The simple answer is that all of the MGs that Americans are familiar with could now be considered classics. These cars are all at least 4o years old and any of them will provide an owner with a fun and rewarding hobby car experience.
Jack Schneider’s 1932 J2
Our club, however, focuses on the MGs built before 1956. These MGs generally fall into one of three categories. The earliest cars are considered “Triple M” cars (or MMM) this stands for Midget, Magnette and Magna or roughly small, medium and large. All Triple M cars were built before 1937 and feature 4 or 6 cylinder overhead cam engines. Examples of these MGs are J2s, PAs and PBs. We welcome owners of these car as members, at the present time we have three J2s, two PAs and a PB in the club. To learn more about Triple M cars check out the Triple M Register.
Mike Speidel’s 1939 TB
The next group is represented by the T series MGs for which the club is named. TAs (1936 thru 1938), TBs (1939 only), TCs (1945 thru 1949) TDs (1950 thru 1953) and TF/TF 1500s (1954 & 1955) are included in this category. Our club proudly includes 83 T series cars at this time. The T series MG and the TC & TD specifically are often credited with starting the sports car movement in the United States. These car were generally about the same price as a deluxe Ford or Chevrolet when they were new and although not as practical as an American sedan they were a heck of a lot more fun. These early post war MGs had an influence way out of proportion to the numbers sold. The total number of T series cars built during this period was less than 50,000, of which close to 75 percent came to the US. Yet today the T series MG has survived in greater numbers than most cars of a similar price when new.
Bill McReaken’s 1950 YA
The last category of Classic MG is not well defined by name but includes an alphabet soup of large saloon cars (sedans) and open type cars. Including, but not limited to, SAs, VAs, WAs, YAs, YBs and YTs (can you see where the T cars fit?). We are proud to have some nice examples of the Y type MG in our club. These cars did not survive as well as the T types because some were used as daily transportation by families and suffered the fate of most family sedans, they were driven to death. And others were sold in very small quantities.
Steve Blomberg