MG T-Series FAQ

The MG T-Series is a family of five open sports cars — TA, TB, TC, TD and TF — built by MG at Abingdon in Oxfordshire between 1936 and 1955. Each shares a separate steel ladder chassis with an ash-framed body tub, and together they cemented MG's reputation on both sides of the Atlantic.

Full detail: The MG T-Series Story: From Abingdon to America

Five models over nineteen years: the TA (1936–1939), the short-lived TB (1939), the post-war TC (1945–1949), the TD (1950–1953) and the TF (1953–1955), upgraded to the TF 1500 late in 1954. All were built at MG's Abingdon works and replaced in production by the MGA in 1955.

Full detail: The MG T-Series Story: From Abingdon to America

MG built roughly 52,600 T-Series cars between 1936 and 1955: about 3,003 TAs, 379 TBs, 10,000 TCs, 29,664 TDs and around 9,600 TFs (split ≈6,200 TF 1250 and ≈3,400 TF 1500). Survivor counts are much harder to pin down and published estimates vary — the full guide explains why.

Full detail: MG T-Series Production & Survivor Numbers

No — they share only a badge. The classic MG TF (1953–1955) is a front-engined Abingdon roadster with a separate steel chassis, ash-framed body and a 1,250 cc or 1,466 cc pushrod engine. The modern MG TF (2002–2011) is a mid-engined monocoque derived from the MG F, with a Rover K-Series engine.

Full detail: MG TF: Classic or Modern? The Two Cars That Share a Name

Every T-Series MG was built at MG's factory in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire — the works that produced the marque's mainstream cars from 1929 until closure in 1980. During the Second World War the same site turned to bomber-cockpit assemblies, Tempest wing spars and Matilda tank modifications before returning to sports cars with the TC in 1945.

Full detail: The MG T-Series Story: From Abingdon to America

Yes, and a substantial one. T-Types ran everything from muddy pre-war British trials — the works TA "Cream Crackers" being the most famous team — to the first Watkins Glen in America, Californian road racing with Ken Miles's specials, and Le Mans. A works EX182 development car built on TF thinking evolved directly into the MGA.

Full detail: Mud, Le Mans and Specials: The Competition History of the MG T-Series

The Cream Crackers were MG's official pre-war trials team of TAs, painted in a distinctive cream-and-brown scheme and campaigned in muddy hill-climb and reliability events in the late 1930s. Alongside the sister Musketeers team, they made the T-Type synonymous with British trialling before the war stopped competition.

Full detail: Mud, Le Mans and Specials: The Competition History of the MG T-Series

A T-Type wearing something other than the standard open-tourer body. The main examples are the Tickford drophead coupé by Salmons & Sons (roughly 250–300 TAs, with TB figures reported as 30, 57 or 60 depending on source), a handful of Art Deco Airline coupés, and the Italian-bodied Arnolt-MG of 1953–1955.

Full detail: Coachbuilt T-Types: The Tickford, the Airline and the Arnolt-MG

On the outside face of the near-side (left-hand) front dumb-iron — the forward chassis extension the bumper mounts to. The same number is repeated on a small identity plate riveted under the bonnet, typically on the battery/tool box or bulkhead. The two should agree; if they don't, the car has had frame or bulkhead work.

Full detail: MG T-Series Chassis & Engine Number Identification

On TA, TB and early TC engines the number is on a plate on the left-hand side of the flywheel housing; later TCs and every TD and TF carry it on a machined plinth on the front right of the block. The prefix identifies the engine: MPJG (TA), XPAG (TB/TC/TD/most TF) or XPEG (TF 1500).

Full detail: MG T-Series Chassis & Engine Number Identification

Not necessarily. These cars are seventy years old and have passed through many hands, so a period-correct replacement engine is common and not automatically a mark against a car. It is worth knowing exactly what you have — factory-original, an early Nuffield-supplied exchange engine, or a later swap — and pricing accordingly.

Full detail: MG T-Series Chassis & Engine Number Identification

Original build records for every T-Type are held at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, and accessed through the MG Car Club T Register's factory production records service. You supply chassis and engine numbers in the format they expect and receive the build details as MG recorded them at Abingdon. See our production-records guide for how to submit.

Full detail: Look Up Your Car's Factory Record

Three engines across the range. The TA of 1936 uses the 1,292 cc pushrod MPJG, unique to the TA. From the TB in 1939 the 1,250 cc XPAG took over and powered the TC, TD and most TFs. Late in 1954 the TF 1500 introduced the 1,466 cc XPEG, a bored-out XPAG.

