MG traces its lineage to 1895, when William Morris started a bicycle repair business in a shed at the back of his parents' house. He soon moved on to automobiles and named his firm Morris Garages, later known as MG. While MG produced sedans, it is best known for its sports cars.

Prior to World War II, sports cars were virtually unknown in America. U.S. manufacturers didn't manufacture them and the relatively few imported cars were mostly posh machines for the very wealthy. U.S. service members got their first exposure to small, nimble roadsters during their deployments oversees. Many of them were fascinated by these little sportsters and wanted to own something like them when they returned home. Thus, the U.S. sports car market was born, and names like Jaguar, MG, Triumph, Alfa Romeo Austin-Healey became well-known to American car enthusiasts.

After the war, MG introduced the TC, a small sports car. While it found markets in South Africa and elsewhere, it was not designed for the North American market. It was offered in right-hand drive only and had neither front nor rear bumpers.

In 1947, only six were imported to the U.S. Production was low, typically, 1,300 to 1,400 TCs per year.

The MG TD replacement was far more successful in the UK and North America. The TD was available in LHD and offered proper bumpers, more power and a smoother ride. It rode on 15-inch wheels, rather than the TC's cartoonish 19-inchers and it came with creature comforts such as a heater and a radio.

Priced at $1,850, 29,664 MG TDs were produced from 1950 to '53. 24,444 - 83% of production - were exported to North America, mostly the U.S. The TD helped satisfy America's postwar craving for low-slung sporty cars and Britain's need for money from exporting its products. A Mark II version of the TD was introduced during its production run, offering more power - 57 bhp - resulting from a higher compression ratio and bigger carburetors.

Most MGs were sold on the East and West Coasts, although Stanley H. 'Wacky' Arnolt sold quite a few in the Chicago area. In the east, J. S. Inskip Inc. of New York City acted as a master distributor. Inskip also handled Rolls Royce distribution. He established dealerships in Southern New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. In addition to functioning as an importer and distributor of automobiles and spare parts, Inskip had his own retail dealerships in mid-Manhattan and in Providence, Rhode Island. Inskip's clientele included the elite of American industry, entertainment and society.

In the Philadelphia area, Philadelphia Royston Motors, Inc. at 20th and Chestnut Sts. and Sport Cars, Inc. 572 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA were early dealers. When the MG Midget was introduced, Roth Motors, a former Edsel dealer, sold Midgets and Austin-Healey Sprites. Roth's showroom was located near the Bridge St. terminal on Frankford Avenue.

By late 1952, there were over 600 MG dealers in the United States alone. Many of the dealers did not just sell MG's but a variety of British cars, as well as other sports cars and even domestic automobiles.

My college friend Mike Stevenson had a '52 British Racing Green TD. It was so low that it seemed we were going much faster than the actual speedometer reading as Mike blasted around the back roads of Philadelphia's Main Line. Because you sat so low in the TD, the hood seemed impossibly long, like that of a '30s Duesenberg.

The TD's replacement, the MG TF was a more powerful, slightly more-refined model, but sales of the boxy MG roadster were in decline - production dropped to 1,499 in 1954 and only 661 were sold in the U.S. Then the sleek MGA model was introduced in Fall 1955 and priced at $2,195 in the states. It pepped up sales again. In 1964, U.S. sales of MG peaked, with 24,128 cars imported.

More information about the MG TD can be found at Christopher Couper's website. (posted 2/25/21)