In 1979, Car& Driver published a farewell road test of the Midget. They
knew the car was discontinued.
At the end of the article, three testers offered their personal opinion in
a "Counterpoint" section.
Larry Griffin wrote at the end of his piece:
"...If you haven't driven an X 1/9, maybe you can love a Midget. If you
can fit. Maybe."
While I halfway agree here, I think Don Sherman gets a little too excited:
(I qoute his entire piece)
"This thing is trash, and I for one won't be sad to see it go. The state
of the automotive art will lurch smartly upward just from the riddance of
the MG Midget. Perhaps the British will find a way to produce a few extra
Spitfires or TR7s in its place, both of which I consider infinitely more
desirable, price notwithstanding.
You see, the Midget never really enjoyed any development, a predicament I
consider inexcusable. This car will fade from production with the same
wretched hanky-in-the-wind top it was born with. Along the way, Jaguar
Rover Triumph (hey! what happened to MG?) did jack up the ride heigth,
slap on ugly bumper masks, and drain all the power out of the Midget's
engine. Please excuse me if I don't consider these either improvements or
developments. However, credit should be given for the compassionate
excision of this car's bug-eye birth defect, and the addition of
synchronizers in the transmission a few years back. In farewell, I can
offer nothing more than a kick in the behind, and this goodbye to such a
crude little coal cart of a a car: 'Get outa here, you knucklehead!' "
While the minority of contemporary automotive journalists felt like Don,
it still helps in understanding what sort of feelings led to the
production stop of the Midget.
Ulix __/__,__
.......................................................... (_o____o_)....
'67 Sprite
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