A few years ago, I took on a basket-case Austin-Healey Sprite project. Because the Sprite was essentially the same car as the MG Midget and I needed just about everything for my car, I scoured Northern California self-service yards in search of Midget pieces. My Sprite is gone now (though I'm sure I'll hear from its latest owner soon enough), but I'm still reminded of it when I see a Midget in a wrecking yard. Here's one I saw earlier in the year in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1976, the Midget got the 1493cc engine out of the Spitfire. You don't want to know the horsepower number. Murilee Martin

This Midget is very rough, showing signs of long-term abandonment under a tree in a Bay Area back yard. Still, plenty of pieces left on it, including just about everything from the engine compartment. Starting with the 1974 model year, British Leyland reached into its parts bin and substituted the 1493cc engine out of the Triumph Spitfire for the BMC A engine that had been in the Spridget since the very beginning. Thanks to tough American emission-control standards, the '76 Midget had just 55 horses under the bonnet.

It wouldn't have been worth restoring, so we hope that its parts will live on in other cars. Murilee Martin

The Midget is one of those classic cars that can be worth decent money in great shape but can be found for just about scrap prices in rough condition. Once this car spent a quarter-century or so exposed to the elements, its date with The Crusher was set.

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Just like riding a skateboard!

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