MG built roughly 52,600 T-Series cars between 1936 and 1955. How many survive is a harder question than it looks: DVLA model records are unreliable for cars this old, most T-Types were exported, and the best figures come from painstaking club register work rather than official data.
_Last reviewed: July 2026._
Production by model
The figures below are drawn from the MG Car Club T Register's T Type Factory Production Records, cross-checked against the standard marque histories where they add detail.
| Model | Years | Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TA | 1936–1939 | 3,003 | — |
| TB | 1939 | 379 | Includes two prototypes. 60 were TB Tickfords bodied by Salmons & Sons at Newport Pagnell (Clausager). |
| TC | 1945–1949 | 10,000 | Of which 6,593 exported. |
| TD | 1950–1953 | 29,664 | Roughly 78–80% exported to the USA — around 23,500 cars. |
| TF (all) | 1953–1955 | ~9,600 | Approximately 6,200 TF 1250 and 3,400 TF 1500. |
| Total | 1936–1955 | ~52,600 | — |
A note on the TF figure. Sources differ slightly on total TF production, with figures between about 9,600 and 9,800 in circulation. The lower figure follows the MG Car Club T Register and is used here. Rather than pick one silently, this article states the range openly and points readers to the sources at the foot of the page.
The TB: a production story in miniature
The TB is worth its own short section because its production is unusually well documented for a pre-war MG. Production began on 1 May 1939, with two prototypes — TB0251 and TB0252 — built the month before. TB0252, now in Sweden, was first registered to the MG Car Company on 3 May 1939 as the factory demonstrator. By the end of May 1939, 108 TBs had left the line.
Production ceased with the outbreak of war, though the factory records show a further 84 cars were built _after_ Neville Chamberlain's declaration of war on 3 September 1939. Total production, including the prototypes, was 379.
Why counting survivors is hard
You cannot simply look up how many T-Types survive. The available public data has real limits, and being honest about them is the point of this article.
- The DVLA model field is unreliable. Make and model are recorded from the V5, and for cars of this age much of the data originated in paper records kept by local authorities. Models are frequently recorded as _"Missing"_ or inconsistently.
- The TF problem. DVLA data cannot cleanly separate the 1953–1955 TF from the entirely unrelated 2002–2011 mid-engined MG TF. Any raw "MG TF" survivor figure is contaminated. See the MG TF: Classic or Modern? disambiguation for the two cars.
- The pre-1998 gap. Declaring a vehicle off the road (SORN) only became a requirement in 1998. Cars laid up before then — precisely the barn-find restoration projects that make up a large share of surviving T-Types — may not appear in the data at all.
- Most T-Types left Britain. With roughly 80% of TDs and two-thirds of TCs exported, UK data captures only a fraction of the world population.
- DVLA categories are confusing. Beyond "taxed" and "SORN", cars appear as _"Not taxed for road use"_ (meaning they were untaxed before SORN was introduced, so never required a declaration) and _"Untaxed"_. The distinction between the last two is unclear even to those who have asked.
The conclusion follows: the only reliable survivor data comes from club registers, cross-checked car by car against DVLA records using known registration numbers.
The TB survivor study: a model of how it should be done
In _Totally T-Type 2_ (issue 61, August 2020), John James of The MG T Society published a detailed TB survivor count, drawing on register analysis by Mike Inglehearn. The method was to take every known TB registration number from the club register and check each one individually against the DVLA's free vehicle-information lookup service.
UK findings
| DVLA / register status | Cars |
|---|---|
| Taxed and on the road (of which only three held an MOT certificate) | 38 |
| SORN | 1 |
| "Not taxed for road use" | 8 |
| "Untaxed" | 11 |
| Known to exist but not known to DVLA | 7 |
| UK total (with perhaps another 20 unrecorded) | 64 |
Outside the UK
Roughly 124 more cars were traced. The largest concentration was the United States (around 50), followed by Australia (14), Italy (9), Sweden (7), France (6), Germany (5), Switzerland (4), Canada (4) and New Zealand (4), with smaller numbers across Europe, South America, Africa and the Far East. Four cars are known to have been scrapped.
Worldwide total
That gives a worldwide total of around 208 surviving TBs from 379 built — a survival rate of about 55%.
The author's own caution is worth quoting: he had seen claims as high as 70% and was not convinced. The figures also move constantly — two of the UK cars were leaving the country as the article was written.
The key takeaway is what real survivor data costs: hours of individual lookups against a club register. It cannot be done from a single database query, which is why reliable figures exist for the TB and not for the other models.
What we can and cannot say about the other models
Be straightforward. No comparably rigorous public survivor study exists for the TA, TC, TD or TF. Anyone quoting a precise figure for those models should be asked where it came from.
What can be said honestly is that T-Types survive at rates far above typical cars of their era, because they were valued and preserved early, are simple to maintain, and enjoy exceptional parts and club support. Beyond that, this page will not put a number on it.
Help us count
This archive's owner Registry exists partly to address this gap. Every car added — with chassis number, engine number, registration, country and condition — improves the picture for everyone. Owners anywhere in the world are invited to add their car.
Submissions are moderated by an editor, and only what owners choose to share is published. Emails and personal details are never shown publicly.
Add your car to the Registry →
Sources
- MG Car Club T Register, T Type Factory Production Records — production figures and chassis numbering.
- John James / Mike Inglehearn, "Some TB facts and figures", _Totally T-Type 2_ issue 61, August 2020, The MG T Society — TB survivor study.
- Anders Ditlev Clausager, standard marque histories — TB Tickford figure.
- UK Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, published quarterly under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — the underlying source of all UK "how many left" data, with the limitations described above.
Consulted July 2026.
FAQ
How many MG T-Types were made?
Approximately 52,600 cars in total between 1936 and 1955: 3,003 TA, 379 TB, 10,000 TC, 29,664 TD and roughly 9,600 TFs.
How many MG TCs were built?
10,000 TCs were built between 1945 and 1949, of which 6,593 were exported.
How many MG TDs were exported to America?
Roughly 78–80% of the 29,664 TDs built between 1950 and 1953 went to the United States — around 23,500 cars.
How many MG T-Types are left?
There is no reliable overall figure. DVLA model data for cars of this age is unreliable, most T-Types were exported, and the only careful survivor study covers the TB alone. Anyone quoting a precise worldwide figure should be asked for their source.
How many MG TBs survive?
Around 208 worldwide from 379 built, a survival rate of about 55%, according to a 2020 study by John James of The MG T Society drawing on register work by Mike Inglehearn. Roughly 64 are in the UK and 124 elsewhere, with a small margin of cars known to exist but not to DVLA.
Why is it hard to count classic car survivors?
The DVLA model field for pre-war and early post-war cars is often "Missing" or inconsistent, SORN was only introduced in 1998 so earlier lay-ups may not appear at all, and the UK data misses most T-Types because roughly 80% of TDs and two-thirds of TCs were exported. Reliable figures require cross-checking club registers car by car.