I'm Steve from this one with cars and it looks like I have some typical British weather coming in. Today I'd like to talk about the rubber bumper MG midget. This car has gotten a lot of hate from enthusiasts over the years but is it really a bad car? The biggest difference between this car and its previous models is obviously the rubber bumpers but it also contains a drivetrain that was used in the Triumph Spitfire. And although the suspension is pretty much unchanged from the previous models, they did raise the height of the car to meet US crash standards to bring the height of the front bumper up. So how did we get to the rubber bumper midget? Right here I have all the variants of the sprites and midgets. It all started with the Mark 1 sprite here on the end. Also referred to as the Bugide sprite here in the US. These cars had a 948cc A-series 4 cylinder engine and they featured a quarter elliptic rear spring setup. The MG midget was just a rebadged version of the Austin Healy sprite with a different grill and some different badging. There was no midget equivalent of the original Mark 1 sprite. The MG midget came out when the Mark 2 sprite came out. As you can see the Mark 2 sprite has a very different body from the original Mark 1 sprite. However underneath it shares the same 948cc engine, the quarter elliptic springs and the same interior. Both of these cars only feature side curtains for windows. Roll up windows did not come out until the Mark 3 sprite and the Mark 2 MG midget. Towards the end of the run of the Mark 2 sprite and the Mark 1 midget they moved to a slightly larger 1098cc engine. That's the same engine that's used in the Mark 3 sprite and the Mark 2 midget. And although the Mark 2 MG midget has roll up windows, the first three variations of the sprite and first two variations of the midget were true roadsters. When you folded the top down you took it apart and you stowed it in the boot. But once the Mark 4 sprite and Mark 3 midget were introduced the convertible top was now attached to the car and stayed connected to the car when you folded it down behind the seats. With the Mark 4 sprite and Mark 3 midget they also moved to a larger engine again now at 1275cc. This is the engine of choice for all midgets and sprites that were built before the rubber bumper cars. The Mark 4 sprite was the last of the series for the sprites. They did not continue the sprites into the rubber bumper cars. In 1969 Austin's agreement with Healy had ended and they were no longer able to use the Healy name on their cars. The sprites did continue for a couple more years as just Austin sprites but those cars were never sold here in the US. This sprite name was dropped from the line and the MG midget continued on, now meeting US crash standards fitted with its new rubber bumpers. At this time they also dropped the BMCA series engine which was also used in cars like the Austin A35, A40 and the Morris minors. This particular 1969 sprite was my first car. I bought this car in the year 2000 and 6 months later I bought this 1966 MG midget. So it's fair to say that I have a lot of experience with sprites and midgets. The blue rubber bumper midget I've owned since about the year 2005. At the time I like most of the purists, wasn't a big fan of the rubber bumpers. And interestingly when I drive all these cars on the street people my age and younger comment more about the rubber bumper cars than they do any of the chrome bumper cars. There's a lot of people today that don't remember the cars going from chrome bumpers to rubber bumpers. So they don't have any bias towards the rubber bumper cars. There are certainly a lot of vintage cars running around with chrome bumpers, but rubber bumpers were only around for a short period and are kind of a novelty. And that's not the only reason why I think there's going to be more interest in those cars. The gearing is different in the rubber bumper midget and that allows it to be much nicer going down the highway. If I was going to take a long trip in any of these cars it's the rubber bumper midget that I would choose. Let's get the midget on the road and I'll show you how it drives. So one of the things I think you'll notice if you driven earlier sprites, this car does not feel like it has less power than the 1275. This car of course was built far into the emission era of the cars and if you were to convert the carps to a pre-emission car you can definitely squeeze extra power out of the engine. Even though the FG midget models look similar there are differences between all of the parts. For example the seats and all of the models are different from each other. They have different padding in them and they have different seat covers. So a seat from a Mark III sprite will not fit into a Mark IV sprite. Here's a nice twisty road and the handling difference is very noticeable between the rubber bumper cars and the earlier sprites. Because they increase the ride height that has affected the suspension and if you were to just go back in and lower the car to the proper level you would get a much better handling car similar to how the FG midgets were before. Even though this car now has a Triumph drivetrain it has all the Smith instrumentation that you would be familiar with in an earlier model midget. In fact as far as the cockpit is concerned you can tell that you're driving a rubber bumper car from here. The one major difference on the inside is that reverse is in a different location on the Triumph power cars and they are on the awesome power cars. Reverse is to the right and forward in the Triumph power cars and reverse is to the right and down in the awesome power cars. I think the car leans more in the corners than the earlier cars do and I think that's attributed to its increased ride height. Now here's something that I would typically avoid doing in an earlier sprite or mid-MG midget and that's perch on to an interstate. The variant in the Triumph power cars allows it to go interstate speeds for long periods of time. I actually have driven this part on other states. A Boston Miato would probably be more comfortable and less stressed out on a journey like this. What I feel the last version of the MG midget is a car that you can truly drive anywhere you want to. This is definitely the most versatile version of the midget. In my opinion these cars are undervalued and cheap to pick up. So why wouldn't you want one of these cars? Well the rubber bumpers aren't for everyone and these cars you have one at Achilles heel and that's that they're equipped with strong brake carburetors. Instead of the dual SUV carburetors you have some all of the earlier MG midgets and awesome Achilles crates. This car has one single strong brake carburetor. Some people call those car terrible and they're finicky and fast. If you don't bump keep them they tend to have a lot of problems. If you're looking for a cheap fun sports car you should definitely consider an MG midget like this one. And as always if you want to see more videos like this comment below and click subscribe. So to learn more about it let's take it for a drive. Here I have all of the models of the sprites and midgets. Essentially the sprites and the midget are the same car just using different badging and a different grill. Seeing here is a Mark 2 sprite which is equivalent to a Mark 1 midget. This car shares the same drivetrain as the Mark 1 sprite.