AFewing@aol.com wrote:
>
> howdy from the pacific northwest. I have two midgets..a '62 mk1 and a '72
> round arch. I shy away from the rubber bumper cars due in part to the
> emission items and the fact it has a spitfire 1500 engine. for my money lots
> of headaches. The earlier midgets have the following A series engines
> starting with the 948,1098(?), and 1275. of the three the 1275 is the best
> and comes in th '71 on cars maybe a bit earlier as well. I think the 72, 73
> are the best examples of the midget. I'm in love with my '62 because it's
> original and complete and it's a true Mk 1. Anyway if you'd like to e-mail me
> at afewing@aol.com I'd be happy to detail my experiences and preferences.
> You can't compare your triumph with the midget or the other way round they
> are both fine fun cars. Good luck,
> Adrian Fewing
I tried another today. It was a 1975 rubber/1498cc model. It seemed in
very good
mechanical shape and drove fairly well.
The braking power seemed to be not too good. I seemed to have to
supply a lot
of foot pressure to get any braking at all, but perhaps that is normal
for the
model.
The other thing I noticed about this one is that the clutch travel
from
release to floor felt like about an inch. When I mean release, I don't
mean
the friction point either, I mean the point where the clutch hits
something
hard and doesn't come up anymore.
The body was acceptable, but not ideal. This is Canada we are talking
about
here, the place where nice bodies go to die. Rust free cars are
extremely
rare. This one had a few noticeable spots of rust, and a few noticeable
repairs, basically in the fenders just above the rocker panels. The
rocker
panels themselves seemed decent.
So essentially it had what you might call "honest" rust. Acceptable
amounts
of rust in the usual places. The top is immaculate, the rubber is good,
the interior is excellent, and so on.
The asking price for this one was $2400CDN, which is about $1800US.
The car
is also driving and could be licensed immediately and driven
immediately, which
is a good thing.
There are two others I am looking at. One is a black model of a
similar
vintage, for $5500CDN at the local shop (MINIMAN). It is immaculate, but
$5500CDN
is quite a bit of money for a rubber midget. As well, since it's a
store, the
top-notch looks might be top-notch bodywork covering the usual rust.
The other is an interesting one. It's a 1974 metal bumper model, with
the
1275cc engine. It has a brand spanking new paint job that looks
wonderful, but
it is covering fairly extensive bodywork. It certainly looks nicer than
the other one, but underneath it is probably about the same body-wise.
Mechanically,
it is acceptable.
That one goes for $3800CDN, which is about $2800US. It's a blue
colour, which
I am not too fond of however. And since it's a brand new paint job, if I
bought
it it would stay blue for a long time.
What sort of prices do "driveable" Midgets fetch in other parts of the
world? I
am fairly heavily considering the first one as a cheap introduction to
the
MG label and the midget. It's not going to be a showpiece, but it's not
a
significant cash outlay either and should be as reliable as the average
1498cc
Midget mechanically.
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