Start with what the MG F-type is: a 4-seat open tourer / Foursome Coupé with 1271 , built from 1931 to 1932, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. What it meant takes a little longer.
The background
The MG F-type (also known as the MG Magna) is a six-cylinder-engined car that was produced by MG from October 1931 to 1932. It was also known as the 12/70. Looking for a car to fill the gap between the M-Type Midget and the 18/80, MG turned to another of the engines that had become available from William Morris's acquisition of Wolseley. This was the 1271 cc 6-cylinder version of the overhead camshaft engine used in the 1929 MG M type Midget and previously seen in the 1930 Wolseley Hornet and had dummy side covers to disguise its origins. Fitted with 1 in (25 mm) twin SU carburettors it produced 37.2 bhp (27.7 kW) at 4100 rpm at first, later increased to 47 bhp (35 kW) by revising the valve timing.
Drive was to the rear wheels through a four-speed non-synchromesh gearbox of ENV manufacture. The chassis was a 10-inch (250 mm) longer version of the one from the MG D-type with suspension by half-elliptic springs and Hartford friction shock absorbers all round with rigid front and rear axles. Wire wheels with 4.00 x 19 tyres and centre lock fixing were used. The car had a wheelbase of 94 in (2,388 mm) and a track of 42 in (1,067 mm). With its sloping radiator and long bonnet, the F-Type is capable of reaching 70 mph (110 km/h). 188 of the cars were supplied in chassis form to outside coachbuilders such as Abbey, Jarvis, Stiles and Windover.
The engineering
The engine is 1271 . These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
In the British Motor Corporation line-up the MG F-type has a clear place: it replaced the none; it handed the line to the MG L-type Magna; the factory was Abingdon-on-Thames, Berkshire, England. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Chevrolet Suburban, the Bugatti Type 57, the Bugatti Type 51. Its British Motor Corporation stablemates include the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the MG F-type — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.