Something had to be done about the flagging sales of the TD, but all that could be done at the time was to give it a facelift. Hence, the MG TF Midget was introduced in 1953. Essentially this car was the same as the TD, having the same form of chassis, suspension, brakes, steering, engine, and transmission.

The bodywork displayed the most changes, although it still had that un-mistakable and by now old- fashioned MG style. The most obvious changes were to the front end where the radiator grille had been lowered and raked to give a lower hood line. The front wings were shaped so that the headlights could be faired into them rather than being separately mounted. At the rear there was little difference compared to the TD, although a valance was provided to fill the gap between the bottom of the fuel tank and the bumper.

In terms of performance, there was no change in comparison with the TD, and despite the new body style, MG were kidding no-one but themselves. The sales figures for the car reflected this. By 1955, the TF was seen even at Longbridge to be a flop, but all that could be done in the short-term was to increase the engine to 1466cc, and the car was called the TF 1500.

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