Should the devil come to my door to try and tempt me, there is no question he would come in the form of this 1953 MG TD with British Racing Green and Black fenders and running boards.  Maybe I’d hold out for wire wheels but, in the end, I would surrender and get right in.  This lusty and seductive temptation is listed here on eBay at a no reserve auction, right now, fetching a mere $5,500 as of this writing. The bid closes on Sunday, November 1 at 9:14 p.m. They promised they’d let me out of my restrains promptly at 9:30.

Apologies for the weak first-person reporting: Everyone has their weakness, and the indelible memory of the first time I saw one with a man in a beard and a lady with long flowing hair just laughing and laughing as they left the beach in Plymouth, MA running the car musically through its gears, is mine. This eBay listing is supported by no fewer than one hundred and forty-three photos (no exaggeration) that took hours to go through, followed by the seller’s lengthy legal disclaimer about the sale when it happens. You’re lucky the entire 143 are not attached here because I did think about it along with a legal review of the disclaimer. Again, apologies.

The car has some ailments: the 67-year old paint is checking all along the bonnet top, there are dings on the fenders, and the cabin tub is likely to need a full wood restoration judging from the cracks and the chassis shots of which one is found below. There is a serious breach of the sheet metal where the spare tire attaches to the outer sheet metal of the fuel tank. The seller makes no claim that she runs, rather, that the engine does turn over by hand. The car rolls and steers. It has a clean Florida title.

See where the rust is visible on the passenger’s side cabin support and notice the frame rails are showing signs of rust where the wood is bolted to the frame. This appears to be a replacement wood main rail which could mean a partial resto has been done previously to the lower cabin wood frame. Point of information: there are more than 35 different wood timber pieces comprising the MG TD cabin, some easily seen like the dashboard (walnut plywood) but more are hidden as in the cases of the door pillars (doors are actually sheet metal over wood frames!), cabin pillars, cabin main rails, floorboards, and other pieces. Many of these have compound curves and are impressive woodworking projects. In other pictures, the upper cabin wood supports do not look like they have been replaced. Do you have a bandsaw in your hot rod shop?–’cause you’ll be needing it for this project.

There’s visible wear on the black wood dash, and the non-original carpet seems ill-fitting and needs replacement.  The seats are in decent shape.  The car comes with a black rag top and the seller does have the side curtains to close in the cabin from the elements. There is even an owner’s manual in the glovebox. I do have that English walnut tree I took down and have been drying in the barn loft for a year…

The engine room is actually quite tidy for a lady stored for most of 67 years. The odometer reads 16,217 miles. This 1953 MG is equipped with a 1,250 cc 54 hp in-line four-cylinder engine capable of a top speed of about 80 mph.  You can tell your Mom or significant other that this car is so safe it takes 20.6 seconds to get from 0 to 60 mph, and its quarter-mile drag track time is just short of one week. Man, a ‘53 MG in British Racing Green and black is just a curvy, carnal, alluring, evil temptress that’s not going to beat a Maserati—or maybe even an electric bicycle—but sometimes the slow caress is what steals the heart.  OK, Mr. Jimmy, let’s go have a soda…