The story of the ADO 47 Midgets
“THE NEW SPRITE WAS WELL-RECEIVED AND IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE THORNLEY AND ENEVER, CLEARLY DEFEATED IN THEIR AIM TO CREATE A SMALL SPORTS CAR OF THEIR OWN, WERE PLANNING AN MG VERSION OF THE SPRITE.”
The origin of the MG Midget name dates back to around around 33 years before the Midgets described in this article. There has been debate about whose idea the name was but the wise money is with Cecil Kimber, who was the genius behind most of the early marketing successes at Morris Garages; certainly Syd Enever said as much in an unpublished 1974 interview.
Kimber’s real desire was to see MG move up-market from its humble origins as a fettler of Morris products and, with that in mind, he championed a kind of ‘junior Bentley’: the MG 18/100 Tigresse. Whilst the prototype of this impressive motor car disgraced itself upon its 1930 race début, the ubiquitous Morris Minor-derived MG M-type Midget rapidly became the de facto choice for light sports car racing. So began