Full detail: MG XPAG Tuning: Stage 1, Stage 2 and Engine Specs

Three. The XPAG is a three-main-bearing four-cylinder — a common source of confusion, as some references and forum posts still describe it as a five-bearing engine. Three is the correct answer and it matters when you're budgeting a rebuild or checking a listing.

Full detail: MG XPAG Tuning: Stage 1, Stage 2 and Engine Specs

The XPEG is a bored-out XPAG, fitted only to the TF 1500 from late 1954. It shares the block casting but was re-cored to allow a 72 mm bore, giving 1,466 cc — more low-down torque and flexibility than the 1,250 cc XPAG, which produced 57 bhp in standard TD form and about 60 bhp tuned.

Full detail: MG XPAG Tuning: Stage 1, Stage 2 and Engine Specs

Yes — the XPAG is one of the most tuneable small British pushrod engines. A Stage 1 bolt-on road tune (better head, twin SUs correctly set up, careful ignition) sharpens the standard car noticeably. A Stage 2 head-cam-carb package goes further. Factory Stages 1, 2 and 3 are a matter of historical record.

Full detail: MG XPAG Tuning: Stage 1, Stage 2 and Engine Specs

Usually the ignition, not the radiator. The XPAG/XPEG was designed for a cool British climate and does struggle in heat and traffic, but overheating almost always traces first to timing and mixture, then to a tired radiator, fan and manifold heat-soak — in that order. Fix the tune before you re-core anything.

Full detail: Keeping the MG T-Series Cool: A Practical Guide to Cooling & Overheating

A rough rule of thumb is at least 10 psi per 1,000 rpm, with strong, steady pressure once the engine is warm. Falling or fluctuating pressure — especially with a hot engine at idle — points to bearing, oil-pump or relief-valve wear, and typically precedes expensive damage. Oil pressure is the single best gauge of engine health.

Full detail: Oil Pressure on the XPAG and XPEG

The XPAG's "rear main oil seal" is not a rubber seal at all. It's a machined Archimedes scroll on the crankshaft that flings oil back into the engine — provided crankcase pressure stays low. A tired scroll, a blocked breather or blow-by past worn bores raises pressure and defeats it, and the oil then finds the drive.

Full detail: Keeping the Oil In: The XPAG Rear Seal

The ignition and charging side, not the carburettors. A worn Lucas distributor, tired points or wrong timing will make a genuinely healthy engine run and idle badly. These are positive-earth cars with a dynamo and control box, and setting ignition, timing and charging correctly transforms how the car drives — usually before anything else needs attention.

Full detail: Ignition and Charging on the T-Series

A silent SU pump is almost always stuck points. Roadside: rule out a blocked fuel-cap vent, locate the pump (usually under the boot floor or on a chassis rail) and tap it firmly to free the contacts — that will get you home. The real fix is cleaning the points and renewing perished fuel line.

Full detail: The SU Fuel Pump: Why It Stopped, and What to Do at the Roadside

Very rarely. The SU is a beautifully simple carburettor — three moving parts — and once correctly set it stays set. On a rough-running T-Type, tune the ignition and check compression first: the carbs are almost never the real fault. Only then balance airflow across the twin SUs and set the mixture methodically.

Full detail: Tuning the Twin SUs: Why the Carbs Are Almost Never the Problem

Yes — genuinely. A distributor is not a generic part: its advance curve is engineered for one specific engine. A low-grade reproduction with the wrong curve will make a healthy car overheat, run poorly and lose power while every other component you test looks fine. A properly rebuilt, correctly calibrated Lucas distributor transforms the car.

Full detail: Why Your Distributor Matters: The Hidden Cost of Cheap Ignition Parts

No — and it matters. Every MG T-Type has a steel ladder chassis. What is timber is the body tub, which is framed in ash and clad in hand-formed steel panels. The confusion is everywhere online, but the distinction is important: the steel chassis doesn't rot in the way people fear — the wooden tub above it does.

Full detail: MG T-Series Bodywork: Ash Frame, Steel Panels and How to Keep Them Together

Without dismantling, you have four honest indicators: doors that have dropped or don't shut cleanly; softness around the A- and B-posts; the main ash rails viewed from underneath with a torch; and the body lines sighted from a few paces back. What you can see is not the whole story — most of the frame hides behind the panels.

