Registration - WDC 533S

Chassis - GAN6-202917G

M.O.T. - September 2024

Odometer - 81,323

‘WDC 533S’ vacated the Abingdon production in late 1977, though it was not registered until March 22 the following year. The home-market MG has remained in the care of its current keeper for the last five years and has apparently been the subject of a considerable degree of restoration, including a full respray. The vendor now considers its five-speed manual transmission and two-seater bodywork to be in ‘excellent’ order, classes the four-cylinder engine and black vinyl upholstery as ‘good’, and the yellow paintwork as ‘average’. He is now offering the rubber-bumpered Midget complete with black hood, roll hoop, Moto-Lita wood-rimmed steering wheel, Caliber stereo system, brand new set of JDM Minilite-style alloy wheels, and a current MOT valid for the next 12 months.

By the ‘60s, the MG Car Company had long since been absorbed into the giant British Motor Corporation (BMC). In an effort to fully capitalise on the many respected names in its care, the company embarked upon a programme of ‘badge engineering’, and the new MG Midget was essentially a MKII Austin-Healey Sprite in a slightly different suit of clothes, and initially powered by a 948cc A-Series engine. By the time of the 1966 MKIII, the motor’s capacity had increased via 1098cc to

1275cc, semi-elliptic rear springs had replaced the quarter elliptics, and the front brakes were now discs. There were also wind-up windows and a superior hood. In 1972 a lower-geared Triumph steering rack was fitted, a second silencer added and the dynamo ousted in favour of an alternator. The final iteration, the MKIV, brought deformable federal bumpers allied to an increased ride height and a new engine and gearbox – the 1,493cc and four-speed manual units from the Triumph Spitfire. With 66bhp now on tap, the venerable little two-seater was capable of a genuine 100mph flat out. A total of 226,001 Midgets were built between 1961 and 1979.

In summary:

• A very usable four-keeper example registering 81,323 miles
• Understood to have benefited from considerable recent restoration
• Comes with new alloy wheels, woodrim steering wheel and roll hoop