Battler from Britain: The MG TC

The MG TC Midget is the archetypal, funny old pre-World War 2 sports car, except that it was launched just weeks after the end of World War 2, in October 1945. MG, whose Abingdon factory had spent the previous six years overhauling tanks and armoured cars, was not the only car maker to reissue a pre-war model, but a range of factors conspired to make the TC a worldwide watershed moment for sports cars.

MG had launched its first Midget model, the M-Type, in 1929. With a chassis and engine derived from the 1928 Morris Minor, it was fun and very affordable. It led to the J-Type Midget of 1932, with a modern (but delicate) 1.0-litre Wolseley overhead cam engine, and the P-Type of 1934.

In early-1936 came the TA Midget, more user-friendly and cost-effective to produce with its Morris components, including a 1.3-litre pushrod overhead valve engine. Advances included an all-synchro, four-speed ’box and hydraulic brakes. More than 3000 TAs were built.

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A new Morris Ten sedan, with a vastly superior 1.25-litre ‘XPAG’ pushrod engine, prompted the upgraded MG TB of 1939 – but just 379 were built before WW2 intervened.

(By the way, if you’ve been googling these as we go, you’re not alone in thinking they all look the bloody same.)

It’s a credit to MG, given the rationing of materials, that the TC was launched and 81 cars built by the end of 1945. The main differences from the TB were the body – still sheet steel over an ash frame, but now 10cm wider at the cockpit, and with rubber engine mounts and suspension bushes.

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Being quick to market – rather than quick – gave the TC a huge free kick. But getting materials relied on the government, which was urging manufacturers to ‘export or die’. Australia was a keen customer and TCs launched many local racing careers, including those of Harry Firth and Lex Davison.

But the little right-hand-drive roadster had also awakened a sleeping giant … America’s GIs now knew about British and European sports cars. While many were hot-rodding pre-war Ford V8s for affordable fun, almost 2000 others would buy this bubbly little Brit. The TC paved the way for the Jaguars, Austin-Healeys, Triumphs and others that followed.

Exactly 10,001 MG TCs were built between 1945 and 1949, of which 66 percent went to export markets.

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Pushrods with shove

The TC’s 1250cc, pushrod ohv four-cylinder XPAG engine had a relatively short stroke, a good cylinder head design and a strong bottom end – a rev-hungry revelation to racers. Fed by twin SU carbs, it produced 40.5kW at 5200rpm and 87Nm at 2700rpm and via a four-speed synchro ’box. Top speed (125km/h) and 0-100km/h acceleration (21 secs) were modest, but the 840kg roadster was all about agility and fun – and tuneability.

Right of way

All TCs were built in right-hand drive, in spite of US export success. The interior was traditional with a capital T: a narrow, leather split bench seat, sprung steering wheel and wood-veneer dashboard. A big Jaeger tacho sat ahead of the driver and the speedo ahead of the passenger. Quaintly, to the left of the tacho was a warning light that illuminated above 30mph, Britain’s urban speed limit, replaced by a map light on US-bound cars.