Modern Classic: 1949-53 MG TD

The sports car America loved first

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To qualify as "modern classics," we're choosing vehicles that are comparatively affordable now and that we think will increase in value over time. These are cars that many people would love to have: head-turners, trend-setters in their time, cars that people still see that make them smile, cars that were definitive in their own right, stylish and fun to drive. We're focusing on cars that are at least 25 years old so they can be registered and insured cheaply and aren't subject to annual inspections.

Tastes may vary, as may people's own definitions of "affordable." Our theoretical limit is $50,000 for a car in good to excellent condition, which rules out many of the traditional exotics. This month's selection is the MG TD.

The crisp shifter, eager engine and throaty exhaust remind us what sports motoring was all about. Brought home by returning GIs, Britain's square-rigged MG was indeed "the sports car America loved first." Little more than a carryover of the short-lived, prewar TB, the left-hand-drive-only 1945-49 TC was a charming anachronism. Still, purists cringed when MG replaced it with the lower, sleeker and marginally more modern TD.

Gone were the TC's rakish clamshell fenders, tramp-happy solid front axle and lovely 19-inch wire wheels. Though it retained the TC's distinctive upright grille, curved twin cowls, flat-folding windscreen and slab gas tank, the TD boasted lower, rounder fenders, independent front A-arms and coil springs. It sat on a sturdy, five-inch-shorter box-section frame adapted from MG's Y-type sedans. The new body resembled the TC's but was a tad wider and lower. Thankfully, MG retained the old car's freestanding headlights, cut-down doors and external spare. However—horror of horrors—no knock-off wire wheels were available, and the roadster was shod with nondescript 15-inch stamped steel wheels adorned with cheap-looking flat hubcaps.

Under the rectangular "bonnet" was the TC's sturdy, three-main-bearing, 1250-cc pushrod four, linked to a firm-shifting four-speed box whose top three gears were synchronized. Output was a heady 54.4 bhp at 5,200 rpm and 64 lb.-ft. of torque at 6,200 rpm. A live axle and semi-elliptic leaf springs tied up the rear, with drum brakes all around. Oh, and left-hand steering was available at last.