I had two of them. It was a basic sports car that last came off the production line at the end of 1979. About 45 years-ago in Oxfordshire, England. The MG Midget was much loved.
The “Frogeye” Sprite came first. Then this small sports car went through several evolutions. Ending with the 1500 version[1]. Some say the 1500 version was the worst. I’d say that it had its ideocracies but remained great fun to own and drive. The heavy rubber bumpers were added to meet US market safety requirements. The extra power of the Triumph 1500 engine compensated to some extent, but they were a style disaster. On the positive side, whenever parked, those slab like matt black rubber bumpers, front and back, doubled up as seats.
It’s something in common with most roadgoing cars of the past. The MG Midget was considerably smaller than most cars being driven in 2025. Strange that the roads themselves haven’t changed as much as the cars of the day.
The lanes of Somerset and Dorset wind through the countryside in a pattern that makes little sense unless you study either the size and shape of ancient field systems or the Romans. The contrast is great. Twisting cart tracks that became tarmacked roads or straight lines that were forced onto the landscape in a point-to-point style. The lesser of them hasn’t had a great deal of attention. Thank God, you might say. There are still lanes that link small hamlets and farms that have grass growing down their middle. Overhanging dense hedges on either side.
Those were the roads that gave the most joy of driving my MG sports car. Not at any great speed. Open top with the summer sunshine through the trees and a breeze, what could be better?
Fine, caution is, and was, needed where fresh mud and tractors conspired to add some hazards. Visibility restricted and deep ditches or dirt banks added a few more. I did once come to grief because of farmyard mud. One of those places where the farmyard and the lane were indistinguishable. A herd of cows being paraded up and down the lane every day.
Sadly, my jet black “V” registration MG Midget sat in my garage for many years. Plans to get welding done and tidy-up the soft top never came to anything. I sold it. I can say: I wish I’d kept it. Trouble is that nice wish was never going to be realised.
Now, I live just down the road from Abingdon where all the MG sports cars were made. I do mean to explore the town as the weather improves.
[1] https://www.mgcc.co.uk/midget-register/midget-register/history/
John Vincent 