Start with what the MG D-type is: a four-seat roadster / four-seat Salonette with 847 , built from 1931 to 1932, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. What it meant takes a little longer.
Where it came from
The MG D-type (also known as the MG Midget) is a sports car that was produced by MG in 1931 and 1932. It used the engine from the MG M-type in the chassis from the MG C-type and was only available as a four-seater. Of the 250 cars produced, 208 were open tourers, 37 were salonettes and five went to external coachbuilders. The car used the M-Type 847 cc engine that was derived from the overhead camshaft engine from the 1928 Morris Minor and Wolseley 10 with a single SU Carburettor producing 27 bhp (20 kW) at 4500 rpm. Drive was to the rear wheels through a three-speed non-synchromesh gearbox with a four-speed gearbox was an option on later cars. The chassis came from the C-Type and took the form of a ladder frame with tubular cross members and passed under the rear axle.
The suspension used half-elliptic springs and Hartford friction shock absorbers with rigid front and rear axles and centre lock wire wheels, the brakes were cable operated with 8 in (203 mm)) drums. At 84 in (2,134 mm)), 86 in (2,184 mm)) after the first 100 cars, the wheelbase was longer than the C-Type to cater for the larger body, but the track remained the same at 42 in (1,067 mm)). In spite of its looks the car was not very fast, 60 mph (97 km/h) being just possible in the tourer, the body being really too much for the small engine. The cars are quite rare today, many having been converted into C-Type replicas. At the same time as the D-Type was being made MG was also offering the 6-cylinder 1271 cc F-Type, and externally the two are virtually identical. The extra power of the F-Type made it a much bett
Under the skin
The engine is 847 . The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the British Motor Corporation line-up the MG D-type has a clear place: it replaced the MG M-Type Midget; it handed the line to the MG J-Type Midget; the factory was Abingdon-on-Thames, Berkshire, England. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Bugatti Type 57, the Chevrolet Suburban, the Maserati 8C. Nearby in the British Motor Corporation catalogue sit the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the MG D-type has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.