Whoa there, and hold your horses.
<<<snip>>>> the three early T-series
> MGs (the TA, TB, and TC), which have more in common with each other than they
> do with the more "Americanized" TD and TF.
<<<snip>>>
That's fighting words. This TD/TF bashing has got to stop. The OHC crowd did
the same thing on the introduction of the T series and the TD/TF lovers did the
same when the MGA came out. And the MGA owners .....
The TD and TF MIGHT be described as a bit more civilized, or modernized, but
definately not "Americanized." The TA-TC may have more "classic" styling, and I
do really like its looks. In fact, the TC was what I was looking for when I
purchased the TD. I've been in a TC enough that I prefer the handling, brakes,
and ride better in the TD or TF.
Name me any other Amercan made car introduced in 1949 which had 75% of the
following:
1) Side curtains
2) Metric threads, BSF threads, BSW threads and Whitworth headed fasteners all
on the same vehicle.
3) No trunk
4) No optional heater
5) Wood dash
6) Wood floorboards
7) Ash framed wood body
8) Crank
9) Running boards
10) No fuel guage
11) Lever shocks
12) Folding windshield
13) A hood (bonnet) which folded down the middle
14) And?
Except for the changes in the transmision, rear axle, and suspension, there is
really very little difference, except appearance, between the TB-TC and the TD.
The YA which came out in 1947, and its Morris parents, have, as far as I know,
the same driveline as the TD except the rear axle were designed for the British
market. The TD's running gear was based on these cars. The early TD's had the
same instruments, radiator, engine, and wiring layout as the TC. The TD was a
modernized vehicle along with the rest of the Morris line. The engineering
changes made from the TC to the TD were across the board Morris changes, and it
had nothing to do with the American market. Period.
You need to study the production records:
Home MKT General EXport USA CKD Total
1945 34 47 - - 81
1946 1001 638 36 1675
1947 1591 1656 6 16 3269
1948 584 1985 1493 114 4176
1949 2421 3800 662 163 7046
1950 2630 4429 2825 546 10430
1949 production includes 98 TD's
Notice the big drop in USA cars for the last TC year of 1949. If MG was
designing for the USA market, that alone would have told them that the USA
market wasn't that big AT THAT TIME. Even in 1950, the USA and British markets
were almost even and the general export nearly twice either of these two markets
as CKD cars were also for export.
Even the F. Wilson McComb, THE authority according to the British, wrote, "We
have read so often that the vast majority of TCs were sold in America (and the
present writer, alas, is among those who have written it) that it comes as a
distinct surprise to find this is completely untrue. The number sold in Britain
was 3408; overseas, 6592. Of the latter, exactly 2001 cars went to the USA."
MG would never taken the chance and put all of its eggs in the American basket
in 1949 when the TD was developed. The TD may have been designed with EXPORT
posibilities in mind, but not especially for the "American" market (or any
particular market).
IMO, MG wasn't "Americanized" until the late 60's and early 70's when US emision
and safety standards were adopted.
Blake
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