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del320

MB Enthusiast
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Joined
Mar 4, 2005
Messages
2,435
Location
Near Melrose, Scottish Borders
Car
1996 E320 Coupe
Don't see so many MG Midgets out on the road these days - and a perfect day for a coffee break on a run between Selkirk and St Mary's Loch.

But, goodness, I'd forgotton just how small they are!

Waterwheel Cafe.jpg

And in comparison to a Focus or Golf, in terms of height and width, my car is pretty small too.
 
Had a large bumper 1500cc one for 6 months 20 years ago (so not a 'proper one)
Spent an amount getting it sorted and the still broke down twice, the second time the bleeping thing stranded wifey and me 30 miles from home

Sold it the next week at auction (got my money back at least)

Never, ever, ever again :eek:

And yes it was awful in traffic.
So low and tinny - I wouldn't wanted to have had an impact in it....
 
Great picture - the clue is in the name I guess :D

A colleague of mine bought one new in the late '70s (must have been around the time they stopped making them) ... she emigrated to Zimbabwe and took it with her. I always wondered how it coped over there!
 
Size is much like looking at a classic mini alongside a new one! So small.
 
So low and tinny - I wouldn't wanted to have had an impact in it....

No rollover protection either, like most cars of the day. I remember a guy being trapped under a burning MGB on the A3.
 
In the crazy PC world we have now the name alone would probably be deemed offensive.
 
I was more a fan of these, possibly even smaller than the Midget

ebay253840.jpg
 
Definitely smaller than a Midget

The mk1 Frogeye Sprite was definitely a bit smaller, and less well planned than the Midget, which was actually just a badge engineered Mk2 Sprite.

Great cars, though. 0-60 by Wednesday and could worry some mopeds with its 43 bhp. Different times.

With a basic tool roll and a hammer, you could always get the bleedy thing going again when it broke down.
 
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I saw a yellow one in morningside yesterday morning. Looked tiny - but cool.
 
In the crazy PC world we have now the name alone would probably be deemed offensive.

The Chinese are bringing one out as the next car in the range. It's called the MG Umpa-Lumpa...
 
Don't see so many MG Midgets out on the road these days - and a perfect day for a coffee break on a run between Selkirk and St Mary's Loch.

But, goodness, I'd forgotton just how small they are!

View attachment 63332

And in comparison to a Focus or Golf, in terms of height and width, my car is pretty small too.

I've seen a few over the last few days , this spell of good weather , but can't remember before that when I last saw one .

I used to drive around a lot in my pal's 1964 MKII Austin Healy Sprite .
 
Midget better planned and just a mark two Sprite?
not really. Mark one Sprite is the same tub as the mark two (Quarter elliptics.)
Mark one had all opening front end so was in my view better planned than the more conventional looking Sprite Mk 2 and MG Maggot. Had a lot of fun in one -forty years ago.
No heater, pram hood, sidescreens, no performance.
They are now too expensive to make sense (buy an MX5; It is half a century better,) but a good bit bigger than an Elan!
 
There was a pre-96 MG class at Prescott yesterday so there were a number there. Most are heavily breathed on!

mgmidget2_zpsrhif63db.jpg


PrescottMGmidgetspec_zpsnxtvrw6t.jpg


They aren't as small as Austin 7s though...

PrescottFav_zpsua5nx6ep.jpg
 
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1982 was the year.
a mate had a mustard coloured MGBGT not sure what year but had chrome bumpers. I had a Yamaha 350LC (pre power valve0

he got the nice girls with his "sports car"

I got the dirty ones with my bike

nuff said :bannana:
 
Agreed but.....

The Midget was only a badge engineered Mk2 Sprite. A purely cosmetic adjustment to the Mk2.

Agreed that the Mk1 was easier to maintain than the Mk2, but the "design thinking" (??) at the time was that the Mk2 was a modernisation of the Mk1 - a proper 1960's car to replace the obviously 1950's Mk1. A car with an opening boot ! And 10% more power thanks to larger SU's.

So they ended up with a Mk2 Sprite and MG Midget, which looked like a younger brother to the new MGB.

Here's the Mk2 Sprite, for those who've forgotten what it looked like

1483766.jpg


IMG_0600.jpg


Yes, those are both Mk2 Sprites, not Midgets.




Midget better planned and just a mark two Sprite?
not really. Mark one Sprite is the same tub as the mark two (Quarter elliptics.)
Mark one had all opening front end so was in my view better planned than the more conventional looking Sprite Mk 2 and MG Maggot. Had a lot of fun in one -forty years ago.
No heater, pram hood, sidescreens, no performance.
They are now too expensive to make sense (buy an MX5; It is half a century better,) but a good bit bigger than an Elan!
 
I was more a fan of these, possibly even smaller than the Midget

ebay253840.jpg

My pal Freddie , who had the MkII , also had a Frogeye.

Thing that always amused me was access to the boot .
 

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