When filming an interview with John Thornley for my M.G. documentary "Inside
the Octagon" I got some insight into the origins of the modern Midget (one of
which I drive).
Mr. Thornley said that he and Chief Designer Syd Enever had been under
pressure from BMC to come up with a car that would become the modern
successor to the orginal M-Type Midget which was announced in 1928 when M.G.
was still based in Oxford. The M-type Midget was based on the 1928 Morris
Minor. Throughout the pre-war years there were many variations of the Midget
-- the C, D, J, P, Q, R, and T types. The Midgets were manufactured
alongside the Magna, Magnette and saloon lines in Abingdon. Production of
Midgets from the "perpendicular period" (as John Thornley described the
upright radiator cars) ended with the MGTF.
Using the project name Buzz Box, Thornley and Enever tried repeatedly to
create a design within the budget BMC allowed for the building the new car.
Thornley said the resulting car was supposed to be "cheap as possible
transportation for two." Three times they tried and three times they failed
to keep the price down to where it needed to be.
Then Thornley and Enever were summoned to Longbridge by the BMC brass to take
a look at a prototype Healey design that not only met the production cost
criteria but actually beat it. This was the Frogeye Sprite.
"It was a con in point of fact in that it was completely unsuitable for
production by any reputable organization," said Thornley.
Thornley went on to say that the cost of the proposed Austin-Healey had been
held down by underestimating the prices of the car's components.
Nonetheless BMC OK'd the Sprite and gave it to Abingdon to build. By the
time it was made into a producable car the production cost of the Sprite was
much higher than Healey's original estimate.
When the Frogeye Sprite was ready for redesign Healey suggested changing to
conventional headlights and front wings and leaving the back end the same.
MGB designer Don Hayter said that Thornley and Enever suggested the rear be
redesigned as well and they ended up using the drawings of the
yet-to-be-produced MGB in a smaller scale for the new Sprite rear end.
When BMC decided to badge engineer the Sprite as a Midget that could be sold
in the old Nuffield distribution network, the intention, according to
Thornley, was to make the Sprite a bare-bones model while the Midget version
would be "...a plush affair with everything on." However, at a preview of
the new MK. II Sprite and MK. I Midget, the Austin distributive organization
insisted that the Sprite have all of the extras of the Midget and BMC ended
up building two almost identical cars.
That in a nutshell is the story of the beginning of the Modern Midget. I'm
sure that there are others on the list who can fill in some more of the
details. The Sprite was in production until 1971. In the last year of the
Sprite the name was changed to the Austin Sprite when the Healey name was
dropped. (I think the licensing agreement between BL and Healey had lapsed.)
The Midget continued until 1979, acquiring a Triumph 1500 engine in 1974.
Slightly over 256,000 Midgets were sold in its 18-year production life.
I hope this has been of some interest.
Gary Watson
Roadster Productions, Inc.
http://www.ipl.co.uk/MG/octagon/index.html
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