Many years ago, I purchased a wonderful Standard Vanguard Sportsman from Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can see me autocrossing it here (!). The thing I noticed the most about Arizona classic cars while I was there was how rust-free and “dry” they were. I’m hoping this 12-car MG/Austin-Healey collection listed for sale here on craigslist and located in Albuquerque is similarly dry and rust-free! The seller throws out a ballpark price of $2,000 per car, but as they state “Priority goes to bulk purchase offer.” Hmmm, that gives me an idea. Let’s take a closer look!

Unfortunately, the seller doesn’t offer us many single-car close-ups apart from this rubber-bumper MG Midget 1500. Given the list of possible cars (see below), this is either a 1976 or 1977 model. By this point, the Midget was utilizing the “Federalized” engine and transmission from the Triumph Spitfire 1500. As long as you can fit in one, MG Midgets are a very inexpensive way to own a classic convertible sports car.  While 72,289 Midget 1500s were produced, there were only 13,414 imported into North America in 1976 and even fewer, 1,055, in 1977. So it’s actually relatively rare (for comparison, there were  657,151 Chevy Caprice/Impalas sold in ’77). No great wonder looking at the car above why “cute” is one of the most frequent comments from folks encountering a Midget or Sprite for the first time.

I’m pretty sure this is a 1970 MG Midget (side logo on sill and side lights), which fortunately is one of the nine cars listed that do have titles. It sure does look solid–I used to own a 1970 (sold it to pay for an engagement ring) and it had lots of rust–Midgets are especially prone to rust at the lower part of the front fenders. Speaking of that list, here are the cars on offer with titles:

“Chrome bumper” cars:

1969 Austin Healey Sprite
1970 MG Midget
1973 MGB
1973 MGB

“Rubber bumper” cars:

1976 MG Midget
1977 MG Midget
1977 MGB
1977 MGB
1978 MGB

And these are the ones without titles:

1968 MG Midget
1976 MGB
1977? MGB (the seller is apparently not sure of the year)

Here’s another shot, with the previous Midget on the left. I think that’s the 1969 Sprite (almost identical to the MG Midget) in the back (no chrome strip) and the other Midget 1500. The car in the foreground is an MGB, and based on the stripe and ride height it’s a rubber-bumper car. MGBs have 1800 cc B-Series engines and are very responsive to tuning. They also have a lot of legroom as long as you can get into the car (or just leave the top down and don’t drive in the rain). There were over 510,000 MGBs produced from 1962 to 1980 and they also make a great first classic sports car. Understand that you won’t outhandle a Miata (unless you spend a metric ton of money on suspension modifications) but there’s a reason open MGBs were called “tourers” by British Leyland. There are not many cars that are finer to drive on a beautiful fall evening!

Here we have another MGB, and yes, the three wipers are factory. Something about the percentage of glass covered by the wipers — thank US regulations. If you pick up one of these projects, plan on a full hydraulic refurbishment including brake pads and shoes, and I’m sure the Stromberg or SU carbs will require some fiddling. And I’m guessing you already know a lot of Lucas jokes! What’s wonderful is that you will find British car enthusiasts everywhere who will be happy to help you recommission any of these easy-to-work-on classics. Is anyone in for a group buy? I wonder if we could get the whole lot for $10k? Volunteers?