A rare thing: a genuine home-market, right-hand-drive 1954 MG TF 1500, one of the earliest built, still wearing its original Ivory-over-red and still carrying the original 1500 engine it left Abingdon with. Its story runs from Abingdon in December 1954 to a restoration in 1989 and on to today, and it drives as well as it reads.
From Abingdon to the far side of the world
1954
Built at the MG Car Company's Abingdon works over 14–15 December 1954, finished in Ivory with red upholstery, and, according to club records, one of the earliest of the new XPEG-engined TF 1500s.
A home-market car
Built for the UK home market, not as an export car, and a UK car from new: this car carries the HDP16 body-number prefix, where the New Zealand export 1500s carried HDP26. That home-market origin makes it rarer still.
1989
A British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate was obtained, confirming its original build details, and the car was restored and re-registered as WSU 141 in October 1989.
Since restoration
Around 9,000 miles in the decades since, accompanied by a comprehensive file of invoices documenting no-expense-spared maintenance and cosmetic upkeep.
Early 2000s
Used for European touring.
2003
Entrusted to the long-established MG specialists Brown & Gammons of Baldock for a series of upgrades: a five-speed gearbox conversion and a polished, ported, unleaded cylinder head, alongside extensive mechanical work, all invoiced and on file.
Recent ownership
After its earlier life the car spent seven years with a long-term owner in Suffolk, garaged alongside a Jaguar E-Type, and was accompanied through those years by a full file of servicing invoices, water pump, crank and timing-cover seals, a rebuilt carburettor, brakes and more. It then passed briefly through a further owner before joining this archive's care.
In current care
Recommissioning has continued under current ownership: a new thermostat and exhaust gasket, and a solid-state voltage stabiliser. A Chinese-made replica distributor was found to be causing overheating, and has been replaced with a correct Lucas unit rebuilt by the Distributor Doctor. The car remains in private hands, presenting in exceptional condition: a high-quality older restoration kept to a standard that belies its age.
Provenance & documentation
The value of a car like this rests on what can be shown rather than what can be asserted. WSU 141's history is documented from Abingdon onwards, and the file travels with the car. It contains:
- The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate confirming the original build details, colours and matching numbers.
- A comprehensive invoice file covering decades of maintenance.
- The Brown & Gammons upgrade invoices from 2003, the five-speed conversion and the gas-flowed unleaded head.
- Records of the 1989 restoration and re-registration.
- Continuous servicing and cosmetic-upkeep invoices since.
Where documents are shown, the personal details of previous owners are redacted.
Document to follow
Brown & Gammons invoices
Document to follow
Restoration record
Document to follow
Service history
Why it matters
Three things set WSU 141 apart. It is a home-market, right-hand-drive TF 1500 , the scarcest configuration of an already-scarce model, the vast majority of which went to America. It is matching-numbers, still carrying the original 1500 engine, in the Ivory-over-red it was built in. And it has been sympathetically improved rather than merely preserved: the Brown & Gammons five-speed and gas-flowed head make it far more usable on modern roads while leaving its character intact. A documented, original-colours, matching-numbers home-market 1500 is exactly the kind of TF that rewards a long search.
A documented, original-colours, matching-numbers home-market TF 1500 is exactly the kind of car that rewards a long search.