50 YEARS WITH A 1953 MG TD MARK 11

I bought DNH 637 in 1957 from Performance Cars, Brentwood, West London with £500 (a bequest from my grandfather). At 18 years old I was with an expert to help with my choice. The car was in a smaller front showroom alongside a BRG Le Mans Aston Martin with a leather strap inset across the bonnet. I lusted. There was a wonderful roar when started, but the expert said “NO!” I became the second owner of the MG – see the copy of the 1953 registration in folder Information/Documents.

The car saw me through university in London at a time when we could park daily in then two way Gower St without paying. One morning, when living in Camden Town, I found a tramp fast asleep in the car and we arranged for him to look after her at night that winter in exchange for a bacon butty in the morning. This account won me the 12” record of ‘MG sounds’ which is with the documentation on the car, from NTG Motor Services from whom I bought parts, when I could afford them.

After I and the car had suffered six years of various minor knocks and scratches and the sufferance of two or three girlfriends, she spent five years in the back of a garage, there being no time to sell her for £100, while I went off for 5 years in Canada. I married and saved up for some work on the car, including a stainless steel exhaust, on our return. Early receipts tell the tale.

Off we went for a camping holiday in SW France with a bucket instead of the passenger foot rest (hence its absence now), containing 2 plates, knives, spoons and forks and a gas stove, with a bag of clothes, a small tent and room for a few bottles of wine behind the seat. Sabina and the car were much admired by the French, Sabina when bursting from a campsite shower stuck on cold and the car because all Frenchmen were then mechanics at heart. One, decked in his Sunday suit, dragged himself under the car through mud and gravel to inspect the chassis, pronouncing all “bien propre”. The engine was not. It broke an exhaust valve stem while crossing the St Nazaire bridge over the Loire. We limped home being pushed up the ramp of the ferry by the crew. This resulted in a second hand block – nobody worried about keeping original parts in those days. The gearbox was also rebuilt and a few parts rechromed.

The late 80s saw us retired from research in London and living in Cornwall. Two years in a damp garage resulted in small blisters appearing in the cellulose paint. We tended to leave the garage door open and three admiring young maids shut the door, leaving the appreciating note, (also included with the documentation), and the key under the door. A quick paint job and a few bits and pieces rejuvenated her.

In 2002 Carlton TV, Plymouth asked if they could borrow the TD for a comparison with the new replica TD2000 (see replica file) made in Malaysia. This was to appear in their car programme Pulling Power – see letter in miscellaneous file. Unfortunately the car transporter had an accident on the way to Somerset, the car was quite badly damaged and the programme was never made. With great support from the transporter company and Carlton TV, the TD went to Tim Kelly, respected MG restorer in St Agnes, Cornwall and the £17,000 chassis up restoration, starting with a new ash tub, was completed in 2003.

By now we were spending an increasing amount of time sailing around Biscay and North Spain and we drive the car less than 100 miles a year. That’s no good.

So, new owner, look after my old friend and drive her around as she deserves.

By the way, engine overheating can be caused by blocked waterways, but in the T series it can come from too heavy polishing of the radiator slats, which flattens them and interrupts airflow. Careful bending restores them.