MG MGA
Encyclopedia
The MGA is a sports car
produced by MG
division of the British Motor Corporation
from 1955 to 1962.
The MGA replaced the older T-type cars and represented a complete styling break from the older vehicles. The car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show
in 1955. A total of 101,081 units were sold through the end of production in July 1962, the vast majority of which were exported. Only 5869 cars were sold on the home market, the highest export percentage of any British car. It was replaced by the MGB
.
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
. He 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 heart, 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, therefore 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. The MGA had no exterior door handles.
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
. The car was available with either wire-spoked or steel-disc road wheels.
s were used on all wheels. A coupé
version was also produced, bringing the total production of standard MGAs to 58,750.
An early open car tested by the British magazine The Motor
in 1955 had a top speed of 97.8 mph (157.4 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 16.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 26.7 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £844 including taxes.
s by Dunlop were fitted, along with Dunlop peg drive knock-off steel wheels similar to wheels used on racing Jaguars, unique to the Twin-Cam. These wheels and chassis upgrades were used on a small number of "DeLuxe MGA 1600 Roadsters" built after Twin-Cam production came to a halt. Aside from the wheels, the only outside identifier was a "Twin-Cam" logo near the vent aside the bonnet.
The temperamental engine was notorious for warranty problems during the course of production, and sales dropped quickly. The engine suffered from detonation and burnt oil. Most of the problems with the Twin-Cam engine were rectified with the low compression version, but by then the damage had already been done. Many restored Twin-Cams are running more reliably today than they ever did during production. The Twin-Cam was dropped in 1960 after 2,111 (2,210 according to some) had been produced. Production ended in April 1960, but had slowed to a trickle long before.
An open car was tested by the British The Motor magazine in 1958 and was found to have a top speed of 113 mph (181.9 km/h), acceleration from 0–60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 9.1 seconds and a fuel consumption of 27.6 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1,283 including taxes of £428.
31,501 were produced in less than three years.
Externally the car is very similar to the 1500 with differences including: Amber or white (depending on market) front turn indicators shared with white parking lamps, separate stop/tail and turn lamps in the rear, and 1600 badging on the boot and the cowl.
A number of 1600 De Luxe versions were produced with leftover special wheels and four wheel disc brakes of the departed Twin-Cam, or using complete modified Twincam chassis left redundant by the discontinuance of that model. Seventy roadsters and 12 coupés were built.
A 1600 open car was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1959. It had a top speed of 96.1 mph (154.7 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 13.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 29.7 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £940 including taxes of £277.
size was increased again to 1622 cc by increasing the bore from 75.4 mm (3 in) to 76.2 mm (3 in) for the 1961 Mark II MGA. It also had a higher ratio 4:1 rear axle, which made for more relaxed high-speed driving. An inset grille and Morris Mini tail lamps appearing horizontally below the deck lid were the most obvious visual changes. 8,198 Mark II roadsters and 521 coupés were built.
As with the 1600 De Luxe, there were also some Mark II De Luxe versions; 290 roadsters and 23 coupés were produced.
The later MG prototype EX 182 was very close to the final production MGA and was the car actually raced at Le Mans in 1955. Three MGA prototypes were entered at Le Mans
in 1955. Two of the cars finished the race placing 12th and 17th overall, proving the worth of the new car. The third car crashed with serious injuries to the driver, Dick Jacobs.
The MGA has been raced extensively in the U.S. since its 1955 introduction and with considerable success. In Sports Car Club of America
competition the MGA has won numerous regional and national championships. It has also been a favorite choice of those competing in vintage racing. The MGA continues to win races even at the highest levels. Kent Prather has been the most successful American MGA driver to date with G Production wins at the SCCA national championships in 1986, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2003, and 2005. Prather and his MGA accomplished this despite the fact that his MGA was often the oldest vehicle competing among several hundred race cars at the SCCA Runoffs.
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
produced by MG
MG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
division of the British Motor Corporation
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
from 1955 to 1962.
