20 AUTOCAR 4 February 1971 From the performance point of view, the conside rable revs need ed' to re-start two-up on ge aring change is th e most important. the the 1-in-3 test slope . overal l fig ure go ing up fro m 15 .4 to 16.5 mph The Midget's st eeri ng is eve ryt hing a per 1,000 rpm on th e Mi chelin ZX 145 sports-ca r's ought to be- light, very accurate, SR-1 3in . radial-ply tyres on th e te st car highly responsive, highly geared and , on ce the IBlJIIJESJ (cross-ply ty res are st andard). (Owners with rac k is fully ru n-in , giving goo d feel wi tho ut too ot her ty res fitted should not e tha t in th is much kickback. There is no slop w orth MG MIDGET MK III part icula r size th ere are diff eren t rev-per-mile mentioning, so that on first dr iving it , having fi gures for the various m akes , givi ng different got out of almost any other car, one te nds (1,275 c.c.) ove rall gea ring .) Previo usly the same-size to "over-steer". The car' s obviously rig id M idg et' s top speed of 9 3 mp h was seen after construc tion shows th rou gh to th e driver on a AT-A-GLANCE: BLMC's familiar small peak-power eng in e spe ed-6,0 0 0 rpm-but twisty ro ad; it feels ver y much all one piec e . sports-car in latest paintwork and trim, the high er-geared test car ach ieve d 94 m ph Slippery road s are fun in th e M id get, w hich is with some detail improvements. Higher mean at 5,700 rpm, with a bes t figure on one unusually well balanced. Handling characteris­ gearing increases top speed slightly but not leg of MIRA's ban ked cir cuit in good con di tions tics are com plete ly safe: slight initial und erst eer acceleration. Excellent handling, firm ride, of 96 (5 ,800 rpm) . One doe s not notice much c han g ing pr o gress iv el y to middli n g tai l­ good value and good fun. di ff erence in crui sing refin em ent subjec tively , breakaway when yo u try really hard . There is no though th ere is obviou SL}; some Improvement. suggest ion of tr eachery at any sta ge, th ough MANUFACTURER Fuel consumption overall . com pared wi th the such a light car obviously badly needs Br itish Leyland M otor Corporation Ltd., (MG lower- gea red car which took part in the all-independent suspe nsio n . Ride is di stinctl y Division), Abingd on -an -Th ames, Berkshire. Mi dg et -S pitfire double test (A u ta car 10 April firm, th e liv e-ax led back end hopping ou tw ards PRICES 1969), see ms har dly affected . We averaged somew hat on bumpy ben ds tak en quickly. As Basic . ..... .. .. ... £6 92 Os Od 2 9 .6 mp g over 1,270 m ile s wi th best and usual wi th an open car one is not conscio us of Purchas e Tax ....... .. ....... £213 14s 9d worst cons um pti ons of 26 and 35 mpg , suspensio n noise to any degre e. Seat belt s (approx.) ... [1 0 Os Od dep ending of course on how one responded 10 Bra kes are unassisted discs front. drums Total (in G.B .) .... £915 14s 9d th e car' s obvious willingness to w ork hard Accelera ti on is very Slightly slower 1O a EXTRAS (inc P.T.) deg ree only not iced by the ink -recor Ing £1 1 15 s Od * Tonneau cover and rail stopw atc h. Showing th e double-t est car In [9 * Radial ply tyres . .. .. 2s 9d brackets, from a sta nding sta rt 50 mph com es W ire wheels .. .. .. .... .. £32 12s 9d up in 9. 6sec (9. 5), 60 In 14 .1 13. 8 1. the Oil cooler ...... .. .. .. .. £1 3 l s l d !,--m ile in 19 .6 (1 9 .3), an d 80 in 29 .7 128 .3 ,' Anti-roll bar .. .. .. ... .. .. £ 3 18s 4d th e new car will however jus t achieve 90 mp '1 Hard top . .. ..... ... .. .. ... £65 5s 7d within t he length of M I RA 's t "II a zon tat . , ,' l d Headrests (pair) .. .. ... £10 8 s m ile-in 51 .3sec-which the other .vo utd n Ot . * Fitted 10 test car Correspo nd ing figures for th e M G i 300 M kll PRICE AS TESTED .. .. .... £936 12s 6d are respectively 9 Asec, 14 .1 19 ,6 and 28 .3 PERFORMANCE SUMMARY with 90 mph seen at 49 .2se c M ean maximum speed 94 mph St anding start i -mile 19.6 sec 0 -6 0 mph .. 