The Story of The Little 1972 MG Midget


Happiest Teenager on the planet trades Corvair for the MG
I had always wanted a little sports car, truth be known I wanted a pink convertible! My Dad had found and fixed up a little Corvair when I was sixteen. It was a pretty neat little red car, but still not the same as a sports car. In 1977 he came across a little 72 MG Midget that needed quite a bit of work. At the time he asked if he purchased it for me, would I trade him the Corvair? No hesitation on my part, you bet! For $550.00 I had my little dream car.

We brought it home, cleaned it up fixed a whole bunch of things, with a lot of help from neighbors, upholstery, British car junk yard parts, etc.. I loved it, fast, fun, zippy, wind in my hair, eye catching fun.
It did not last long however, a drunk driver smashed it up while parked on the street in front of our house. Yes I cried, the guy crunched the Corvair too, of course he had no insurance, and my Dad had to chase him down in our other car until the police came. Short of a long story the car was now back in for repairs.



Drunk Driver side swipes the Little Midget :0(

It ended up being a good thing, because I got it repainted with a custom mixed corvette paint that my Brother in law Rick made for it. It was a deep green with a beautiful gold metal flake in it. My Dad's friend then did a custom pin stripe that started out in several colors at the back of the car, and became finer and different colors at the front end. It was a show stopper!



1972 MG Midget gets a custom corvette paint with Pin Stripe



Custom pin stripe

It was this color for some time and so much fun to drive. I was getting gas one day parked at the pump to fill up, when this big pickup backs up over the front driver's fender. This just could not be happening! I was grief stricken, and I swear the little car had tears in her headlights. I ended up getiing a small pickup truck to drive for awhile and the little car went into storage with a new fender primer gray that no one could seem to match my custom paint, or custom pin striping.



David & Michael putting in a rebuilt Tranny & Clutch

Michael decided it was time to get her on the road again, but it needed a clutch and some transmission work. Michael and my brother David pulled the engine. Michael quickly self educated himself on how to rebuild a car! A neighbor down the street painted cars at his home, and he was going to paint the little MG. A lot of thought went into changing the color I was thinking maybe the Green was too dark and people could not see it well enough. It was time for a different color. I picked a Porsche burgundy color that had a bit of a silver metallic in it. It turned out really pretty. By this time I was pregnant with Justin, and babies and tiny cars did not go so well together.

We ended up putting her into storage in our garage for a few years. The boys spent hours pretending to drive the tiny toy car while Dad worked on various other projects through the years. In their minds the little car had taken them all over the world. Quite a few years had passed by now and Michael thought it would be good to get her running again.



New Burgundy paint due to the truck that backed up over the front fender



A long slumber until the boys were older she runs again

With a lot of effort she runs again. The boys were thrilled it meant weekend drives in the hills, top down in a little dream that they thought was a toy in their garage. We had the interior reupholstered to a pretty silver cloth.



New Interior for the little MG

We took it to the Day on the Green in Palo Alto, and AMGBA was having their annual show, the little car won First Place! And made the cover of The Octagon Magazine. Finally the rest of the world could see, and understand why I love this little car. Proud Husband and sons for their efforts paid off.



We are famous the Little car made the front cover of the AMGBA Octagon Magazine



1972 MG Midget wins first place at the Palo Alto car show 1997

We took her to the Hayward Day on the Green, and she won First Place!



1972 MG Midget wins first place at the Hayward car show 1998

We also went to the Jack London Car show in Oakland, and the little car shined again with another First Place



First Place Jack London Square 2001

The little Midget has been with me since 1977, it has seen it's fair share of ups and downs. Sometimes I think I should let it go, and then I go take it for a Sunday drive, and it quickly comes back to me why I have kept her all these years. Dad thanks for wanting that Corvair so badly, as this little car was always meant to be mine.