Identical to the one I owned new in 1973, great fun to drive on the Dunlop C41 crossply tyres that were standard. This setup taught you all you ever needed to know about opposite lock, oversteer, understeer and drifting....you could almost steer it on the throttle....like a big go-kart really.
Bought mine - a 1971/72 Bronze Yellow RWA model in 1989. Sold it to my Dad 4 years later to finance a kitchen for my flat. He kept it for about 10 years, completely restoring it along the way, and then gifted it back to me when he finally retired. Now I have two daughters who have their eyes on it.... Love the little beast - Guaranteed when you drive it you’ll arrive with a grin from ear to ear...
My first car (1983) was a white 1972 Midget with a dark navy, almost black interior. It was lhd for the North American market and I’d love to have it back. Great little car.
Couldn't agree more with this video. The midget is often overlooked by its competition, but once you drive one of these little gems, they get under your skin. Hence why I bought mine in the end, plus it fits very neatly in a UK Garage! Good work Classics World
I have one of these and yes, it's great. Bought mine in October with an intended light resto in Spring but business is not exactly booming so I am using it as is, slightly scruffy but so am I. I paid £1500 which is very cheap. It was on Scottish country roads today doing sixty and in villages it drew smiles or maybe people were just laughing at me. I had a Triumph Herald for twenty seven years but this is much more fun. Weeeeeeeeee!
My dad has just bought a BRG Mk 3 with same interior colour. Perfectly summed up the driving experience! Great classic fun which doesn’t break the bank!!
My first car (1983) when I was only 17 was a 1973 Midget in Bronze Yellow. Bought it for £500 and sold it 3 years later for £600. Wish I still had it now. Best car I ever had.
I’m always just constantly amazed by the fun to be had in these little cars they have not much horsepower they are small they are simple and they are so fun and easy to maintain and you get that sense of British classic motoring and getting to feel like a race car driver that feeling is irreplaceable
My brother had a Spitefire of the pre crash worthy variety at the same time I had a 1973 Midget. Direct competitors, but not very similar at all in the way they treated you as a driver. Mine always felt like a toy to play with, his just felt like it was out for real business. The Spit had more cornering grip in the rear (unless you got it up on a tire edge - then look out). The Midget slid easier in a corner, but you always felt in 'control'. Just great fun.
I had a British racing green Austin Healy Sprite, 1275 cc but it was fitted with a 1st gear racing gear, wow it didn't half make a whine, but I.t stuck to the road like glue, I even had a solid brass hand made thermostat housing made, because I could not find one, but to turn the down in the summer you had a hand wheel in the engine compartment, but God I love every part of it.
This absolutely nailed the experience and appeal of a Spridget. Made me miss mine, and that was a 'rubbish' rubber-bumper 1500. I'd agree that the one to have is the facelifted Mk3. Forget chrome grilles and wire wheels - black sills, black grille, Rostyles and ribbed vinyl seats are where it's at.
Fantastic fun these cars and really looking forward to getting ours back into competition where they are emmense fun. This car weighs the same as my old kit car (although doesn't have the same performance). The heater is amazingly efficient; managed to melt the rubber on my wife's shoes! Nice film that just makes me want to finish getting ours sorted after a few years of standing in the garage.
In 1970 I bought a 64 midget. No exterior door handles, sliding side curtains and a dreadfully breezy convertible top. If memory serves me it had an 1098cc engine that had a wrist pin clip come loose and the wrist pin gouged the cylinder wall past the point of boring so it was replaced with a slightly warmed over 1275cc. Originally a white car that I had repainted red. Replaced the top, carpets, seat covers and new tonneau cover bought from JC Whitney. Paint job was done for free so long as the painter could use it as a pace car at the old Bryer Motorsports Park in Belmont? New Hampshire. Wish I still had it. Thanks for the drive down memory lane
My first Midget was a 63 series 1. It had around 41 horsepower, and my motorcycle at the time had double that. I went on to a 67 Midget, then a 76 Midget.
