TA Passenger Grab Handle

[Rob Reilly]

More research on my TA1271.
The passenger grab handle on my car is different from others I have seen. It is made of round tubing, curved, with no MG logo.

I found one picture online of an unidentified early TA barn find which appears to have the same handle.
TA0779 has a rounded one but different from mine.

All the others I have seen are die cast and straight, with the MG logo in the middle.
I also note that the early TA pictured in the Instruction Manual (CJO617?), TA0655, and one registered KHX55 have no handle at all.
I did not find the handle in the spare parts book.
Is it reasonable then to suggest that the handle may have been optional or an aftermarket accessory?

[Steve Simmons]

I don't know about TA specifically, but I do know that grab handles were aftermarket and dealer installed accessories for TC. Pre-war cars had the straight one with the MG logo. I think TD and TF may have come with curved handles as standard or optional extras.

[Ray White]

That handle look like it's bent!

Perhaps you have been frightening your passengers again!

[Rob Reilly]

Ha, ha! I only wish I had a passenger, or more to the point, a first drive in it myself.
The bend is intentional.
The screw holes are such that they utilize existing screw holes where the panel is attached to the supporting body structure.

More research.
TA0645 has been restored without a grab handle.
TA0655 was found without a handle.
An unidentified restored '36 car with the B269 body (wide gas tank, narrow rear wings) and Netherlands registered 31XM08 has a handle that looks like what you would find at your local hardware store and use on your barn door, i.e. about as aftermarket as you can get.
A restored '37 car registered COX391 (also a B269 body) has no handle.
My car is the 21st car with the B270 body, presumably one of the first batch from Morris.
All this is leading to the decision that I will stick with the handle I have, rather than get one with the MG logo.

[Steve Simmons]

An unidentified restored '36 car with the B269 body (wide gas tank, narrow rear wings) and Netherlands registered 31XM08 has a handle that looks like what you would find at your local hardware store and use on your barn door, i.e. about as aftermarket as you can get.

One of the members here replaced his door latches with barn gate latches. I guess his legs are so long that he kept hitting his knees on the stock latches.

[searunner]

Here the LINK
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FUWjjK1au1bs8CM88
on my 0433 Early TC 1946 find a brass handle without crome. Probably one poor optional, due to the end of the WW II

[Duncan M]

Grab on an unrestored EXU. No MG logo.

[Steve Simmons]

Looks like it may have been a hardware store find! A nice heavy drawer pull or similar. They don't make things so heavy duty anymore, that's for sure. Even the newer MG crested handles are hollowed out on the back to save material, at the expense of strength and comfort.

[Rob Reilly]

Grab handle seen on a restored TC at the Indiana GOF last month.

20230621_122044.jpg (59.79 KiB) Viewed 5092 times

Looks identical to mine.

[Ian R]

This is what mine looks like on TA1643.
My Father restored the car in the early 1980s & I suspect that he purchased some “Bling”.

[Charlie Mac Quarrie]

Attached is a picture of my TC panic handle which works really well as the passenger can grab it with both hands.
I ripped this handle off a New Brunswick Telephone Co. phone booth back in the 50s.
The next person in the booth would not have been able to get out as the handle was needed to open the bi-fold door.
However, they would have been close to a phone to call for help.
Charlie
https://www.mg-tabc.org/forum/download/ ... ew&id=3541

[Tom Lange, MGT Repair]

I would not be surprised that ALL these are after-market handles.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair

[Steve Simmons]

As I recall, handles were mostly dealer-installed. I can't remember for sure on the MMM cars though.

[Warmuthb]

All aftermarket, in my somewhat semi-learned opinion.
Brian W.