Midget buying advice
Discussion
My brother in law is thinking of buying a midget but doesn't know the pitfalls. A list of things to look out for would be appreciated. He seems to favour the round wheel arch model, Mk3 and preferably tax exempt. Any advice on owning, running and maintaining one would good.
Thanks
Gary
Thanks
Gary
RWA 1275.
First off he will find free tax splits the model right down the model, he wants an L or previous, and it goes off date of manufacture not registration, so a heritage certificate is needed if the car was registered post 72.
Common rot spots:
Sills, floors (boot and passenger compartment), sill to floor edge particularly susceptible, Inner wings, front chassis legs, Heel boards front and rear, rear spring hangers, outer rear wings (and inner), front wings round headlamp bowls and sill to wing seam, Bonnet front edge, front panel/rad panel, rear panel to boot floor, petrol tank, doors.
Basically every piece of metal on the car has a propensity to rust, the above are the worst.
Make sure the car is sound and solid. From an originality point of view and value make sure the car still has a midget 1275 engine fitted, many have been fitted with marina engines. While offering benefits a midget engine is worth 3-400 out of car, marina engine 100 max. The used price will be hit by the wrong engine. Otherwise just check body, mechanicals, trim, hood.
Bad midgets stand out a mile away, however if he still isn't sure then by all means employ me to inspect and provide a full report.
Oliver
First off he will find free tax splits the model right down the model, he wants an L or previous, and it goes off date of manufacture not registration, so a heritage certificate is needed if the car was registered post 72.
Common rot spots:
Sills, floors (boot and passenger compartment), sill to floor edge particularly susceptible, Inner wings, front chassis legs, Heel boards front and rear, rear spring hangers, outer rear wings (and inner), front wings round headlamp bowls and sill to wing seam, Bonnet front edge, front panel/rad panel, rear panel to boot floor, petrol tank, doors.
Basically every piece of metal on the car has a propensity to rust, the above are the worst.
Make sure the car is sound and solid. From an originality point of view and value make sure the car still has a midget 1275 engine fitted, many have been fitted with marina engines. While offering benefits a midget engine is worth 3-400 out of car, marina engine 100 max. The used price will be hit by the wrong engine. Otherwise just check body, mechanicals, trim, hood.
Bad midgets stand out a mile away, however if he still isn't sure then by all means employ me to inspect and provide a full report.
Oliver
Tax free RWA model is very popular so expect to pay a premium for a good 'un
You don't say what your budget is and whether you want to actually drive for any distance it or just pose at occasional sunny day shows
Buy the very best you can afford (subject to inspection) bodywork and spaying paint are the dear bits just about everything else you can get cheap (some bits too cheaply made)
Test drive a few, including ones that are very good and what you think are out of your price range to find out how they should all drive when done properly and to find out if you really want one as they are quite small, basic and noisy compared to modern cars – remember Spridgets were old technology in the mid-60s and it’s the same stuff in the mid-70s
Note: you may not like the way 60s/70s feel and drive
Join or visit your local MG club meeting, ask question of owners who actually use their Midgets
There's loads of info in books and on the internet, the Owners Manual (red cover) is only £6 and gives loads of info, plus Terry Horler’s Original Sprite & Midget is very informative
If you lived nearer I’d invite you out in my scruffy but well sorted car (or if you’re at Supercar Sunday at Gaydon, or Kimbolton, or NEC - see PH Calendar - just ask me)
You’ve just missed the largest gathering of Spridgets for Spridget 50 at Gaydon last weekend
If you can afford it I’d advise buying a good ‘Heritage’ shelled and well restored car but also save some money for regular servicing and replacing the parts and components missed or not used enough
Watch out for “fur coat no knickers” examples - bright, fresh paint (usually red) lots of bright sparkling bits (usually including chrome wires, possibly very cheaply made ones too) with next to no miles since finish of restoration – and cars that have been restored over many years with a home paint job and again not driven (like mine was)
Personal plea here – please don’t buy Tartan Red with wire wheels and consider buying earlier SWA models – I wanted to go back to a 1969 Sprite as the one I had before as that’s a lovely model
I'm off to France in my Midget on Friday for a long weekend (Loan Historque) proving they can be everyday and touring cars
PS if you get one get rid of the contact-breaker points for electronic igniter asap
PPS sorry, read he for you
You don't say what your budget is and whether you want to actually drive for any distance it or just pose at occasional sunny day shows
Buy the very best you can afford (subject to inspection) bodywork and spaying paint are the dear bits just about everything else you can get cheap (some bits too cheaply made)
Test drive a few, including ones that are very good and what you think are out of your price range to find out how they should all drive when done properly and to find out if you really want one as they are quite small, basic and noisy compared to modern cars – remember Spridgets were old technology in the mid-60s and it’s the same stuff in the mid-70s
Note: you may not like the way 60s/70s feel and drive
Join or visit your local MG club meeting, ask question of owners who actually use their Midgets
There's loads of info in books and on the internet, the Owners Manual (red cover) is only £6 and gives loads of info, plus Terry Horler’s Original Sprite & Midget is very informative
If you lived nearer I’d invite you out in my scruffy but well sorted car (or if you’re at Supercar Sunday at Gaydon, or Kimbolton, or NEC - see PH Calendar - just ask me)
You’ve just missed the largest gathering of Spridgets for Spridget 50 at Gaydon last weekend
If you can afford it I’d advise buying a good ‘Heritage’ shelled and well restored car but also save some money for regular servicing and replacing the parts and components missed or not used enough
Watch out for “fur coat no knickers” examples - bright, fresh paint (usually red) lots of bright sparkling bits (usually including chrome wires, possibly very cheaply made ones too) with next to no miles since finish of restoration – and cars that have been restored over many years with a home paint job and again not driven (like mine was)
Personal plea here – please don’t buy Tartan Red with wire wheels and consider buying earlier SWA models – I wanted to go back to a 1969 Sprite as the one I had before as that’s a lovely model
I'm off to France in my Midget on Friday for a long weekend (Loan Historque) proving they can be everyday and touring cars
PS if you get one get rid of the contact-breaker points for electronic igniter asap
PPS sorry, read he for you
Edited by SB - Nigel on Wednesday 28th May 22:10
Great little cars - possibly THE under-rated sports car.