I had a rubber bumper 1500 which we used as a daily driver and even took it to Le Mans. I took off the bumpers and filled in the holes and uprated the suspension, what a hoot!
Memory lane for me...mine was a 1971, white, just like yours on the outside. Black inside. You probably know this, but...the clutch release (throw-out) bearing was sacrificial metal...don't let it go too long. The rear axles had paper end seals...don't let grease leak into the brakes! The lower control "A" arms are held to the stub frames by sheet metal clips. Your car looks in much better condition, but on mine the clips had corroded and split! I'll end this...you enjoy your car, they are a lot of fun!
It always amazes me how much quieter the 1275 cc cars are compared to the 1098 cc ones. They are all fun though, I absolutely love my 62 Sprite. The most smiles per gallon out there, period.
We have a yearly car show in my small town. One year, mixed in among the Camaros and Mustangs was a single 62 Sprite modified for racing. It was opened up so you could see what had been done to it. The signage with it said something about '798' which I thought meant displacement. Wrong. The owner wandered up to talk and let me know that '798' was how heavy the car was after he modified it. I didn't ask how he shed that much weight, but there couldn't have been much left of the original car to get it that light.
Mine had a good heater too , it was a 69 mk3. The best I've had in a car , the Smith's heater was excellent . I still fancy getting another but they should really have a roll hoop fitted for safety , if the vehicle overturns it's deadly.
You can buy aftermarket roll bars if you would like. I have yet to see anyone properly roll their spridget mind! Their centre of gravity is rather low!
Hey - you can pay anything from £500 to £12k at the moment its mad. If you want a 1275 RWA like this one, I would say youd want to spend around £4k to get a half decent one with some bits that need doing
I was never that keen on the offset leg position. I well remember making a right prat out of myself. Coming out of the pub carpark on a sunny evening with a crowd watching. I hit the revs and dropped the clutch for a wheel spinning exit. What did I get? A big clunk and I didn't go anywhere! I'd snapped a half shaft. Well your only young once but what's the old saying "Pride before a fall".
Absolutely gorgeous. I'm tempted to get one to go with my Frogeye. One point - steel wheels ARE alloy wheels. People seem to have confused the word alloy (a metal mixed with another element, in this case iron with carbon and a few other things) with aluminium.
Yes, aluminium and alloy are often mixed up; I work in the cycle trade and aluminium spoke nipples can be unreliable. Some people say they don't want alloy, they want (Chrome plated) brass!! Aluminium frames are nearly always referred to as alloy, yet Reynolds steel frame tubing is also alloy but is always referred to as steel.
These cars still haven't appreciated much and can be found very cheap, even nice ones. It is very difficult for a grown man to get in/out of them. But easy to find space to park and store them is a big plus.
That is the challenge of enjoying a Midget. They were designed for a 1960's bodied Englishman - about 5'7" tall an a bit under 160 lbs. If your dimensions exceed these specs, a Midget is going to fit you like shoes two sizes too small.
Suffered from some common problems. The major fault with the car was rust. Could affect many parts of the car, such as the floors, the trunk, the rocker panels, the frame rails, and the sill. Rust could also compromise the structural integrity and safety of the car. It was especially prevalent in areas with high salt or moisture exposure, and could be difficult and expensive to repair.
My first car was an MG Midget: 1979 T registered in Inca Gold. Promised myself I would have one if I passed my Solicitors Final Examinations in 1983. How I wished I kept it but of course it was so "old fashioned", slow & poorly built I moved on to Golf GTI & BMW's. Looking on the DVLA website today I see its last tax expired 1/1/89.
Ever since British Leland made the decision to discontinue the sports cars they made in the late 1970's I've bemoaned the loss. It was a bean counter decision based on the fact that a car that didn't sell 50,000 units a year couldn't continue to be manufactured and be kept up to date with the new emission and safety laws. And none of the cars, like the Midget, they made came close to selling those numbers. Someone at BL should have taken a step back and realized that if they kept any one of the cars they were offering, MGB, MG Midget, Triumph TR or Spitfire they would have had a market that demanded well over 100,000 units a year and they could have kept the classic British Sport car going for a couple more decades. But they didn't. Though I'm a Midget fan, I think the proper car to have kept of the four would have been the MGB and let it graduate into the eventual MGF. Such a loss for sport car fans. At least Mazda recognized the market and gave us the Miata 20 years later.
