Jane 80 Midget Cold Crank 1
Filmed: 5 October 2026,
Time: 1 p.m.
Temperature: 17C / 63F
Car idle: 10 days
The first instalment in a new MG cold-start series—and a taste of what could be a very interesting winter.
After sitting unused for ten days, the MG is reluctant to start. Jane turns the key and the starter labours, slowly cranking the engine before it begins to show the first signs of life. That familiar sound of an old engine struggling to catch takes you straight back to cold mornings on an English estate in the late ’70s and ’80s.
Jane keeps at it, getting closer with each attempt. The engine splutters into life, threatens to stall, then catches again as she works the throttle to keep it running. Even on a mild October afternoon, this MG makes her work for it—and colder weather is still to come.
Jane wears a cream jumper, blue jeans and green Birkenstock sandals. A genuine, raw cold-start clip, filmed as it happened.