1938 MG TA & 2005 TD2000 – Recapturing the Past – 183

The modern — although very traditional-looking — TD2000 attempts to recapture the motoring spirit of the classic MG T-series sports cars. Does it succeed? In order to answer that question, we put an MG TA driver into the TD2000’s driving seat and asked him for his expert opinion.

Words: Allan Walton & Denis Crampsie Photos: Quinn Hamill

The MG TA was launched rather a few years before I was born, but I have a very clear picture of these spindly little sports cars from Abingdon, mostly based on British war films of the ’50s. The TA was the kind of car, it seemed, that all RAF fighter pilots drove — and the movie images of actors such as Kenneth More whizzing around a fictitious Fighter Command airbase are indelibly marked onto my memory.

The TA was the kind of car, it seemed, that all RAF fighter pilots drove

With that in mind, it is highly appropriate that our featured 1938 TA was once owned by J A Breckell, a navigator who served two tours of duty in Lancasters with Bomber Command during WW2, earning a DFC and Bar. ‘Breck” (as he was usually known) was the father of the current owner’s wife, Sue Crampsie. Sue’s father — like all those stiff upper-lipped British actors — had owned and driven a TA during the war years and, during the late ’70s — now resident in New Zealand — he began to develop a desire to own a TA once again.

Sue’s father eventually found this MG in Bell Block, New Plymouth and, around 25 years ago, he travelled down country to purchase the car. He made the journey accompanied by Sue’s husband, Denis, and together the two men checked out the TA, and settled on a purchase price prior to driving the MG back to Auckland.
Several years ago, when Sue’s father died, the MG TA — quite rightfully it seems — was handed over to Denis and Sue, and it has been a part of their family ever since. With many years of driving experience in the MG TA, we couldn’t think of a better person to put into perspective the difference between this classic sports car and its modern iteration — the TD2000. At this point, we’ll let Denis take over. Read the rest of this entry »