MGA

 

     

 

The MGA was a sports car produced by MG division of the British Motor Corporation from 1955 to July 1962. The MGA replaced the older T series cars and represented a complete styling break from the older vehicles. The car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show of 1955. The design dates back to 1952 when MG designer Syd Enever created a streamlined body for George Philips' TD Le Mans car. The problem with this car was the high seating position of the driver because of the limitations of using the TD chassis. A new chassis was designed with the side members further apart and the floor attached to the bottom rather than the top of the frame sections. A prototype was built and shown to the BMC chairman Leonard Lord. Lord turned down the idea of producing the new car as he had just signed a deal with Donald Healey to produce Austin-Healey cars two weeks before. Falling sales of the traditional MG models caused a change of mind and the car, initially to be called the UA-series, was brought back. As it was so different from the older MG models it was called the MGA, the "first of a new line" to quote the contemporary advertising. There was also a new engine available so the car did not have the originally intended XPAG unit but was fitted with the BMC corporate B-Series type allowing a lower bonnet line. It was a body-on-frame design and used the straight-4 "B series" engine from the MG Magnette saloon driving the rear wheels through a 4 speed gearbox. Suspension was independent with coil springs and wishbones at the front and a rigid axle with semi-elliptic springs at the rear. Steering was by rack and pinion and was not power assisted. The car was available with either wire spoked or steel disc road wheels.

 

 

Chris & Ruth's MGA Roadster

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History of TLX 593

Built for the home market by MG at Abingdon from the 10th to the 12th of December 1956 and originally registered in Central London. NB- of over 100,000 MGA’s built between 1955 and 1962  80% were exported, mainly to the USA.

Original specification 1489cc type ‘B’ pushrod engine giving 68hp with a top speed of around 100mph. Separate chassis with body bolted on. Rack and pinion steering. Drum brakes all round. Factory fitted heater – an optional extra. Cost new around £850 inc tax.

Colour – body Orient Red, Trim red, Carpets and hood black.

By 1968 the car was in Warwick with the then hard pressed owner resorting to dating girls working for Lockheed at Leamington in order to ‘source’ parts needed to keep the car roadworthy.

 

At some time in its history a number of modifications were made including the fitting of an HRG aluminium cylinder head and twin Stromberg CD 150 carburettors.

 

In the 1970’s the car was bought by a Senior manager of Lucas in Birmingham and completely dismantled and re-built in order to teach his teenage sons how cars worked. Restoration was carried out variously by MG at Abingdon, BMC at Longbridge and Lucas in Birmingham. It was at this time that the ‘wrecked’ gearbox was replaced with a rare unit fitted to only around 0.1% of all A’s built. Although kept licensed, taxed and MOT’d between 1978 and 2005 the car covered a total of only 903 miles being largely kept under wraps in a heated, air conditioned garage. Since buying the car in 2005 we have replaced the Stromberg carburettors with a remanufactured pair of the original H4SU’s supplied by E B Engineering of Malvern and covered an enjoyable few thousand miles in this classic sports car.

Research

Having bought our MGA roadster we were in interested in finding out anything we could about it's previous history. Unfortunately we only have a continuation logbook running from 1973 containing the details of the man we bought it from and one other previous owner.

 

Another name "T Colegate" did however appear on a large itemized estimate dating back from March 1968 from the west end garage in Warwick which, although now out of business, still stands. A subsequent visit to Warwick in 2006 led to a conversation with the two customers in The Vine Public House overheard by the landlord who said that his rugby playing mate from the 60's was one Terry Colegate and by pressing a button on his mobile phone speed dial put us in touch with our cars owner from 40 years previously! I'm not sure which of us was more surprised but Terry was certainly pleased to see TLX 593 again recounting how at the time he had deliberately set out to chat up a young woman working at the local Lockeed factory in order to acquire some parts for the MG that he was unable to afford.

 

Last year when collecting some re-furbished shock absorbers from Derek Stevenson we called at an address in Solihull where Malcolm Smyth (the other name on the log book) lived who had owned the car from 1973 to 1976 and, having knocked on the door, was greeted by Malcoms wife who informed us that one of the main reasons she had married her husband was the MGA parked outside. She rang malcolm at work who insisted that we stayed put and promptly left work at New Street Railway Station to return home to see his once pride and joy - to say he was pleased would be erring heavily on the side of understatement.

 

He later sent us a copy of the only photograph that he had been able to find of him in the car and when I asked him where it had been taken, was told that it was on holiday 35years ago queing to cross the River Dart on the car ferry, which coincidentally is where we had been on our first major outing in the car with the SSMGOC staying in Cary Court at Torquay.

The reason for the missing front bumper and no overtaking mirror on the offside was that he had following a minor shunt, fitted a new offside front wing and hadn't;t had time to finish the job before going on holiday.

 

Chris & Ruth Austin