Variants of the MGTD The Arnolt MGTD The MGTD Pickup Truck The Inskip Four Seater MGTD

A number of MGTD chassis' were sold to independent companies who outfitted them with custom bodies. In addition some MGTD's started out original, and then found their life drastically changed. These pages will describe some of the these.

The Arnolt MGTD

Pictures and Arnolt Car features used by permission from Terry Sanders.

Many of you that are familiar with the MGTD also recognize the Arnolt name. Stanley Harold Arnolt, a.k.a. Wacky Arnolt was a Midwest MG, Morris and Riley dealer during the early 50's. Not only did he have the distributorship for MGTD's in the Midwest, he sold MGTD's, imported accessories, and had his own high quality accessory line. Many current MGTD's sport Arnolt accessories, and many new items that are for sale are copies of original Arnolt accessories.

Although this certainly is an impressive commitment to the MGTD line, it wasn't enough for Wacky Arnolt. It appears that he even went so far as to have his own 'family' line of MGTD's built. These were MGTD chassis that sported custom bodies by Bertone of Italy.

It is rumored that Arnolt was touring the Turin Auto Show of 1952 when he spotted two sleek sports cars. These were custom open and closed body coupes built by Bertone of Italy. Because Fiat had recently changed to a unibody construction technique, there were no chassis available to create custom bodied sports cars by the small designers such as Bertone. Bertone's son, Nuccio had located two used MGTD chassis which proved to be just right for a small, agile sports car.

The Bertone's commissioned Franco Scaglioni to assist them in designing a new line of custom bodied cars. The two prototypes were displayed by Rome MG Dealers, Fattori and Mantani. When Arnolt spotted the cars he immediately asked to purchase them. Bertone was reported as asking "Both of Them?" from which Arnolt replied "No, one hundred of each.". Arnolt thought that the cars would appeal to a more 'refined' class of driver than the original MGTD with the closed coupe and Italian styling. In fact the cars were marketed as 'an Arnolt family sports car'. These cars would fit right into the current offerings that Arnolt was marketing. A number of Arnolt accessories became standard components of the cars. Arnolt cars even offered something MG refused to put on the original TD's, wire wheels.

Not only did Arnolt cars sport Arnolt accessories, they used the original MGTD parts in unusual situations. Take a look at the Arnolt dashboard in the picture on the right. You will notice the familiar MGTD dash cluster, inverted, and painted wrinkle black. The large dial instruments were also retained and placed in the more traditional T series arrangement as was found on the MG T's prior to the TD.

Speed Age stated So well designed are the bodies that the convertible weighs only 20 pounds more than the stock MG roadster; the coupe 40 pounds more. Arnolts were priced at $2,995 for the coupe and $3,145 for the convertible. Overall only 102 Arnolt MG's were ever built. These were 65 coupes and 35 convertibles, as well as the two prototypes. It is rumored that a falling out between Arnolt and Abingdon ceased the continuance of the line, as Abingdon refused to sell Arnolt more chassis.

Arnolt Brochure

The following brochure was produced in 1953 for the Arnolt cars.

Two page Arnolt MG Family Sports Car brochure. Circa 1953.

Facts and Figures

Table is based on an original data sheet.

More information can be obtained by reading the April of 1953 Motorsport road test of the Arnolt MG. Also a quick overview of the Arnolt car as reported in Speed Age, January, 1953.

Check these excellent sites to understand more details of the Arnolt cars:

• MG Owners Arnolt Car site by Richard Ladds
• The Arnolt-MG Family Sports Car site by Pal Negyesi and Terry Sanders
• The Arnolt MGs site by Jarl de Boer

The MGTD Pickup Truck

Story by E. Alan (Al) Moss and Chris Couper

Like the first Arnolt cars, the MGTD pickup was created from the remains of two wrecked MGTD's.

There was a speed equipment shop, catering to the hot rod and race car trade, called Bell Auto Parts, surprisingly enough, located in Bell, California. The owner was Roy Richter, an early builder and driver of midget racing cars In the mid-1950s, Roy opened an MG and Jaguar agency (Richter Motors) in South Gate. In 1951 or 1952, Roy commissioned two of his employees, Chuck Reynolds and George Beavis to build a pickup truck from the remains of two wrecked TDs. Roy was the founder of Bell Helmets, today the largest producer of crash helmets. He also was an importer of J2 Allards for a short time, winning the Santa Ana Blimp Base road race in 1950. George Beavis hailed from Australia, where he was a champion Midget driver. Around 1953, he campaigned a stock bodied TD with an Offy engine under the hood! He later ran an MG-based Offy special. I nearly hired George in the early 70's to run my machine shop stated Al.

