Production Facts & Feature Time-lines

These pages contain production numbers, dates and the time-line for various changes to the MGTF during it's production run.

• The MGTF Models
• Production Facts
• Production Dates by Color
• Feature Time-Lines
• Factory Accessories

The MGTF Models

There were two distinct models of the MGTF marked by displacement of the engine and the addition of a hood badge on the second model, the TF1500.

Production Facts

Total production for the MGTF was 9600 of which at least 3400 were TF1500's.

Used with permission from Original MG T Series by Anders Clausager. Published by MBI Publishing Company 1-800-826-6600.

¹ Includes 2 RHD cars

² CKD - "completely knocked down". A term used to describe cars that were exported in kit form to be assembled "in country". This was sometimes used to claim that the cars were manufactured locally to get by import tax situations. Cars were finished in primer only.

Car or Chassis Number Codes

TF's used a more elaborate scheme for their car identifcation codes than the TD models. This was the first MG that indicated the original paint scheme (color and material). Also included were codes signifying an 'H' for MG Midget followed by a 'D' for open two-seater. Then a single letter identifying the color followed by a numeric value for the location, and lastly a number for the paint material type. You can read the details of the TF identification codes here. This information is stamped on the car plate on the left hand side of the firewall next to the toolbox.

The two MGTF prototypes were numbers 0250 and 0251. Car 0250 would later become the prototype for the TF1500. The production cars started numbering at 501 and hence ended at car number 10100, or car 9600 numerically. You can find the car number on the left hand front frame dumb iron, where the bumper bolts to the car. The car number will be preceded by TF. So the first TF would be TF501 and the last TF would be TF10100.

The following table indicated the cars original location coding.

Engine Number Codes - TF

TF 1250 engines were marked "XPAG/TF"; TF1500 engines were marked "XPEG/TF". There was no absolute correlation from the chassis or car number. For XPAG cars the engine numbers where in the 30k range. The XPEG engines were in the high 1900s to high 3000s. The engine number was stamped on the etched b/w Guarantee Plate on the firewall, on its own octagonal plate on the right bottom front side of the engine and just above this plate, on the block itself on the plinth, just above the brass octagonal tag.

There is an excellent write up about T-series engine indentification on this page from the MG Car Club.

Production Dates by Color

Production timelines from Tom Lange based on color batches of cars.

You might also want to get a copy of the factory log book for the date of your car from the source mentioned here. To determine your car production date there is an online tool available from the T Register T Type Factory Production Records.

Choose the year you would like production information for:

Feature Time-lines

Over the product run of the MGTF various changes, while mostly minor, where made. The following table attempts to chronologize some of the notable externally visible changes by date and/or chassis number when known. (e) stands for engine number.

Note: The production feature time-line presented here is derived mostly from manuals, brochures and a few factory records by Anders Clausager. The dates should not be considered absolute. In fact many cars have been shown to exhibit an earlier trait far beyond the date shown as having a new feature. It is believed that these dates comprise the first time a new feature appeared on the MGTF, rather than the last time the former feature could be found. At times a decision seemed to be made to change a feature in one marketplace while still producing the former feature for other marketplaces. Note also that the MGTD was still in production when the first MGTF's appeared. Also note that during the production of the MGTF that other cars were still produced on the line at the same time. It may have been that cars produced during those periods would use similar parts while during the times that only MGTF's were produced, a different, but similar part would be used .

Much of the above was used with permission from Original MG T Series by Anders Clausager. Published by MBI Publishing Company 1-800-826-6600.

Factory Accessories

While the MG factory had very few accessories for the MGTF, there was no shortage from aftermarket companies. The following is a list of the factory accessories during the production run of the MGTF.

• Wire wheels
• White sidewall tyres
• External mirror
• Luggage rack
• Badge bar and fog lamp mounting kit
• Fog lamp (Lucas SFT576) or spot lamp (Lucas SLR576)
• Andrex friction shock absorbers
• Rear axle ratio options: 5.125:1 (8/41) or 4.55:1 (9/41)
• Full length tonneau cover (dealer installed)
• Interior cabin heater kits (dealer installed)

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