At $5,000, Is This 1952 Mg Td A Project With Potential?

Offered arsenic portion of an property sale, today's Nice Price aliases No Dice MG TD is simply a literal car shed find that, while rough, seems wholly intact and a cleanable task for a shadiness character mechanic. Could its value beryllium a coagulated starting constituent to get it retired of nan garage?

When my woman and I were housebreaking... er, potty training our youngest daughter, I happened to beryllium retired of nan location nan first clip she dropped a deuce successful her small integrative commode. So proud was she astir her accomplishment that she demanded that it stay location until her daddy sewage location truthful that he, too, could marvel astatine nan achievement. Unfortunately, nan canine ate nan grounds earlier I returned, frankincense spoiling nan surprise. Bad dog.

Over-estimating nan worth of thing is simply a believe we each woody pinch connected an almost play ground here. Point successful fact, nan 1996 Mazda Miata we looked astatine yesterday, while acold from being a turd, asked a jaw-dropping $32,500 for its purchase. It was made clear successful nan advertisement that nan high-for-the-market value reflected nan activity that had gone into nan car's restoration, but that still didn't make it immoderate much palatable, seeing arsenic location are plentifulness of nice-enough Miatas connected nan marketplace for overmuch less. What resulted was a monolithic 98% No Dice loss.

When Mazda introduced nan MX-5 Miata successful 1989, it was seen arsenic a modern mentation of nan classical British sports car, pinch nan MGB and Lotus Elan serving arsenic its belief ancestors. If we see nan lineage of nan MG—that being nan abbreviation for Morris Garages—we spot that nan B's contiguous ancestor is nan MGA. That model, launched successful 1955, succeeded nan MG TF and, pinch its ponton bodywork, represented nan company's first modern sports car. A three-year-only model, nan TF supplanted nan TD, which successful move was a heavy revised two-seater that replaced nan TC aft WWII. All of nan T-Types could trace their root backmost to nan TA of 1936, and each carried nan bid sanction "Midget." That would beryllium reused successful nan 1960s for a exemplary smaller than nan B.

This 1952 MG TD represents nan first exemplary successful nan bid to connection left-hand drive, thing necessitated by MG's move to export nan cars to North America, astatine nan clip a lucrative marketplace for sports cars. While it mostly looks for illustration nan earlier TC, nan exemplary represents a awesome rethink complete that model, not conscionable successful nan placement of its steering wheel. Underneath nan accepted assemblage is simply a chassis shared pinch nan MG YB saloon, including that model's rack and pinion steering and independent beforehand suspension. Other donations from nan YB included nan 1250cc OHV inline four, pinch a azygous SU side-draught carburetor, and nan four-speed manual transmission.

This 1 is claimed by nan seller to person been successful nan possession of an individual who precocious passed distant and is now portion of that person's property sale. It's presented arsenic almost complete, though showing nan signs of years (or decades) of having sat untouched. Fortunately, it sat untouched successful Arizona, truthful rust doesn't look to beryllium an issue. Termites might, however, since an ash framework supports nan MG's elemental bodywork.

Mechanicals are elemental arsenic a pimple, and while nan seller describes their position arsenic "unknown," and nan car evidently doesn't tally astatine nan moment, arsenic agelong arsenic nan motor spins and its pistons aren't rusted successful their bores, it should travel backmost to life pinch a small effort.

The aesthetics are better, but nan layers of particulate and ungraded and... what is that, sand? mightiness put disconnected immoderate people. Aside from a sizable dent connected 1 of nan headlamp housings, everything looks to beryllium straight. Yes, nan overgarment has seen amended days, and nan backmost model successful nan apical is cloudier than a July greeting connected nan San Francisco Bay, but astatine slightest it's each there.

Cleaning and noodling nether and astir a car for illustration this is acold much nosy than sourcing hard-to-find parts. Fortunately, not only is location a awesome nine supporting nan marque, but besides plentifulness of sources, for illustration Moss Motors, wherever parts tin beryllium easy found.

What parts would this car request to get up and running? Well, nan motor will astir apt conscionable tally pinch a flush of nan substance strategy and a caller battery. It won't tally well, but it will run. The Midget motor is simply a stout thing. The brakes are different communicative and will apt request caller cylinders astatine some ends, caller soft lines, and apt caller shoes. Fresh fluids for nan engine, gearbox, and rear extremity wouldn't beryllium a bad thought either. Nor would lubing nan chassis, thing that, yes, needs to beryllium done connected a car of this age. The only awesome mobility present is whether nan clutch has welded itself to nan unit plate, but that's acold little apt successful a barren situation for illustration a car shed successful Arizona. Other than that, it'll astir apt return little than a mates of weekends to get this car going again, arsenic agelong arsenic it wasn't primitively squirreled distant owed to immoderate awesome mechanical malfunction.

The seller has a cleanable title for nan car, and we tin dream that nary outstanding backmost registration fees are hanging complete it. The asking value is $5,000, which nan seller says is nan reserve magnitude for nan car connected nan estate's auction site. That's astir a 3rd of what a decent (but not perfect) driver goes for these days, and sadly, MGs don't thin to summation successful worth complete time, truthful don't expect this to beryllium a long-game money maker. It will beryllium a nosy task and astir apt a coagulated sports car if an old-school vibe is to nan caller owner's liking.

What's your return connected this garage-find MG TD and that $5,000 value tag? Does that look adjacent fixed nan car's presentation? Or is that excessively overmuch for a car that could beryllium much of a fumble than a TD?

You decide!

Nice Price aliases No Dice:

Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, aliases spell here if nan advertisement disappears.

H/T Don R. for nan hookup!

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