It’s British. So... it tends to break down. Most serious owners usually have their trunks filled with spare parts “just in case”. But for a small cafe car it works just fine.
I had forgot how much fun it was stirring that transmission constantly. Nothing wrong with the car itself, it just is one of those cars you drive, not merely ride in. I've never had another car that was as much fun driving only 45 mph. The car reviewed, I have questions about. 1973 is when MG made the changes required for new North America safety and crash standards. In NA, all those cars with the suspension jacked up arrived with the Triumph sourced 1500cc engine. This car looks to have the suspension changes, but still has the 1275 A35 engine. Was MG making two different versions of this car for awhile, one for export, one for home market?
@@BigLisaFan In rereading my original post, boy did I miss the mark. I owned what was called in the press of the time, a 1973 1/2 model Midget. This I believe was the last version imported that did not have any crash worthiness changes made to the structure, an old style chrome bumper look. It had seat belts, but I'm not convinced they were original equipment. It did have some pollution controls on the engine: an air pump that's outlet were tapped directly into the exhaust ports in the head. It also had a fuel return line for gas vapors. It was still the later 1275 engine. I had a valve job done on my engine, head off and took it to a local machine shop (that questioned if it was from a lawn mower). After reassembly, I managed to take it out one night and red line it (almost) in 4th gear. That was on a well improved two lane highway with paved shoulders. Good thing too. I hadn't done any work to tighten up the front suspension and I used both sides of the road surface on my speed run, it tended to wander, if you know what I mean. That Midget was ten years old and seriously worn out when I had it. But it remains the car that was the greatest fun to drive of any I've owned.
@@cdjhyoung Time for another one. A great advertising line might have been, "You don't drive the Midget, you wear it." Know someone with a Spitfire, the Supermarine version not Triumph, and they say the same thing, you strap it on to fly it.
![Frogeye Sprite Replica - Better Than The Original? [MG Midget Tifosi Rana] (1976 Midget Road Test)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lZoDhcB8NPw/mqdefault.jpg)
Identical to the one I owned new in 1973, great fun to drive on the Dunlop C41 crossply tyres that were standard. This setup taught you all you ever needed to know about opposite lock, oversteer, understeer and drifting....you could almost steer it on the throttle....like a big go-kart really.
A fantastic driver's car!
I lusted after a Triumph TR-6 but ended up getting a 1968 Midget as it was within my budget. I have absolutely no regrets. I love that thing.
Bought mine - a 1971/72 Bronze Yellow RWA model in 1989. Sold it to my Dad 4 years later to finance a kitchen for my flat. He kept it for about 10 years, completely restoring it along the way, and then gifted it back to me when he finally retired. Now I have two daughters who have their eyes on it....
Love the little beast - Guaranteed when you drive it you’ll arrive with a grin from ear to ear...
My first car (1983) was a white 1972 Midget with a dark navy, almost black interior. It was lhd for the North American market and I’d love to have it back. Great little car.
Couldn't agree more with this video. The midget is often overlooked by its competition, but once you drive one of these little gems, they get under your skin. Hence why I bought mine in the end, plus it fits very neatly in a UK Garage! Good work Classics World
I have owned an MG Midget identical to this one for over 38 years. Superb little fun car, cheap to run and reliable. Love it.🥰
I bought a new MG Midget in 1974. I loved that little car. It was the most fun car I ever had. I wish I had another one.
I have one of these and yes, it's great. Bought mine in October with an intended light resto in Spring but business is not exactly booming so I am using it as is, slightly scruffy but so am I. I paid £1500 which is very cheap. It was on Scottish country roads today doing sixty and in villages it drew smiles or maybe people were just laughing at me. I had a Triumph Herald for twenty seven years but this is much more fun. Weeeeeeeeee!