The MGA replaced the older T-type cars and represented a complete styling break from the older vehicles. The car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show
Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung
The Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung , also known as the Frankfurt Motor Show or Frankfurt Auto Show, is one of the world's largest motor shows. It is held biennially in Frankfurt, Germany. The show occupies 12 buildings.The IAA is organized by the Association of the German Automotive Industry...
in 1955. A total of 101,081 units were sold through the end of production in July 1962, the vast majority of which were exported. Only 5869 cars were sold on the home market, the highest export percentage of any British car. It was replaced by the MGB
MG MGB
The MGB is a sports car launched by MG Cars in May 1962 to replace the MGA. Introduced as a four-cylinder roadster, a coupé with 2+2 seating was added in 1965...
.
Design
The MGA design dates back to 1952, when MG designer Syd Enever created a streamlined body for George Philips' TD Le Mans24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
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
Leonard Lord
Leonard Percy Lord, 1st Baron Lambury KBE was a captain of the British motor industry.-Background and education:...
. He turned down the idea of producing the new car as he had just signed a deal with Donald Healey
Donald Healey
Donald Mitchell Healey CBE was a noted English rally driver, automobile engineer, and speed record holder.- Early life :...
to produce Austin-Healey
Austin-Healey
Austin-Healey was a British sports car maker. The marque was established through a joint-venture arrangement, set up in 1952 between Leonard Lord of the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation and the Donald Healey Motor Company, a renowned automotive engineering and design...
cars two weeks before. Falling sales of the traditional MG models caused a change of heart, 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, therefore 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. The MGA had no exterior door handles.
It was a body-on-frame
Body-on-frame
Body-on-frame is an automobile construction method. Mounting a separate body to a rigid frame that supports the drivetrain was the original method of building automobiles, and its use continues to this day. The original frames were made of wood , but steel ladder frames became common in the 1930s...
design and used the straight-4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
"B series
BMC B-Series engine
The BMC B-series was a straight-4 internal combustion engine family, mostly used in motor cars, created by British company Austin Motor Company. The pre-cursor of the "B" series engine was a 1200 cc OHV engine which was used in the 1947 Austin A40 Devon. This A40 Devon engine was based on a...
" engine from the MG Magnette
MG Magnette
The automobile manufacturer MG used the Magnette name on the K-type and N-type cars in the 1930s, but the Magnette models of the 1950s and 1960s are probably best-remembered...
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
Rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...
. The car was available with either wire-spoked or steel-disc road wheels.
1500
The 1489 cc engine produced 68 hp (51 kW) at first, but was soon uprated to 72 hp (54 kW). Lockheed hydraulic drum brakeDrum brake
A drum brake is a brake in which the friction is caused by a set of shoes or pads that press against a rotating drum-shaped part called a brake drum....
s were used on all wheels. A coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
version was also produced, bringing the total production of standard MGAs to 58,750.
An early open car tested by the British magazine The Motor
The Motor (magazine)
The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....
in 1955 had a top speed of 97.8 mph (157.4 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 16.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 26.7 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £844 including taxes.
Twin-Cam
A high-performance Twin-Cam model was added for 1958. It used a high compression (9.9:1 later 8.3:1) DOHC aluminium cylinder head version of the B-Series engine producing 108 hp. Due to detonation problems, a 100 bhp low-compression version was introduced later. Four-wheel disc brakeDisc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
s by Dunlop were fitted, along with Dunlop peg drive knock-off steel wheels similar to wheels used on racing Jaguars, unique to the Twin-Cam. These wheels and chassis upgrades were used on a small number of "DeLuxe MGA 1600 Roadsters" built after Twin-Cam production came to a halt. Aside from the wheels, the only outside identifier was a "Twin-Cam" logo near the vent aside the bonnet.
The temperamental engine was notorious for warranty problems during the course of production, and sales dropped quickly. The engine suffered from detonation and burnt oil. Most of the problems with the Twin-Cam engine were rectified with the low compression version, but by then the damage had already been done. Many restored Twin-Cams are running more reliably today than they ever did during production. The Twin-Cam was dropped in 1960 after 2,111 (2,210 according to some) had been produced. Production ended in April 1960, but had slowed to a trickle long before.
