Is the MG Midget....

[mark030358]

,,,,,,,,,,,,, in any way comparable to an Elan ?



Mark

[1964 S1]

Good Question. In my opinion, no.
I was selling used Midgets, MGB's, TR6's, Spitfires, TVR's, R 16's, 124's,,,,, the list goes on,,, in the early '70's. Along with an occasional Elan.
The only thing comparable is the size of the cars. They must be nearly the same.
Think Model T and GT 40. Are their four wheel imprint dimensions similar? Wouldn't surprise me if they were.
The Midget/bugeye Sprite was at the end of a sports car era, the Elan began our new one. The weird thing for me is the Elan era hasn't ended, no one surpassed it's design, unless we start discussing the Elise.... and then I gotta say, the Elise has it all over the Midget. Stone Age to Star Wars.
Eric

[RichC]

I have an MG midget as well and have rebuilt it with my two sons and can tell you that they are poles apart ( Midget & elan that is , not my sons). Midget is basically 1950's agricultural rustbucket, not without it's quirky charms however. I think the price when new was considerably cheaper than the elan (half?)
RichC

[reb53]

"Midget" has an "e" in it as does "Elan" but that's about it.

Ralph.

[paddy]

"Midget" has an "e" in it as does "Elan" but that's about it.

They've got lots in common:

- Lucas 7" headlamp and bowl
- Lucas 2-fuse fusebox
- Lucas generator and regulator
- voltage regulator
- starter bendix
- solenoid
- Smiths fuel and water temp gauge
- brake light pressure switch
- 3/8" UNF wheelnut

Practically the same !

Paddy

[john.p.clegg]

Wheel at each corner,etc,etc,etc..

John

[twincamman]

in DEFENCE of the lowly sprite --mine is far more relaxing to drive than any LOTUS ---ED

[tdafforn]

Interesting timing this one!
jsut bought a '70 midget basket case as something to do in the evenings.
Its been amazing comparing the engineering, managed to completely dissemble the midget in < 5 hours!
Also amazing to see how good the Elan was for its time given that they overlapped by so many years!!
Cheers
Tim
PS reason for buying the Midget, cheap (?200), can't afford an Elan +0, bored in the evenings as the +2 is running too well (expecting it to catch fire in a fit of peak any day!)

[richgilb]

Midget - slow, poor handling, heavy,
Elan - fast, good handling, light,

[andyelan]

Hi everyone

Not sure if this isn't another one of these wind ups, however.

Firstly there's nothing at all wrong with the MG Midgit. It's design fulfilled a purpose which was to bring open air motoring to the masses at minimal price, a role it fulfilled superbly well. The Elan was an entirely different kettle of fish. It was a highly sophisticated piece of kit based on contemporary GP car technology with an engine half as big again as the Midgets and, contary to what is said about Chapman alway doing things on the cheap, it was very very expensive. In '66 the Elan was well over twice the price of a Midget so I doubt anyone looking to buy a new Midget would have been in a position to even consider an Elan as an alturnative. Perhaps therefore it's not "is the Elan the better car" (of that there's no doubt) but the real question is is it at least twice better than the Midget.

One final bit of food for thought and maybe the racers might want to comment here. I've seen full race preped Midgets compeat in historic racing and, when well driven, they're a match for almost anything else on the circuits.

Andy

[types26/36]

Hi everyone
Not sure if this isn't another one of these wind ups, however.
Firstly there's nothing at all wrong with the MG Midgit. It's design fulfilled a purpose which was to bring open air motoring to the masses at minimal price, a role it fulfilled superbly well. The Elan was an entirely different kettle of fish. It was a highly sophisticated piece of kit based on contemporary GP car technology with an engine half as big again as the Midgets and, contary to what is said about Chapman alway doing things on the cheap, it was very very expensive. In '66 the Elan was well over twice the price of a Midget so I doubt anyone looking to buy a new Midget would have been in a position to even consider an Elan as an alturnative. Perhaps therefore it's not "is the Elan the better car" (of that there's no doubt) but the real question is is it at least twice better than the Midget.
One final bit of food for thought and maybe the racers might want to comment here. I've seen full race preped Midgets compeat in historic racing and, when well driven, they're a match for almost anything else on the circuits.
Andy

I agree with what Andy says here, but I don't think its a wind up as the question was posed by mark030358 who is a genuine member of the forum.
You cant really compare the two cars as they are worlds apart, I had Midget's and Spite's in my youth as I couldn't afford an Elan although at the time I thought the Seven was the pinnacle of sports cars (I was offered a genuine Lotus Seven and could not afford it at ?325) ............how I kicked myself in later years!
As Andy says the the Midgets were made for the masses, it was on par with a Spitfire....a Sports Car....well it depends on your definition of a Sports Car! open top motoring, wind in you hair and a girl puller....yes....(my wife says that's how I got her) but a Sports car.....well I will leave that for history to decide!

[richgilb]

Midget looks numptyish too. Spitfires are cooler

[frearther]

in DEFENCE of the lowly sprite --mine is far more relaxing to drive than any LOTUS ---ED

My Accord is very relaxing to drive. And my knees fit under the dashboard - something that I never managed in a Mk 1 Sprite.

[richgilb]

I've seen full race preped Midgets compeat in historic racing and, when well driven, they're a match for almost anything else on the circuits.

Andy

I've also seen ones rusted to the point of uselessness within 10 years of coming off the production line (i.e. mine).....they used to transport unprimed bodies from one site to another on open wagons, regardless of the weather.

[andyelan]

Hi There

If anyone really wants somthing to compair against the Elan, or more likley the Plus 2, how about the Toyota 2000GT.

Take a look at chassis pics on www.2000gt.net and ask where you've seen somthing like that before.

Andy