline Coupe) were offered, but the Airline Coupe was shortly dropped with the advent of the Tickford Coupe. This had a drophead body style with a three-position folding soft-top that provided the protection of a closed car in bad weather, but allowed open air motoring when it was fine.

The TA became very popular and, inevitably, found its way into competition where it acquitted itself well. However, the engine was not happy being run at high revs because of its unsuitable valve timing and weak bottom-end. To overcome this, the factory developed methods of tuning the unit and supplied the information to those who wanted their TA's to go faster.

In the summer of 1939, as the war clouds were gathering, MG announced the TB Midget. In terms of chassis and body options it was essentially the same as the TA, but the TB had a new engine which was a 1250cc, ohv, four-cylinder unit. Taken from the new Morris 10, and known as the XPAG engine, it had a much stronger bottom-end than the previous unit, better valve timing and a better designed cylinder head. These design features combined to give a power output of 45bhp.

The engine was backed up by a dry clutch and a better set of ratios than before with an improved synchromesh. All of this meant that the little car looked very promising indeed, but the onset of war stopped production as MG had other, more important, tasks to carry out.

Summary

The current owner of this lovely MG TB became known to us in 2009 when we were asked to value his rather beautiful and restored Aston Martin DB4. We later brokered the sale of that car in early 2013 followed by another of his cars, a Porsche 911 in 2016.

The owner is an enthusiast who enjoys working with his cars but is never afraid to lean on expertise when required – this can be seen on the engine rebuild for this MG and, to give reassurance to a prospective purchaser, the car was subject to a recommissioning in February 2023. An added bonus to any MG novice is the variety of specialist suppliers that the owner has sourced during his ownership – a catalogue of genuine value!

She is a wonderful example of a car that could take the new owner on a trip to the Mille Miglia – highly recommended.

Vehicle History

The current owner acquired the car in February 2013 when the colour was changed from Red to the current Dark Blue – the car already enjoyed the upgraded 1250 cc engine but the current owner had that overhauled – rebored and reground.

He has added some other recommended improvements with a 5-speed gearbox and a VW steering column to make the car more tractable in modern driving conditions but for those who crave originality, the original gearbox and steering can come with the car.

There were four previous keepers with the 2013 acquisition being from a Mrs Elnor of Nantwich who in turn acquired this beauty from a Barrie Carter of Beaminster.

There is a comprehensive record of the current owner’s maintenance of the car including a total rewire and replacement of the floor boarding – he notes, however that the car needs an interior carpet to be rated complete.

There is too much service detail to record here - please call Philip Jones at Byron International for a comprehensive specification sheet