MG Tales ~ MG TC

"Why Buy An MG TC?"

When asked recently why a relatively young person would buy an MG TC, I was forced to stop and think about how to answer. The basic reasoning behind the purchase was that I have always found them fascinating and beautiful, so when a deal came up that I couldn’t say no to, I jumped on it. As with most things however, there is an underlying reason behind the madness and after much thought I believe I have it figured out.

Growing up with an M.G. in the family started my interest in these cars, and despite my parents’ pleas I stuck with it. As I began to learn about the history behind M.G. I grew fascinated with the early machines produced by the British automobile industry. I’ve always enjoyed doing things the hard way so these primitive devices were right up my alley. A fondness for nostalgia and the “good old days” fueled my desire to own something which would allow me to experience a small piece of this era and forget about the frenzy of modern society.

Years later I was fortunate enough to marry a woman who would soon come to love classic British iron as I do. We purchased an MGA and had many wonderful experiences driving it, which led to buying an old YB saloon car and then an MGB GT to replace my modern daily driver. Our collection was complete, or so we thought.

My fascination with early M.G. cars never faltered but I had put any realistic thoughts of owning one out of my head. Imagine my excitement when my wife began to love them as much as I do and suggested we try to buy one! She fell for TCs in particular so we did a bit of window shopping, half joking about buying one on many occasions. A few weeks later we attended our first vintage M.G. event and there we were shown a classified ad by another enthusiast who knew that we wanted a TC. The car sounded good, was local and the price was reasonable. So we decided to take a look and found a car which was red with black as we wanted and seemed solid. It simply needed to be washed clean of dirt and cobwebs from years of storage. A price was negotiated which was more than fair and far less than many other cars we had previously looked at so we took the plunge and bought it.

A couple days of scrubbing revealed deep, shiny red paint and it wasn’t long before the car was running strong. We had found a real hidden gem! Our first drive was so much fun that I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. Driving this car is like taking a step into the past, when driving wasn’t simply steering your automobile towards your destination, but real motoring. In today’s world, driving has become a chore like any other task you have to deal with during your day. But in these cars, the drive itself is an adventure. And this adventure is the reward for whatever it is you have to deal with at your journey’s end. It is a way to forget about the worries and stress you see on the faces of the drivers around you and allow yourself to simply enjoy life.

In the days when these cars were new they were of course daily transport like the new cars of today. The MG TC was a true sports car, which made it different from most other forms of transport yet it was still used daily by most who owned them. And while it is likely that by the late 1940’s driving had become a chore for many people, I still can’t help but imagine that the task of driving in that time was less of a chore and more a simple escape from the routine doings of one’s life. I suppose that’s the advantage of not having experienced those days personally... I can imagine them any way I want to!