The TD pickup was born. On the back cover of Moss Motor's early T-Series catalogs, in the photo montage, there is a picture of the original pickup, still owned by Richter Motors, far right, 3 inches from the bottom. Al took this photo at one of the local road races. The truck was originally red in color, and remained so until Al purchased it. The two frames were welded together to provide about six additional inches in length. The body in back of the seats was finished off separate from the bed, which was a nearly square box, with no tailgate. The car was left in otherwise original configuration as regards to trim, lights, wheels, engine, etc. Rather unfortunately, instead of fabricating a gas tank to go under the bed, they made a vertical one to fit behind the seat, thus providing very limited room for the driver.

Around 1956 Al Moss was contacted by the current owner, wanting to know if he was interested in purchasing the truck. Al said,It was still located in East Los Angeles and I recall the two of us towing it with a rope to my Venice Blvd. shop. The vehicle was in pretty sad condition with a shot engine (might have been a 1500) and in need of a major restoration, which Al gave it. Al completely dismantled the whole works, sandblasted all the body parts, painted the exterior and grille refrigerator white. Al installed a new Shorrock supercharger on the completely rebuilt engine, as well as a set of new chrome/polished Borrani knock-off wheels. Al put on as much TC trim as possible: door handles, headlamps with tripod inserts, "D" tail lamps, etc. The interior was all done in red leather. Al lined the bed with black Formica. Dale Runyan did the finishing touches: he made a beautiful top, cockpit cover and bed cover, all in black canvas-type top material. Al had the doors and bed hand lettered, as well as painting California Sports Car Club and Long Beach MG Club logos on each side.

While the truck was never used in Al's business, he drove it regularly and it saw considerable service at many Southern California road races. These included Riverside, Pomona and probably Santa Barbara, where it towed a chariot to rotate the race judges and corner workers from turn to turn between races: sometimes quite a load but it handled it well.

Al had a great deal of difficulty getting the MGTD pickup registered in California. It appears that the California DMV could not decide if it was a pickup or a roadster. He tried to get it registered as a pickup but the DMV stated it did not meet the minimum weight requirements. Al then tried to register it again as roadster but the DMV pointed out that it looked like a pickup truck. Al remembers; Finally, I pointed out the bed cover, promised to NEVER EVER haul anything so much as a broom in back and they relented. So, I guess it is still a ROADSTER.

After Al moved to Santa Barbara in 1963, he found he was not using the truck and subsequently sold it (through Mike Goodman?) to the son of the owner of the Tiny Naylor restaurant chain in Los Angeles. I think he was using it to service their vending machines, stated Al. One day it got rear ended and the bed was rebuilt with an opening tailgate. Later on, the car changed hands several times and went to pot. I received a call from Mike Goodman suggesting that I buy it back. Once is enough to restore anything, so I called my good friend Jim Bigler and TOLD HIM HE WAS GOING TO BUY the pickup!, remembered Al. Jim hemmed and hawed and said he did not want another vehicle, etc. etc. but Al prevailed and nearly forced him into buying it. At this time it was pretty much in need of another restoration.

In 1977 Al Moss coerced Jim Bigler of Commonwealth Classic Cars was into buying it for his growing MG business. Jim purchased the pickup and a complete restoration was started, including new lettering in the old Moss Motors style designating the new owners business. Jim was planning on going to GoF XXIV, his first East Coast GoF, and wanted to go in style with the TD pickup as his masthead.

The entire restoration took place in less than two weeks. I concentrated on the body work, painting with white Dupont Imron enamel, and assembly, stated Chris. Tim Cane did the engine and transmission, and Evelyn Bigler did the softgoods.

Al provided Jim with a few photos and he made every effort to redo it as it was when Al had it. Even to the lettering, merely changing it from Moss Motors to Commonwealth Classic Cars. Al recalled, Jim was very proud of his job and anxious to show it to me. I first looked it over from the same side as the photos were taken, walked to the other side, and broke Jim's heart! On the left (photographed) side, at the rear, I had painted in small letters: "UNIT #7", which Jim duly replicated, on both sides. What his photos could not show, of course, was that on the other side it said: "UNIT #8".

While Al thought the pickup handled quite admirably, Chris though remembers otherwise: The MGTD pickup actually drove a bit like a truck. While the front end and suspension were strictly standard MGTD, the rear end had to be stiffened to allow for all the extra weight that could be carried Chris stated. Chris recalled, I had the opportunity to drive the MGTD pickup from Los Angeles to Detroit Michigan in 1977 to attend GoF XXIV in Dearborn. The ride was more like a MGTC than a MGTD. You noticed every bump in the road. One interesting part was driving through Kansas where there seemed to be an abundance of turtles on the roads. In the dark of night they made for interesting clatter and bone shattering thumps as they made their way around the rear tire and fender. For some odd reason even the steering was more like a TC. It seemed to have a lot of play in the wheel. Of course this may have been due to worn out parts.