My dad has just bought a BRG Mk 3 with same interior colour. Perfectly summed up the driving experience! Great classic fun which doesn’t break the bank!!
I bought one exactly like this new in the 1070's. 1974 Ithink. Brilliant car for the time.... I wish I had kept it!
My first car (1983) when I was only 17 was a 1973 Midget in Bronze Yellow. Bought it for £500 and sold it 3 years later for £600. Wish I still had it now. Best car I ever had.
I’m always just constantly amazed by the fun to be had in these little cars they have not much horsepower they are small they are simple and they are so fun and easy to maintain and you get that sense of British classic motoring and getting to feel like a race car driver that feeling is irreplaceable
My brother had a Spitefire of the pre crash worthy variety at the same time I had a 1973 Midget. Direct competitors, but not very similar at all in the way they treated you as a driver. Mine always felt like a toy to play with, his just felt like it was out for real business. The Spit had more cornering grip in the rear (unless you got it up on a tire edge - then look out). The Midget slid easier in a corner, but you always felt in 'control'. Just great fun.
I had a British racing green Austin Healy Sprite, 1275 cc but it was fitted with a 1st gear racing gear, wow it didn't half make a whine, but I.t stuck to the road like glue, I even had a solid brass hand made thermostat housing made, because I could not find one, but to turn the down in the summer you had a hand wheel in the engine compartment, but God I love every part of it.
They all came with a straight cut first gear. Not racing, but rather typical British Ieyland cost cutting.
Who needs a Veyron when you can have an MG Midget!! This one is in quite nice condition!
This absolutely nailed the experience and appeal of a Spridget. Made me miss mine, and that was a 'rubbish' rubber-bumper 1500. I'd agree that the one to have is the facelifted Mk3. Forget chrome grilles and wire wheels - black sills, black grille, Rostyles and ribbed vinyl seats are where it's at.
It's all about the traditional Midget!
Fantastic fun these cars and really looking forward to getting ours back into competition where they are emmense fun. This car weighs the same as my old kit car (although doesn't have the same performance). The heater is amazingly efficient; managed to melt the rubber on my wife's shoes! Nice film that just makes me want to finish getting ours sorted after a few years of standing in the garage.
In 1970 I bought a 64 midget. No exterior door handles, sliding side curtains and a dreadfully breezy convertible top. If memory serves me it had an 1098cc engine that had a wrist pin clip come loose and the wrist pin gouged the cylinder wall past the point of boring so it was replaced with a slightly warmed over 1275cc. Originally a white car that I had repainted red. Replaced the top, carpets, seat covers and new tonneau cover bought from JC Whitney. Paint job was done for free so long as the painter could use it as a pace car at the old Bryer Motorsports Park in Belmont? New Hampshire. Wish I still had it. Thanks for the drive down memory lane
never too late to buy another Gary!
My first Midget was a 63 series 1. It had around 41 horsepower, and my motorcycle at the time had double that. I went on to a 67 Midget, then a 76 Midget.
These are fantastic cars - the essence of two seater, open top roadster life
well said rusty, well said
I had a rubber bumper 1500 which we used as a daily driver and even took it to Le Mans. I took off the bumpers and filled in the holes and uprated the suspension, what a hoot!
Did you keep with the Armstrong shocks or go to a different style?
I love my Midget. Don't know why I took so long to buy one!
I used to have a 1500. I loved it. I now have a 1960 Sprite. M.
Awesome little cars to drive on the A and B Roads.
Memory lane for me...mine was a 1971, white, just like yours on the outside. Black inside.
You probably know this, but...the clutch release (throw-out) bearing was sacrificial metal...don't let it go too long. The rear axles had paper end seals...don't let grease leak into the brakes! The lower control "A" arms are held to the stub frames by sheet metal clips. Your car looks in much better condition, but on mine the clips had corroded and split!
