Calendar-year reference
MG TC 1945 to 1948: Early Production and Identification
1945 belongs in the TC production story: the New England MG T Register dates production from November 1945. The early years are combined here because the sources checked do not establish enough separate annual changes for four useful individual pages.
By Jon Cosson · Sources checked
1945 and 1946: the start of production
The New England MG T Register gives November 1945 as the beginning of TC production, so a 1945 TC is possible. No distinct 1946-only production change is asserted here. To establish that a particular car was built in either year, use its chassis number in the MG Car Club T Register's factory-record search rather than infer a year from a general serial-number span.
New England MG T Register: Car Spotter GuideMG Car Club T Register: factory production records
1947: a documented engine casting change
Roger Wilson's T Register study says the TC adopted block casting 24146 when the Y type was introduced in 1947. It notes that the drain valve moved forward from behind the exhaust manifold, without other obvious design changes. The study does not give an exact TC engine-number cut-off for this change. It does not support describing the TC as receiving the later round-water-hole TD block in 1947.
Roger Wilson, MG Car Club T Register: cylinder head and block casting numbers
1948: date the car, not just the fittings
No distinct 1948-only change has been confirmed from the sources checked. The T Register identifies the chassis stamping on the near-side dumb-iron or chassis extension as the key identifier and says it should agree with the identification plate. Its searchable factory records give the recorded production date and engine number. Use that record to investigate a claimed 1948 build.
MG Car Club T Register: chassis and engine identificationMG Car Club T Register: factory production records
North American specification belongs in the later comparison
The New England MG T Register describes the special North American TC EXU as a 1949 export model which remained right-hand drive. It is not evidence for assigning EXU specification to an earlier car. The separate 1949 reference covers those fittings; an export destination should be checked against the individual factory record.
New England MG T Register: Car Spotter GuideMG Car Club T Register: factory production records
Production figures and dating limits
No annual production total or annual chassis range has been confirmed from the cited sources, so neither is given here. A running-change milestone is not an annual chassis range. The factory-record search reproduces the original paper records, including any inconsistencies. Confirm the record for the individual car.
Questions about this year
- Was the MG TC built in 1945?
- Yes. The New England MG T Register dates the start of TC production to November 1945. Check an individual car's production date through the MG Car Club T Register factory records.New England MG T Register: Car Spotter GuideMG Car Club T Register: factory production records
Sources and provenance
- MG Car Club T Register: factory production records
- New England MG T Register: Car Spotter Guide
- Roger Wilson, MG Car Club T Register: cylinder head and block casting numbers
- MG Car Club T Register: chassis and engine identification
The year headings organise the evidence by calendar year, not by an asserted US model-year specification. Secondary timeline dates are attributed and qualified rather than treated as universal factory cut-offs.