During the entire trip I paid lots of attention to the oil pressure, remembered Chris. Each hour saw a noticeable drop on the gauge. After the 5 day trip Al Moss, Jerry Austin, Jim Bigler and Pete Thelander spent some time replacing the mainshaft bearings in the parking lot of the Dearborn Marriott. I did not have the pleasure of a return trip from Michigan back to California as I had arranged with a friend to cover that leg, recalled Chris. A few miles out of Detroit the crankshaft gave out and the pickup made the return trip to California in a U-Haul truck.

When Jim downscaled his MG business he sold the pickup back to the new owners of Moss Motors where it underwent another restoration and lettering.

MGTD Pickup Chronology

The MGTD pickup truck started life as an two ordinary MGTDs. Around 1951 or 1952 it was created with the following features:

• Body cut off just behind seat and wrapped back around
• Two frames were welded together to extend the length 6 inches
• Pickup bed made out of sheet metal, no tailgate
• Painted headlamp bodies
• Bob tailed front fenders
• Rear fenders flared front and back under pickup bed
• Truck was painted red with custom lettering (body and grill)
• Arnolt valve and rocker covers (coffin style)

In 1956 when Al Moss owned the pickup truck he made the following modifications:

• Truck was painted white with custom lettering (body and grill)
• Polished Borrani alloy wire wheels
• Chrome headlamp bodies
• TC headlamps withTripod lenses ala Jaguar
• Custom two bow top in black canvas by Runyan
• Shorrock supercharger
• Custom black canvas cover for pickup bed with snaps all around
• Bed lined with black Formica
• MGTC door handles
• Two MGTC license plate lights in rear
• California Sports Car Club and Long Beach MG Club logos

Between Al and Jims ownership:

• Pickup tailgate added of mahogany plywood and hardwood trim after accident
• Gas tank location changed to under truck bed? (note filler cap on later pictures)

When Jim Bigler acquired the pickup the following was done:

• Truck was painted white with custom lettering (white body and red grill)
• Vintage MG Logo
• Bed lined with grooved black rubber mating
• Red interior from a Moss Motors kit and extra fabric
• Red fender piping
• Custom black canvas top, tonneau, and bed cover with red piping
• Mallorey Magneto
• Shorrock supercharger was gone by this time
• 4.5 or 4.75 rear end ratio (can't remember if this was done by Bigler or not)
• Borrani alloy wire wheels, but painted due to time constraints
• TC headlamps without the Tripod lenses

MGTD Pickup Photo Montage

Here are a few pictures of the Moss pickup truck over the years with it's various owners.

The MGTD pickup shortly after it was created by Richter Motors. Note the solid pickup bed and dark red color. Also note that it had traditional slotted TD wheels and painted headlamps. From Edition 18 of Moss Motors parts catalog

An early picture of the Moss version of the TD pickup. This was when Al Moss was in Los Angeles before he relocated Moss Motors to Goleta. c/o Susie Bigler

The Moss version with chariot at a period race. c/o Susie Bigler

The Moss version (Goleta) of the pickup prior to the accident that resulted in the tailgate change. Note the lettering on the rear. Also note the passenger. From Edition 18 of Moss Motors parts catalog

Al Moss driving with blindfold while Jim Bigler shouts directions. GoF XXIV, 1977. Note the VMG logo behind the door. The lettering was done to match the original Moss picture above.

Jim and Al again. Is there any wonder why the crankshaft gave out? Notice the tailgate, the rear license plate lamps. Also note Evelyn Bigler's black tonneau with red piping to match the red interior. This time the grill was painted to match the red interior while originally it was the body color.

The Inskip Four Seater MGTD

The photos below are of Inskip four seater TDs, a few of which were built and sold by J. S. Inskip, the New York MG distributor.

Note how the car appears to be a regular TD from the dash forward and the rear fenders rearward. The seats were of bucket type up front. The body was altered considerably at the door area. Of course, so was the frame underneath and driveshaft. The car also required a different arrangement for the top frame. Notice that extreme amount of fabric dangling in the rear.

Inskip MGTD four seater. Note the Arnolt coupe in the background.

Note the chrome rock guard on the bottom of the rear fender and the tapered running boards.

Not sure if the original Inskip MGTD was offered with a wooden dash or black interior

Note the special Inskip radiator figure.

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