The Midget has been the longest running model name of the MG Car Company. In 37 of the 57 years (from the start in 1923 to the

1928 M-type MG Midget

closing of the Abingdon factory in 1980), one could drive a brand-new Midget off the showroom floor. Launched in 1928, the first M-Type Midget rolled out of the factory, still in Oxford, in 1929 and was followed by C, D, J1, J2, J3, J4, PA, PB, Q, and R Midgets, all with overhead-cam 4-cylinder engines. These were succeeded in 1936 by the TA Midget, the first of the T-Series. Production of the TB was stopped at the outbreak of WWII. Production restarted in 1945 with the TC, followed by TD and the TF which was replaced by the MGA in 1955. The name returned in the line-up in 1961, with the Midget Mk. I, followed by the Mk. II, Mk. III and, 1500 of which the last one was produced in the Abingdon factory in late 1979, shortly after the announcement to close MG for good in 1980. In the 39 Midget years, a grand total of 287,786 units* of 20 different Midget models were built.

Reg Jackson (1906-1976) 1960”s Photo from ex-BMC files

For some reason, I always thought that it was the founder of MG, Cecil Kimber’s vision to make an ‘affordable’ sports car for ‘regular’ people, and the M-Type Midget was his first attempt to built such a car and shape a new market segment. That idea lasted until I read the article - Engineer, tuning wizard, communicator and thoroughly nice man - A personal appreciation of Reg Jackson (1906-1976) - by Mike Allison in the 2018 Yearbook of The MG Car Club Triple-M Register. Reg Jackson joined MG in 1928, specifically to work, directly under Cecil Cousin, on Cecil Kimber’s newest project to develop a 6-cylinder car, later known as the 18/80 (previous MG’s used 4-cylinder engines). Mike Allison, honorary chairman of the MGCC Triple-M Register, author of The Magic of MG, and a living MG encyclopedia, worked directly under Reg Jackson in the 1960’s. During their daily morning meetings, Mike recorded, in longhand, the stories Reg shared with him. Mike published these stories, written in the first person, as Reg told them, in Safety Fast (the MGCC UK monthly magazine) and the yearbook mentioned above. I re-read the yearbook article several times as it provides a fascinating first hand account of the history of the Triple-M models. Eye-opening was the story about the Midget. Out the window went the idea of Cecil Kimber’s grand vision when I learned that Reg Jackson should be considered the father of the M-Type Midget and said: “It was “sassy", smart and above all, cheap. The sort of price which with a bit of saving, I could have afforded”.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This excerpt is reprinted with permission of the author, Mike Allison, and the Triple-M Register of the MGCC. The two comments in Italic, between brackets, are the authors.

"One day I had to go to Cowley and spotted the Minor. Cous and I were always talking about the Austin Seven racing achievements, and I was soon taken on a flight of fancy about a small MG, and Cous and I talked it over. He took the idea to Kimber, who pooh- poohed it, but also chatted to HN** about our ideas, and he took it to Kimber, who said he might get a chassis up for development work... but we had to concentrate on getting the Six ready for the Motor Show... I think it was in late '28. (Actually, it was August). We cobbled together a body with a pointed tail, Harry Herring made the framework, and we stretched Rexine over it as a covering...The Six was to be fabric covered, and so were some of the old 14HP jobs, so this was a natural thing for us to do. I made up a smaller version of the 18/80, as the Six had become known, radiator shell in German silver, and polished it and fitted it over the Morris radiator. lt looked OK, but a bit amateur-ish, so Kimber got Carbodies to make a couple of proper bodies up in a few days, which looked a lot better. When Kimber tried it, he was pleased". (Cecil Cousins had told me a very similar story)

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