Click here if you are unable to view this gallery on a mobile device.
Is there anyone who likes cars who’s ever not wanted an MG sometime in their life? This loveable car has an interesting history dating back to 1924. The first MG was a somewhat modified 1923 Morris that Cecil Kimber, the general manager of the Morris Garages in Atwater, England, built. Then he started building coach-touring bodies on the Morris Cowley chassis and calling them Morris Garage Chummys.
It is said that all the parts for the early MGs were from the company’s own parts bins. The initials and ultimately the name MG were selected as a recognition to owner William Morris and the Morris Garages.
In 1936, the MG TA was introduced followed by the MG TB in 1939. After World War II, the MG TC renewed production, and the company manufactured about 10,000 roadsters with about 2,000 shipped to America between 1946 and 1949, all with right-hand drive. Some say that is what started the sports car culture in this country. Owners waved to each other and sports car clubs and road rallies were formed. These inexpensive cars became more than just transportation.
Many MG Roadsters were brought home by GIs after the war. These small early roadsters gave a rough ride, had no creature comforts like a heater, defroster or side windows. But they were peppy and fun to drive. The styling of the two-seater roadster including the radiator grill with the MG logo was appealing. They were cute, sort of miniatures of mid-1930s American luxury sport cars. They combined the nostalgia of the old American car with the zip of a sports car.
Different MG T series models were produced from 1936 to 1955 with suicide doors and very little to protect the passengers from the weather. They were stylish, economical, sporty and there was nothing like them being built in the United States. Jay Kline, a Walnut Creek resident, is a real fan of MG Roadsters and has owned them for the last 45 years or so. He acquired this issue’s 1951 MG TD Mark II Roadster in August 2018 from an individual in New York.
“I found out about it through a mechanic friend of mine. His father back there was the middleman in the deal. When I heard it was a Mark II, my eyes and ears (and wallet) opened really wide. They made close to 30,000 TDs between 1950 and 1953 but they made only 1,710 Mark IIs,” Kline said.
The major differences between the Mark II and the standard MG TD were mechanical, adding about 5 units of horsepower for a total of about 57 horsepower.
“The rarity of how many they made got my attention,” he said.
This roadster began its restoration in 1999 and took three years to complete. It was in good shape when Kline acquired it, by trading his 1953 MG TD, plus $17,500, for this one.
“My wife said my collection, if I wanted one, would consist of one car. I said, ‘I have one, but I want this other one.’ She said she didn’t care which one I would keep, but the total must be one.”
Obviously, he chose the Mark II model.
“Maybe I was a fool and maybe not, I bought it based on pictures, I never saw the car prior to purchasing it. But with them spending three years to restore it there couldn’t have been too many things they missed.”
Kline was told the restoration at that time cost between $38,000 and $40,000 and he estimates the current market value at $33,000 to $37,000.
Kline is somewhat mechanically inclined “but there are some good places around here locally that have helped me out. There are a few things that have deteriorated over time since its restoration, and I have a list of minor things that need to be done. The strangest thing is probably the idiot light for the gas. There is no gas gauge. There is a green idiot light that goes on when you get down to a gallon-and-a-half. From the first day I got the car until a while after, no matter how much or how little gas I had in it, that light was on. So I disconnected it because it was driving me crazy. We want to put a new sending unit in and eliminate that problem.”
There are two other things Kline would like to have for his MG. First is a heater. A heater was an option for the car when it was built, but many Roadster fans believed that only wimps needed a heater. The other thing he would like to find is a period-correct radio.
Kline frequently takes his MG TD to local car shows and tries to drive it at least twice a week. Those in the know agree he owns an unusually good car, as he received the participant’s first place award in the recent Blackhawk All British Motor Show just last month.
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles or to read more of Dave’s columns, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.
