Beschreibung
Auction is LIVE now, and finishes on 3rd of June at - details above
Our Midget 1500 was built in 1977, smack in the middle of the six-year production run. It was bought by current owner Philip as an MOT failure in September 1997. His plan was to transfer the working parts onto a new Heritage body shell in order to produce a fun car for his wife. It won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone involved in the classic world that Philip ended up replacing nearly all the parts with new ones.
This car’s 1493cc engine (also used in the last Triumph Spitfires) was rebored and its bottom end was balanced, but the main problem with the 1500 as it exited the factory was its unambitious state of top-end tune. That’s been well and truly rectified here. Autosprint in Birmingham gas flowed the cylinder head and fitted a road/ race cam. They also hardened the valve seats, so you’re good to go on unleaded. Feeding in the juice is the aftermarket hop-up de choix for any self respecting British hot-rodder in the 1960s and 1970s, a brace of twin-choke Weber 45DCOE carbs. Feeding out the exhaust gas is a high-flow 4-2-1 pipe.
The engine was set up on a rolling road, with results that you can (sort of) see from the performance test chart in the pics. Although the power axis presents you with a confusing selection of numbers, we’ve put our sorting hat on and reckon it’s showing around 87bhp, which if correct was a very useful increase on the 1500’s standard 65bhp or so. That’s running on the standard ignition too, so there’s plenty more to come in that department.
On the transmission side, the original gearbox (modified Morris Marina 4-speed units in these 1500s) was overhauled and competition half-shafts fitted. The 3. 7 to 1 differential gives a good combination of on-track responsiveness and decently relaxed 4th gear cruising, 3000rpm equating to more than 50mph.
Ex-works, that 1500 motor had the same sort of horsepower as the preceding A-Series Midget but it was a good bit more torquey. The additional thrunge brought about by Philip’s sensible tuning programme makes the car as much of a joy to short-shift around the back lanes as it is to extend around a track.
Unfortunately, or fortunately if you’re looking for an unthrashed car and thinking of becoming the next owner of this one, the upshot of all Philip’s efforts was a car that was a bit too exciting for his other half. After clocking up a few thousand reliable miles, the MG was put away in the garage where it’s been cosily wrapped up ever since, with just over 94, 000 miles recorded.
There was never a plan to sell but Philip has now been bitten by a different bug, the single-horsepower world of the American quarter horse. The all-consuming nature of that pursuit has nagged’ him into putting the MG on the market so that someone else can enjoy the fruits of his labour. To that end he asked renowned marque experts Fisher MG to give it a thorough checkover prior to an MOT test in February this year – which it passed with no advisories.
The Midget 1500’s US-dictated rubber bumpers have been nearly as widely criticised over the years as the UK’s Eurovision song competition entries, but there is a useful upside, which is that they do a really good job of protecting the front end from stone chips. This Midget’s paint generally is still excellent, and there is no sign of rust bubbling or blemishes anywhere on the shiny exterior panels.
Shutlines are narrow and even, as you'd expect from a Heritage shell. The last Mk 3 1275 Midgets from ’72 to ’74 had round wheelarches. Earlier Mk 3s had squared-off arches. You’ll note that the 1500’s rear arches are a combination of both, ie rounded with a squared off top line. That design was brought in to enhance rigidity – something to bore your drinking buddies with next time you’re down at the Fillet & Firkin.
We're not aware of MG offering a factory hardtop for the 1500, but this car has a surprisingly attractive aftermarket item that suits the car really well and which adds an extra dimension of practical all-year-round motoring to the sometimes draughty ragtop Midget. As you can tell from the pictures, it’s seen very little use.
If low-cost motorsport sounds appealing to you, you’re well on the way here as this Midget comes with a rollover bar, Sparco competition driver’s seat belt and Minilite pattern 7J alloy wheels, including a spare.
Part of Philip’s long-term plan was to remove the bumpers and go for a more traditional Midget look. According to tinternet, once the front one is off you can attach a 1275 grille to the bumper mounts and then split open the indicators, refitting the two halves in front of and behind the wing. There are more expensive ways of doing it, which would involve welding in new metal, filling and sanding, but whichever method you plump for it’s definitely possible to recapture that clean 1275 look.
…much more text on our website.
For more text go to . The price here is an estimate. Please click on the link above, or visit our website themarket. co. uk for the complete description plus at least 100 photos / video fully illustrating the car and its service history. All bidding occurs through our website, and our website listing is the best place to ask questions directly to the seller.
The vehicle can be viewed in Bromley, Kent.
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