Values of the Classic MG TD Continue to Rebound

MG had created a nice little problem for itself. Its TC of 1945, the latest in the company’s Midget series, had taken America by storm, igniting a postwar sports car boom and potentially cracking the world’s biggest market for the Abingdon firm. Yet MG was aware that the TC wasn’t really that well suited to the New World—its cockpit was narrow, its bumpers were minimal, and it was only available with right-hand drive. 

With the TD, MG made a more determined effort to win over the North American market. It was more modern, more comfortable, and more capable than the car it replaced, while still offering the pre-war “square-rigger” look that so many enthusiasts had come to love. 

“For a long while the view was widely held that the small sporting car was a particularly British folly, this type of vehicle being quite unsuited to use elsewhere in the world,” Britain’s The Motor magazine said in October 1952. “Such views have always been to some extent false, but it has nevertheless been left to the ‘TD’ really to prove that the right sort of sports car can in fact be one of this country’s best-selling export products.” 

The TD introduced independent front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and the option of left-hand drive. The new car exchanged the TC’s spindly, 19-inch wire wheels for 15-inch steel wheels, which were tucked within lower, broader fenders. The body was widened by 4.5 inches at the seats for extra comfort, and beefy chrome bumpers protected the sheet metal from park-by-ear drivers. Carried over was the TC’s 1,250-cc inline-four, which used twin SU carburetors to make 54.4 hp at 5,200 rpm. The four-speed gearbox was synchronized on all but first gear. 

Although purists moaned about the disappearance of the TC’s wire wheels, the TD was a success, becoming the first MG to sell more than 10,000 copies a year. Total production amounted to 29,665, with 23,488 loaded onto cargo ships bound for America.  

Judging by the classified ads, lots of those TDs have avoided the wrecking yard, making their way to a new generation of enthusiasts. Their availability, and to a smaller degree buyers’ personal preferences, have helped hold TD market values below those of the TC and the succeeding TF. Nearly 300 TDs have been listed for sale on the Hemmings Marketplace in the past three years, with asking prices averaging $22,440; for the TC and TF, average asking prices are $36,600 and $29,050, respectively.  

The TD isn’t for everyone—it’s cramped, not particularly fast, and not very good at keeping out bad weather, and driving one requires a certain degree of athleticism. Values took a hard reset between 2018 and 2020 before stabilizing, but have climbed steadily since, indicating that a new legion of fans has discovered them. We have no reason to think the TD won’t continue to be a great collector car to buy and enjoy. 

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