Calendar-year reference
MG TD 1950: Early Features, Numbers and Export Cars
1950 followed the TD's production start in November 1949. Early wheels and the arrival of the TD/C competition version help place a car in the production sequence, but its factory record is the evidence for its build date.
By Jon Cosson · Sources checked
Early wheels and the first Mark II
Chris Couper's production timeline places the change from solid to slotted wheels in January 1950 at about chassis 0501, citing the factory parts book. Its accompanying notes record later solid-wheel cars, particularly right-hand-drive export examples, so wheel type is not an absolute dating test. The timeline places the first Mark II in May 1950 at TD/C/1123, with a bulge in the right-hand bonnet side for the larger carburettors.
Chris Couper: The Original MGTD, production facts and feature timelines
A 1950 export car
The T Register identifies EXR as right-hand-drive export and EXL as left-hand-drive export. It gives EXLU as the early North American TD code. These are destination and steering codes, not a separate annual chassis sequence. TD/C identifies the Mark II competition version; a standard TD is not a Mark II simply because it was exported.
Checking a claimed 1950 build
Compare the chassis stamping on the near-side dumb-iron or chassis extension with the identification plate. The T Register's factory-record search supplies the recorded production date and engine number. No annual chassis band is asserted here: the model-run sequence is not a substitute for the record of an individual car.
MG Car Club T Register: chassis and engine identificationMG Car Club T Register: factory production records
Production figures and dating limits
No annual production total is given here. The reproduced Clausager table and its accompanying text disagree on the model-run total, so the figures have not been silently reconciled. 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.
T Register factory records · Published production table and caveats
Questions about this year
- Did every 1950 MG TD have solid wheels?
- No. The published timeline places slotted wheels at about chassis 0501 in January 1950, but also records later solid-wheel cars, particularly right-hand-drive export examples. Wheel type alone cannot settle the build date.Chris Couper: The Original MGTD, production facts and feature timelines
Sources and provenance
- MG Car Club T Register: factory production records
- Chris Couper: The Original MGTD, production facts and feature timelines
- 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.