I'll end this...you enjoy your car, they are a lot of fun!
Life with classics is rarely easy, is it?
Thanks for a great review, happy memories
Our pleasure!
It always amazes me how much quieter the 1275 cc cars are compared to the 1098 cc ones. They are all fun though, I absolutely love my 62 Sprite. The most smiles per gallon out there, period.
Huge fun for sure!
We have a yearly car show in my small town. One year, mixed in among the Camaros and Mustangs was a single 62 Sprite modified for racing. It was opened up so you could see what had been done to it. The signage with it said something about '798' which I thought meant displacement. Wrong. The owner wandered up to talk and let me know that '798' was how heavy the car was after he modified it. I didn't ask how he shed that much weight, but there couldn't have been much left of the original car to get it that light.
Had a ‘75 1500 for 9 years and loved it dearly. Sold it when no. 1 daughter arrived.
Mine had a good heater too , it was a 69 mk3. The best I've had in a car , the Smith's heater was excellent . I still fancy getting another but they should really have a roll hoop fitted for safety , if the vehicle overturns it's deadly.
Don't roll it then !!
You can buy aftermarket roll bars if you would like. I have yet to see anyone properly roll their spridget mind! Their centre of gravity is rather low!
I had a Sprite Mk IV in 1973 (Sprite's were one Mk in front), went on holiday to Germany and took the passenger seat out to make more luggage room.
Sorry that you didn't have a appreciative filly to take along instead.
I want to save up for one of these, in the summer. How much would a driveable but rough example cost in Scotland??
Hey - you can pay anything from £500 to £12k at the moment its mad. If you want a 1275 RWA like this one, I would say youd want to spend around £4k to get a half decent one with some bits that need doing
Good vlog pal , happy days !
I was never that keen on the offset leg position. I well remember making a right prat out of myself. Coming out of the pub carpark on a sunny evening with a crowd watching. I hit the revs and dropped the clutch for a wheel spinning exit. What did I get? A big clunk and I didn't go anywhere! I'd snapped a half shaft. Well your only young once but what's the old saying "Pride before a fall".
it's crazy how much more expensive these little cars are just 3 years later.
Absolutely gorgeous. I'm tempted to get one to go with my Frogeye. One point - steel wheels ARE alloy wheels. People seem to have confused the word alloy (a metal mixed with another element, in this case iron with carbon and a few other things) with aluminium.
Yes, aluminium and alloy are often mixed up; I work in the cycle trade and aluminium spoke nipples can be unreliable. Some people say they don't want alloy, they want (Chrome plated) brass!! Aluminium frames are nearly always referred to as alloy, yet Reynolds steel frame tubing is also alloy but is always referred to as steel.
love it got a 74 black one
I have a ‘72 RWA Midget. She always turns heads when she’s out.
Really love the miget and looking to get a cheap one
You’ll love it!
These cars still haven't appreciated much and can be found very cheap, even nice ones. It is very difficult for a grown man to get in/out of them. But easy to find space to park and store them is a big plus.
That is the challenge of enjoying a Midget. They were designed for a 1960's bodied Englishman - about 5'7" tall an a bit under 160 lbs. If your dimensions exceed these specs, a Midget is going to fit you like shoes two sizes too small.
Thank You🏢
Suffered from some common problems. The major fault with the car was rust. Could affect many parts of the car, such as the floors, the trunk, the rocker panels, the frame rails, and the sill. Rust could also compromise the structural integrity and safety of the car. It was especially prevalent in areas with high salt or moisture exposure, and could be difficult and expensive to repair.
I prefer my MGB. The MGBs have a little more elbow room, plus parts are way easier to get.
I’d say they are equal for parts support
My first car was an MG Midget: 1979 T registered in Inca Gold. Promised myself I would have one if I passed my Solicitors Final Examinations in 1983. How I wished I kept it but of course it was so "old fashioned", slow & poorly built I moved on to Golf GTI & BMW's. Looking on the DVLA website today I see its last tax expired 1/1/89.
What a fantastic first car though, Gary!