14.1 sec Good car in traffic 3 0- 70 mph through gears . 15.8 sec Typical fu el con sumption 30 mpg Such cold comparisons a' e rot 10 the M iles per ta nkf ul . .. 180 M id get' s adva ntage . and c o less than Justice to it s likeable chara cte r Couoted w ith good smoot h- road handling a -v o orakes lof w hich HERE are . surprisingly, still too few mo re anon) , and good -rsiourrv V' nether or not contenders for th e role of th e you ng th e hood IS do w n the pe or , ance IS more T m an 's (o r yo u n g wom an ' s) f ir st than en oug h to pro vid e t e keen dr ive r with a Sport s-car . W ith still-stee per insurance one lot of f un . Clear! I at advantages the little MG might have though t th at the demand for a has are at their be st In traffi c : one has more proper open two-seat er of acceptably nippy th an enough go 10 Sla y master of most traff ic pe rf o r mance , nimble h an dling. sports- car situa tions. The eng ine IS always wi lling. ap p o i n t men t s an d-- by t od avs i nf lated beginning to pull hard fro m 3 ,0 00 rpm, though stan dards - mi ddlin g lo w price , was bigg er than no t baulkmg If you ask It to work from speed s eve r . At £9 0 6 Austin- Healey Sprit e- cum -M G onl y a little above its trckover ,Recommended Midget in its late st form st ill rem ains perh aps' br ief maxi spee d is 6 ,3 0 0 rpm on th e the best car of the type available . Perfo rmance, revco urn er . which under-read by 100 rpm at thoug h.good. is still not as good as a number of trus spee d . bu t the engin e feels happy to go saloon cars, but th e Midget (which is th e higher With out signs of valve-boun ce. "badge" we test ed ) is und eniably a true Exhau st and mecha nic al noise from the engin e spo rts -ca r . are not obtrusive : it is th e gearbox w hich The body shape da tes back to 196 1 wh en offend s most clearly here. First gear would not the highly distin cti ve "fro g-eyed" Sprite was seem out of vo ice In on e of the lower-p ri ced restyled to a mor e conventional-and pe rha ps Vin tage-period popula r cars. It is very no isy on less origi nal-shape. Later. a more importan t mo st exam ples w e have tried . Second and 3rd change in one w ay, the unu sual qu arter-ellipti c are only somewhat better. leaf-s prung back axle w as alte red to ordinary Gear ratios are well-chose n, giving maximum half-ellipti c springing w hi ch more or less spee ds of 33, 55 and 78' mph at 6 ,4 0 0 rpm . eliminate d the car's marked and - once you 'd Useful maxima for everyda y use at 6 ,000 rpm got to know it- amusing tenden cy to sli ght are 31 , 52 and 73 mph . The gea rcha nge is rear-axle stee r. The fai thful BMCA -series extre me ly precise, w ith no thing rubbery abou t eng ine fitted has gradu ally gone up in capa city it. and very mu ch in charact er for th e typ e of and power; it stands now at 1.275 c .c. in th e car . The M idget sha res with it s main competi tor inex pli cably m ild 64 bhp at 5 ,800 rpm form . the Triumph Spitfire the di st inction of lac king (Its saloon st ablemate th e M G 1300 Mk II is sync hromesh on 1st gear , whic h om ission allowed 5 bhp more an d is at so me points sta nds out more clearly as the years roll by . slightly fast er) . M ost re cent alteration s are a One learns to judge engine and road speeds 3.9-to - l f ina l drive (in place of 4.22), black correctly for double-declu tching changes d own, Neat trim li nes still,though you can only buy the car paint on the sills givin g th e effe ct of particularly but it isn 't easy here.