Full detail: The Ash Frame: The Most Expensive Thing Your T-Type Can Hide

The ash body frame. Almost everything else on a T-Type is fixable at the roadside or on a bench. The tub is not — its timber rots invisibly behind the panels, and putting it right is the single largest bill these cars can present. Buying evidence of a dry history and a documented rebuild is worth real money.

Full detail: The Ash Frame: The Most Expensive Thing Your T-Type Can Hide

In order of cost-of-getting-wrong: the ash body tub (feel around the A- and B-posts, look under the car, sight the body lines); the chassis for accident damage and rot; the engine's oil pressure and the chassis/engine numbers against the factory record; then the ignition, distributor and fuel system. The frame is the bill that dwarfs everything else.

Full detail: T-Type Buyer's Checklist

It depends on how you plan to use the car. The TD is the most numerous and easiest to run, with independent front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering and the best parts supply. The TC is the most vintage in feel; the TF (especially the TF 1500) is the prettiest and most collectible; the TA and TB are the rarest.

Full detail: The MG T-Series Buying Guide

Broadly, good driver-quality T-Types sit in the mid-teens to low-thirty thousands of pounds, with concours cars considerably higher and rough projects lower. The TF 1500 is the priciest of the range in like-for-like condition; the TB is too thinly traded for reliable ranges. See our Values guide for indicative bands per model, with sources and dates.

Full detail: MG T-Series Values & Price Guide

Broadly: the TF 1500 sits at the top in like-for-like condition, followed by the TF 1250, then the TC — whose vintage character keeps concours cars near TF money. The TD is the most affordable of the main models thanks to sheer numbers. The TB is too thinly traded to rank reliably.

Full detail: MG T-Series Values & Price Guide

In this order: check compression and reset the valve clearances first, then set the ignition (points, dwell, static timing with Colortune), and only then the twin SU carburettors — balancing airflow, setting mixture using the piston-lift method, and syncing the throttle linkage. The methodical sequence is the point; skipping straight to the carbs is why so many T-Types run poorly.

Full detail: The Complete MG T-Series Tune-Up: A Step-by-Step Guide

Very often yes. A classic runs on the settings a human gives it, not a computer, and a proper professional tune-up transforms starting, smoothness, throttle response, economy and running temperature — often for less than the cost of the parts owners buy chasing the problem. On a T-Type it is usually the single best-value job you can pay for.

Full detail: Why Professional Tuning Is Worth It

The enemy is moisture, not cold — and it matters more than for most classics because the ash body frame rots when damp. Aim to keep relative humidity below about 55%, stop condensation forming, and — if the garage is damp — heat, dehumidify or fit an airflow bubble on a proper base. Dry beats warm.

Full detail: Storing Your MG T-Series

T-Types have no fuel gauge — by design. You rely on the low-fuel warning light (and a reserve tap on early cars), a trip meter reset at every fill-up, and a half-inch dowel dipstick lowered through the filler. There is a published depths-per-gallon table to calibrate the stick, or refine it against your own tank.

Full detail: No Fuel Gauge? Measuring Petrol in an MG T-Series

In the UK, yes — but only if the car has not been "substantially changed" from its factory specification. Every T-Series is old enough to qualify for the historic tax class (no road tax) and the rolling MOT exemption (no compulsory annual test), provided the owner completes the DVLA V112 declaration and passes the substantial-change test.

Full detail: UK Registration, Tax & MOT for Your MG T-Series

Two routes. An imported car goes through the standard DVLA import process with proof of age and origin, and typically receives an age-related mark. A car returning to the roads after years off is a V765 case if you're reclaiming an original number — you'll need documented evidence linking that number to the exact car in front of you.

Full detail: UK Registration, Tax & MOT for Your MG T-Series

Original T-Series paint was nitrocellulose lacquer in a specific Abingdon palette that changed with each model. The greens are the ones that most often catch people out — Apple, Almond, Woodland and Sherwood are all specific factory shades, and none of them is what people mean today when they say "British Racing Green."

Full detail: Original Factory Paint Colours & British Racing Green

Not as such. The factory never listed a colour called "British Racing Green" for the T-Series. The Abingdon greens actually offered were specific named shades — Apple, Almond, Woodland and Sherwood — and "BRG" today is a generic label used loosely across the classic-car world. A T-Type described as BRG deserves the follow-up question: which green?

Full detail: Original Factory Paint Colours & British Racing Green