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MG TD TF 1500 - Rear Bumper Reflectors for TDs

I am trying to hone in on which TDs got rear bumper reflectors. It was rumored to be 53 NA cars only but now I am thinking it may be even tighter. So far the only two cars I have pictures of are a 1953 TD Mk II and Joe Olson's 53 (which had holes but the reflectors were missing).

Both of these cars are California cars. Other later cars, not sold in California, do not have the reflectors.

If anyone has a 53 with the reflectors please post your car number and original providence of delivery state if known.


Christopher Couper

Chris, 'The53', TD23618, born on New Year's Eve '52/'53, did not have a reflector on the back bumper. Bud

Bud Krueger

The only TDs that came with rear bumper blade reflectors inboard of the overriders were MKIIs that came with the appearance package.
W A Chasser

Bill: I suspect that is true. Not sure why Joe has the holes in his bumper. Perhaps it was destroyed early on and that is what was available to replace it with. My own car had a long history of bumper replacements.

I will continue to see if I can scrounge any other pictures of cars with factory reflectors to validate it.

PS: I wonder how many newer MkIIs DID NOT come with the appearance package? And do we have any documentation that such a package exists? The only Mk II brochure I have is an older one before all the do-dads were available.
Christopher Couper

Maybe Tom Lange will step in here. Bud
Bud Krueger

What all was included in the appearance package?
John Quilter (TD8986)

My late TD (28929) had no reflectors. It was an east coast car, first sold on Long Island, New York.
Be well,
David
D. Sander

I don't know about any Appearance Package, still looking for that as an option. But the late Mk IIs had these visual add ons from the earlier versions..

Black and white wheel medallions (from TD/C/22613)
Chrome radiator grill slats (from TD/C/22613)
Enameled left and right hood emblems (from TD/C/22613)²
Enameled rear bumper emblem with plinth (from TD/C/22613)²
Radiator medallions were black on white (from TD/C/22613)
Rear bumper reflectors (from TD/C/22613)²
Dash grab handle in either right or left hand drive (from TD/C/22613)
Large black and white enameled spare tire hub cap medallion (from TD/C/22613)
Christopher Couper

I can add nothing to Chris's list of late Mark II (TD/C) appearance additions. I suspect that people who early-on paid extra to get the Mark II increase in power and handling, had only a small bonnet bulge on the right panel to differentiate their cars from stock TD's.

The "Bling" added at 22613, for the first time highlighted the special nature of the Mark II cars in very visible ways, and owners of earlier cars often added the enameled rectangular "Mark II" emblems retrospectively to the bonnet-sides, long before there was much concern for authenticity.

Although CLausager illustrates a black RHD Mark II (TD/C 25606) with the bumper reflectors, that car looks vigorously restored, and even Clausager hedges his bets by noting, "Some of the later Mark II cars for export may have had reflectors fitted on the rear bumper."

On the one hand, I have seen very few late Mark II cars with reflectors out of the 317 cars that SHOULD have them; on the other, the rear bumper is likely to be the very first thing needing replacement in any accident! I have certainly seen a photo of a bruised, completely un-restored rear bumper on a late car (from Jim Mertz, as I remember) with the reflectors, but I cannot definitively say that ALL later cars should have them. I would not be surprised, but cannot prove it, unlike the other pieces that CAN be proven.

Magisterial as it is, there are still a good many small errors in the Mark II section of Clausager's book. In general, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to prove or even demonstrate what is "Factory-Original" when the majority of cars shown are restored.

As a case in point, the black RHD TD/C car mentioned above is actually an EXL/NA car, manufactured in LHD, but converted to RHD by the time it was held up as an example in Clausager's book. (But since it was a late US car, the presence of bumper reflectors might also go towards proving their correctness...)

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

It should be noted that not only does the rear bumper blade have the holes for reflectors but so does the bumper brace as the reflector stud passes through it as well.
Also the four road hub cap medallion inset’s were painted black versus the standard red.

Bill Chasser

TD/c-8151
TD/c-16920
W A Chasser

The UK authorities mandated reflectors for all cars starting in 1954. So it is likely that MG started fitting them in late 1953.
Lew Palmer

"on the other, the rear bumper is likely to be the very first thing needing replacement in any accident!"

My car got it's first bumper within a month of being delivered in 1952 from a "rear ender". Note that the left rear overrider is missing. The dealer had a bumper and backing bar, but only one overrider.



Christopher Couper

This thread was discussed between 16/03/2022 and 19/03/2022

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