The RWA body is pretty, but I think it misses something without the chrome side and bonnet strips that the earlier SWA cars have.
If practicality is an issue, and you're looking at earlier 1275's, look out for a car with a convertible hood. If memory serves, earlier 1275's had the pack away hood. The total absence of hood is very pretty but not as easy to put up as the later true convertible hood.
Age of the car is largely irrelevant, as the youngest car you will look at is around 35 years old.
I've owned a '72 car which I loved, and currently have a '62 Mk I, which I love. The 1275 is a lot quicker and had far more forgiving handling.
The RWA body is pretty, but I think it misses something without the chrome side and bonnet strips that the earlier SWA cars have.
If practicality is an issue, and you're looking at earlier 1275's, look out for a car with a convertible hood. If memory serves, earlier 1275's had the pack away hood. The total absence of hood is very pretty but not as easy to put up as the later true convertible hood.
Age of the car is largely irrelevant, as the youngest car you will look at is around 35 years old.
I've owned a '72 car which I loved, and currently have a '62 Mk I, which I love. The 1275 is a lot quicker and had far more forgiving handling.
Thanks chaps, we are making a note of all the comments and should prove helpful when deciding which ones are worth going to look at them. I think we might go along to the classic car show at Tatton Park this weekend so we can look at a lot of them alongside each other which might also help on deciding which he thinks is best looking.
There's a lot to be said for getting a B instead.
Is he likely to use it a lot? Does he intend taking it on motorways? How much is he intending spending?
Midgets are fantastic town cars and B road toys, but a B can do all of the same, has a bigger boot, an oil cooler and an overdrive unit and is therefore much much more suitable as a practical car.
In addition, midgets rot worse than Bs and are harder and therefore more difficult (i.e. expensive) to sort (not that B s are particularly cheap when the sills go!).
Just a thought!
Is he likely to use it a lot? Does he intend taking it on motorways? How much is he intending spending?
Midgets are fantastic town cars and B road toys, but a B can do all of the same, has a bigger boot, an oil cooler and an overdrive unit and is therefore much much more suitable as a practical car.
In addition, midgets rot worse than Bs and are harder and therefore more difficult (i.e. expensive) to sort (not that B s are particularly cheap when the sills go!).
Just a thought!
I would second Wadge's comment.
Also rubber bumper roadsters are incredible value at the moment, a well sorted example being had for circa 3-5k. There is a lovely bronze MGBLE for sale on ebay at the moment for £3k buy it now from memory. 3-5k is right in the sweet spot of money for a good 1275 midget. While I own, compete and sell midgets, and have run them as daily drivers and enjoyed it, an MGB is a far more modern driving car, and more practical in every way. Just not as quick round an autotest :P
Also rubber bumper roadsters are incredible value at the moment, a well sorted example being had for circa 3-5k. There is a lovely bronze MGBLE for sale on ebay at the moment for £3k buy it now from memory. 3-5k is right in the sweet spot of money for a good 1275 midget. While I own, compete and sell midgets, and have run them as daily drivers and enjoyed it, an MGB is a far more modern driving car, and more practical in every way. Just not as quick round an autotest :P
In the early 90's I was living in Epsom and working in Wokingham.
At the time I ran a '72 Midget as my daily transport. IIRC it's approximately a 60 mile round trip. The car handled it with no problem. I cruised at 60, which did not tax the car unduly and most of the time was not much slower than other road users.
Yes, it was far from comfortable, but that was part of the fun. My first taste of un-sanitised motoring, and I have been hooked ever since.
For the sake of accuracy, I should also point out that for the first year or so of ownership I was under the bonnet most weeks as various bits wore out, fell off, developed smoke leaks and generally found fascinating ways of heading south. Once I was past that "recomissioning period" the car was completely reliable and with backup from the likes of Moss and the MGOC, getting parts was easier (and cheaper!) than on the rare occasions when my then girlfriend's Vauxhall needed TLC.
At the time I ran a '72 Midget as my daily transport. IIRC it's approximately a 60 mile round trip. The car handled it with no problem. I cruised at 60, which did not tax the car unduly and most of the time was not much slower than other road users.
Yes, it was far from comfortable, but that was part of the fun. My first taste of un-sanitised motoring, and I have been hooked ever since.
For the sake of accuracy, I should also point out that for the first year or so of ownership I was under the bonnet most weeks as various bits wore out, fell off, developed smoke leaks and generally found fascinating ways of heading south. Once I was past that "recomissioning period" the car was completely reliable and with backup from the likes of Moss and the MGOC, getting parts was easier (and cheaper!) than on the rare occasions when my then girlfriend's Vauxhall needed TLC.
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