1979 MG Midget 1500

In the care of the vendor for the only past eight months, this lovely MG Midget is the latest car to be offered as part of our No Reserve Friday!

Bought on a bit of a whim, a combination of COVID-19 restrictions, inaccessible storage, and a forthcoming knee operation have conspired to make its continuing presence in their lives unfeasible.

But, please don’t assume the worst; this is a delightful example of a perennially popular British sportscar that appears to have been well-looked after throughout its life and is still benefiting from an older bodywork restoration.

And, have we mentioned it’s being offered with no reserve?

The bodywork was comprehensively restored in 2000. The work was considerable and included new front and rear wings, inner rear wings, inner and outer sills, lower A-posts, a valence, bonnet and boot lid plus new jacking points.

It was rebuilt using new seals and clips before being repainted in its original colour. The work cost £3,579 (which would be around £6,000 in today’s money) and it was clearly money well spent as it looks terrific still, even after all these years. Even the panels, often rippled and dented by now, are still pretty straight and true; it really has stood up remarkably well. The is the odd minor blemish, a recent car-park incurred scratch on the passenger and a small shallow dent on the boot lid.

We especially like the combination of the black sills, dark green bodywork, and black rollover hoop and hood; the combination works brilliantly and helps the (sometimes awkward) black rubber bumpers merge into the overall silhouette. With a brilliant shine to the paintwork, the Midget really pops in the sunlight.

The fabric roof is very good, being free of rips, tears and other damage, apart from a slight split on the passenger side, where one of the clips should hold. It’s also nice and taut when it’s up, and folds down neatly and tucks underneath the (slightly scruffy and split) tonneau when it’s down. The plastic windows are nice and clear but we can see that a repair patch has been sewn in above the offside quarterlight.

The silver steel wheels complement the brightwork around the windscreen and the full-length chrome trim that delineates the sills and the bodywork. The wheels are in fine fettle and they’re shod with four new Falken tyres and because they were only fitted in October 2019, they’re still like new.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The black rubber bumpers are still a deep black colour rather than a sun-faded grey, but they do have the odd scuff.

Oh, and while the lock and door edge protectors might not be to everyone’s taste, their presence does indicate a more-than-usually careful owner, which can only be a good sign.

The black seats, which have been piped in green, match the Midget’s exterior beautifully. They’re also in great shape, still plump and bearing next to no wear at all.

The carpets are also good - bar the driver’s side, which is a bit scruffy when you compare them to the rest - and lifting them shows solid metal floors with only the merest traces of surface corrosion to be dealt with.

There’s more good news with the dashboard, which is free of cracks and other damage, and the door cards, which are terrific and is home to the car’s immobiliser. The hood frame is straight and well-painted and the underside of the folding roof appears to be free of the sort of water-stains and mildew that lesser cars are prone to develop.

A pair of Sony speakers have been fitted behind the seats, and the boot floor is as solid as the rest of the car.

A new engine was fitted in 1997. Now only just about run-in after only covering around 26,000 miles, the car is still running and driving well. Please see the video to hear it start and run – and yes, the rev counter is about as quick to react as the YTS boy…

Everything under the bonnet is relatively clean and well presented.

Abingdon Car Restorations, one of our neighbours, started to look after the car in the early noughties and its most recent bill, for £600 in November 2019, was for a full service, work to the braking system, a new battery and alternator, and the application of some Waxoyl and underseal.

The Midget’s MOT certificate expires in October 2020. It also comes with a number of expired MOT certificates, some old invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years, a driver’s handbook and two sets of keys.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been restored and maintained to a good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

And please be reassured, we’ve undertaken a full COVID-assessment and put into place strict control measure to enable us to safely facilitate a no-contact, socially distanced viewing that includes disinfection of the vehicle before and after your viewing.

However, if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Or, even better, why not contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call? You get to direct us in real-time, giving you a virtual personal viewing experience while maintaining the lockdown. We like to call it ‘The Market’s 2020 Vision’…

Some cars are easy to write about; with tens-of-thousands of pounds spent on them, their specification reads like an enthusiast’s wish list of components, accessories and upgrades. Some others can feel like plaiting fog; with barely any information, we end up scratching around for things to say other than the obvious.

And then there are cars like this delightful little MG Midget. Small enough to tuck under your arm and carry inside on a cold night, it’s a thoroughly nice car in every respect. Not flashy, it’ll just carry on enhancing the life of whomsoever buys it, just like it’s been doing for the past four decades.

It’s the girl/boy next door who you overlook in favour of more obvious paramours – until they catch your eye one day and you fall head-over-heels in love.

And, it’s not as if it’s going to cost you a fortune. Offered with no reserve, we think the virtual hammer will fall somewhere between £3,000 and £5,000 – and if you’ll allow us to stretch the analogy still further, we’d like to point out that the cost of separating (heh, nothing lasts forever…) is likely to be considerably less than it would be for anything flashier - but that’s a lesson your last divorce taught you, isn’t it? (ed: that’s enough…)

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.