The Story of the Lost Mid-Engine MG

You can almost imagine the designers being told to stop working on this innovative and imaginative sports car, and to go and help the Allegro design team with the ashtrays. Then losing the will to live.

Brilliant work, Ed. That's the way car stories should be.

This channel has gone from interestingly decent, to grippingly brilliant. Thank you for your hard work.

A superb retrospective on a car I’d never heard of. Excellent work!

My heart is in my throat. And I am in shock. If these cars had come into fruition, there would be an MG dealership right now in NYC.

A highly impressive piece of work, congratulations.

Anyone else notice the Jaguar XJS resemblance, around the rear window. Side butresses too, by the look of it too.

Did my apprenticeship at a BL dealer from '72 and have to say the E series never gave us any trouble. The only warranty repair I can remember was re shimming tappets on a new one once. Same with diffs on Marinas and Sherpas, never repaired a single one; very different when I was at Ford at we were constantly rebuilding Salisbury axles. I won't mention Marina gearbox's though, as I rebuilt what seemed like millions of them. The Maxi was a cracking car but very dull although the fleets seemed to like them ( I think they got them cheap, and I cant see many reps being pleased to be handed the keys). I remember the motorways then and if you looked at lane three it would be full of reps in Cortinas going flat out!

Brilliant story, thank you. I loved many of these interesting cars, we had the last of the breeds in the Austin Kimberley and Tasman here in Australia. They were a bit old but roomy and good to drive. My MGF however brilliant to drive and lively to look at had its hydro suspension leaks and sat rather low, ruining the ride. I could not afford to have it repaired nor could I afford the coil conversions so I put up with it for a while , eventually sold to someone with more time and money. The various minis and mokes I had were all a bit naf in the wet, but just fun to drive and easy to fix. I miss those old British cars. Overall however whenever I see a morris 1100 I see Basil Faulty belting it with a branch. I that image sums up the experience of owning one here in Aus in the 70’s.

Great story, thanks for putting it together so well 😊

If the X1/9 and MR2 are any indication, it could have been a success. But knowing BL I'm certain they would have found a way of messing up if they would have produced it.

I’ve never heard of this car before but watching your video I feel like you’ve actually driven it so vivid are your descriptions! Another “if only” moment.

You know so so much! I'm ever so pleased I watched this. TY for sharing your expertise. You've a talent for presentation!! 😊

The suspension was fantastic, yet it is the interior space that marked the 1800 in mind. It was considered, and indeed appeared to be, a small car by Australian standards, and yet it seemed to be a Tardis once in either the front or rear seats.

Look at the prototypes compared to the crap they turned out. It’s mind boggling what those people managers was up to

The MGR... the first works restomod. A very special car.

A great video, Ed! It's sad to see what has happened to the MG name...

Fascinating and interesting as always! Great episode thanks Ed!

All right gang (those of us who’ve been watching for a long while), let’s all share these ever more awesome videos around and get Ed to 100k. If viewership grew at the rate of production quality and content, we would be there.

Brilliant video as always Ed - thanks Steve