1940’s – Casual Car Club

1940's Classic Cars

See all of the beautiful 1940’s cars that belong to members of the Casual Car Club.

1949 MG TC

MG TC

The MG T series is a range of body-on-frame open two-seater sports cars with very little weather protection that were produced by MG from 1936 to 1955. The series included the MG TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, and MG TF Midget models. The last of these models, the TF, was replaced by the MGA.

The TC Midget was the first postwar MG, and was launched in 1945. The TC is quite accurately well known as the (specific) car that caused the Sport Car “craze" in America. It was quite similar to the pre-war TB, sharing the same 1,250 cc (76 cu in) pushrod-OHV engine with a slightly higher compression ratio of 7.4:1 giving 54.5 bhp (40.6 kW) at 5200 rpm. The makers also provided information for several alternative stages of tuning for “specific purposes". The XPAG engine is well known for its tunability. The TC engine was a slightly improved version of the XPAG first introduced to MG in the TB. Notable improvement was through the addition of a hydraulically (oil pressure) adjusted timing chain tensioner. All TCs utilized a (single battery) 12 volt electrical system. All TCs came with 19" Dunlop wire wheels. Automatic mechanical timing advance was built into the ignition distributor.

It was exported to the United States, even though only ever built in right-hand drive. The export version had slightly smaller US specification sealed-beam headlights (7 inch buckets) and twin tail lights, as well as turn signals and chromed front and rear bumpers with over riders.

The body was approximately 4 inches (100 mm) wider than the TB measured at the rear of the doors to give more cockpit space. The overall car width remained the same resulting in narrower running boards with two tread strips as opposed to the previous three. The tachometer was directly in front of the driver, while the speedometer/odometer was on the other side of the dash in front of the passenger, a nod to MG’s trials history.

10,001 TCs were produced, from September 1945 (chassis number TC0251) to Nov. 1949 (chassis number TC10251), more than any previous MG model. It cost £527 on the home (UK) market in 1947.

Fuel consumption was 28 mpg_‑imp (10.1 L/100 km; 23.3 mpg_‑US). Its 0–60 mph time was 22.7 seconds, a respectable performance at the time. A low fuel warning light would glow on the dash to alert the driver.