The collector car market, in your inbox
Classic car news, hand-picked vehicles, and auction coverage. Choose what lands in your inbox.
Purists will tell you an MG TC should never see a V8. A red 1949 example live on Bring a Trailer answers that with a 136ci Ford Flathead, a Muncie four-speed with split shifters, and a body built mostly out of aluminum sheet. The seller assembled it over many years to run vintage races on the West Coast, and it is offered at no reserve. As of Wednesday the bid sits at $4,000, and the auction closes Saturday, October 24 at 1:08 p.m. ET.
A Hot Rodded TC in the Old West Coast Tradition
The TC was a favorite of early American sports car racers because it was light, nimble, and cheap. As bigger American V8s moved the goalposts, some owners shoehorned one in to keep up. One BaT commenter who tracks TC history called surviving examples rare, since most of those specials were wrecked, parted out, or thrown away. Talk of originality is mostly beside the point here. This car is a period-style hot rod, not a restoration.
The listing says the chassis was built in August 1948 and that the seller bought the car out of Washington State around 2011, then modified it over a number of years. The Flathead went in under previous ownership. A commenter citing historical records puts the swap at 1965, but the seller says he cannot confirm that. Treat the date as unverified.
What Is Under the Aluminum Bonnet
The engine is a 136ci Ford Flathead V8, the small-displacement version of the old Ford V8 that hot rodders have been tuning for decades. According to the listing it breathes through Stromberg 81 carburetors on an Edelbrock intake, wears Edelbrock 17-stud heads, and exhales through custom equal-length headers into a single exit ahead of the right-rear wheel. It also gets a PerTronix ignition, an aluminum radiator, two aluminum water pumps, and a dual fuel tank setup.
Power goes through a Speedway Motors bellhousing to a Muncie M21 four-speed with split shifters. The shorter right-hand lever handles first and second, and the longer left-hand lever takes third and fourth. The listing does not give a horsepower figure, so we will not guess at one.
Chassis changes are just as hands-on. The seller says the rear axle came from an MGA and was fitted with a rebuilt TC differential, and the rear brake drums are said to come from a Datsun 240Z. Dual Panhard rods and a front axle that was pressed to gain a degree of negative camber also show up in the seller's notes and comments. The front apron and rear tonneau are fabricated from aluminum sheet, and the owner says the car weighs under 1,600 pounds. That figure is the owner's claim, not a scale reading.
Cockpit and Condition
The right-hand-drive cabin is spare. It has aluminum floors and door panels, aluminum bucket seats with tan vinyl cushions, a Schroeder steering wheel, and a turned aluminum dash with a Sun Super Tach II and Stewart-Warner gauges. There is no odometer. Brooklands-style windscreens, headlamp guards, and 72-spoke wire wheels on 165-width Vredestein tires complete the look. A worn folding soft top and a collection of spare and removed parts are included.
The car is titled in Nevada as a 1949 MG Midget with an "Exempt" odometer brand. Buyers should note that the seller is offering it on behalf of his father, and that the build is a race-oriented special, so expect the rough edges that come with one.
Why It Is Worth Watching
Engine swaps like this one split the British car crowd, but it belongs to a real tradition. If you like a supercharged Y-Block in a modified F-100 or the decade-long Invicta evocation we covered recently, this belongs on your watch list. It also sits well beside the other custom builds we have flagged on BaT, like the Cummins-powered 1949 Ford F-6 hauler. For anyone who wants more traditional British charm, our look at Steve McQueen's Desert Sled style TR6C is a good counterpoint.
For a no-reserve vintage-race special, $4,000 is where the bidding starts rather than where it will end. Details here come from the seller's listing and comments, and we have flagged claims that remain unverified. Check the full listing and photo gallery before you bid.