Ever since British Leland made the decision to discontinue the sports cars they made in the late 1970's I've bemoaned the loss. It was a bean counter decision based on the fact that a car that didn't sell 50,000 units a year couldn't continue to be manufactured and be kept up to date with the new emission and safety laws. And none of the cars, like the Midget, they made came close to selling those numbers.
Someone at BL should have taken a step back and realized that if they kept any one of the cars they were offering, MGB, MG Midget, Triumph TR or Spitfire they would have had a market that demanded well over 100,000 units a year and they could have kept the classic British Sport car going for a couple more decades. But they didn't. Though I'm a Midget fan, I think the proper car to have kept of the four would have been the MGB and let it graduate into the eventual MGF. Such a loss for sport car fans. At least Mazda recognized the market and gave us the Miata 20 years later.
I had a '72 midget and when driving next to semi-trailers I realized that I could easily fit underneath the trailer - it is that low.
From America here been wanting to buy one of these! Love little cars! Just wondering why they so cheap?!
It’s British. So... it tends to break down. Most serious owners usually have their trunks filled with spare parts “just in case”. But for a small cafe car it works just fine.
I miss my 1975 0:34 MG Midget, Special edition.
😔
Great review!
I had forgot how much fun it was stirring that transmission constantly. Nothing wrong with the car itself, it just is one of those cars you drive, not merely ride in. I've never had another car that was as much fun driving only 45 mph.
The car reviewed, I have questions about. 1973 is when MG made the changes required for new North America safety and crash standards. In NA, all those cars with the suspension jacked up arrived with the Triumph sourced 1500cc engine. This car looks to have the suspension changes, but still has the 1275 A35 engine. Was MG making two different versions of this car for awhile, one for export, one for home market?
I think it was 75 when the rubber bumper and Triumph 1500 engine came out. The 74s had chrome bumpers and enormous rubber blocks.
@@BigLisaFan In rereading my original post, boy did I miss the mark. I owned what was called in the press of the time, a 1973 1/2 model Midget. This I believe was the last version imported that did not have any crash worthiness changes made to the structure, an old style chrome bumper look. It had seat belts, but I'm not convinced they were original equipment. It did have some pollution controls on the engine: an air pump that's outlet were tapped directly into the exhaust ports in the head. It also had a fuel return line for gas vapors. It was still the later 1275 engine. I had a valve job done on my engine, head off and took it to a local machine shop (that questioned if it was from a lawn mower). After reassembly, I managed to take it out one night and red line it (almost) in 4th gear. That was on a well improved two lane highway with paved shoulders. Good thing too. I hadn't done any work to tighten up the front suspension and I used both sides of the road surface on my speed run, it tended to wander, if you know what I mean.
That Midget was ten years old and seriously worn out when I had it. But it remains the car that was the greatest fun to drive of any I've owned.
@@cdjhyoung Time for another one. A great advertising line might have been, "You don't drive the Midget, you wear it." Know someone with a Spitfire, the Supermarine version not Triumph, and they say the same thing, you strap it on to fly it.
Once spent a night in a J reg one, inthe 70s - we ran out or petrol. My prefevce though is for a TR6
No probably missing a lot more than 10hp 😀👍 great show
Still plenty to have fun, though! :D
@@ClassicsWorldUK and I do !lol😜
has that got a 5 speed conversion?
why only 2 wipers rather than 3?
How tall is this guy?
MGB or MG Midget? 🤔 Which is the better drive?
They would have sold a lot more of these if they didn't name it "Midget"......."MG Sport" .. etc.
Driving this in the United States is going to suck because of all the big trucks and SUVs
Can you say octagonal? Thought you could.
Octagonal not hexagonal
If only I was a midget.
OCTAGON in the middle, dude...
A Honda S600 is smaller and better
J
Edhfdjf
I had a 74 midget and it was fun, but the quality was CRAP
We all have stories, don't we! 🤔
"Hexagonal" - ???? Really? It's an OCTAGON for crying out loud.