An open car was tested by the British The Motor magazine in 1958 and was found to have a top speed of 113 mph (181.9 km/h), acceleration from 0–60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 9.1 seconds and a fuel consumption of 27.6 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £1,283 including taxes of £428.
1600 and 1600 De-Luxe
In May 1959 the standard cars also received an updated engine, now at 1588 cc producing 78 bhp . At the front disc brakes were fitted, but drums remained in the rear.31,501 were produced in less than three years.
Externally the car is very similar to the 1500 with differences including: Amber or white (depending on market) front turn indicators shared with white parking lamps, separate stop/tail and turn lamps in the rear, and 1600 badging on the boot and the cowl.
A number of 1600 De Luxe versions were produced with leftover special wheels and four wheel disc brakes of the departed Twin-Cam, or using complete modified Twincam chassis left redundant by the discontinuance of that model. Seventy roadsters and 12 coupés were built.
A 1600 open car was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1959. It had a top speed of 96.1 mph (154.7 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 13.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 29.7 mpgimp was recorded. The test car cost £940 including taxes of £277.
Mark II and Mark II De-Luxe
The engineInternal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
size was increased again to 1622 cc by increasing the bore from 75.4 mm (3 in) to 76.2 mm (3 in) for the 1961 Mark II MGA. It also had a higher ratio 4:1 rear axle, which made for more relaxed high-speed driving. An inset grille and Morris Mini tail lamps appearing horizontally below the deck lid were the most obvious visual changes. 8,198 Mark II roadsters and 521 coupés were built.
As with the 1600 De Luxe, there were also some Mark II De Luxe versions; 290 roadsters and 23 coupés were produced.
Competition history
The MGA's bodywork was based largely on that of a one-off MG TD specially built by the MG factory at the request of racing privateer George Phillips for the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. Later, a new chassis was designed so as to seat the driver lower in the car with even cleaner bodywork resulting in the EX 175 prototype.The later MG prototype EX 182 was very close to the final production MGA and was the car actually raced at Le Mans in 1955. Three MGA prototypes were entered at Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
in 1955. Two of the cars finished the race placing 12th and 17th overall, proving the worth of the new car. The third car crashed with serious injuries to the driver, Dick Jacobs.
The MGA has been raced extensively in the U.S. since its 1955 introduction and with considerable success. In Sports Car Club of America
Sports Car Club of America
The Sports Car Club of America is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.-History:...
competition the MGA has won numerous regional and national championships. It has also been a favorite choice of those competing in vintage racing. The MGA continues to win races even at the highest levels. Kent Prather has been the most successful American MGA driver to date with G Production wins at the SCCA national championships in 1986, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2003, and 2005. Prather and his MGA accomplished this despite the fact that his MGA was often the oldest vehicle competing among several hundred race cars at the SCCA Runoffs.
Film and television appearances
- Movie – Blue Hawaii (1961, Elvis Presley & Angela Lansbury) Elvis sings from his open red 1960 MGA 1600 Mk I roadster. The car made numerous appearances in the first half of the picture, often with camera work that seemed suspiciously marketing-like, panning back to the car or putting the car under complimentary soundstage lighting. Elvis so liked the car he bought it for himself, and after changing hands once or twice, he re-acquired the vehicle, which is now at Graceland with his LincolnsLincoln (automobile)Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
, CadillacCadillacCadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
s and StutzStutz Motor CompanyThe Stutz Motor Company was a producer of luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Production began in 1911 and continued through 1935. The marque reappeared in 1968 under the aegis of Stutz Motor Car of America, Inc., and with a newly defined modern retro-look. Although the company is...
es. - Movie – Animal House (1978, John Belushi & Tim Matheson) a yellow MGA roadster is driven by antagonist Greg Marmalard (played by James DaughtonJames DaughtonJames Daughton is a film and television actor who is widely known for his role as Gregg Marmalard in National Lampoon's Animal House. He also had a role in the 1982 film The Beach Girls, in which he was noted primarily for stripping naked and running into the sea.-External links:...
). - Movie – Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney PoitierSidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
), Spencer Tracy who is having a hard time with the interracial engagement of his daughter with a black doctor (Poitier), backs his Dodge into a black MGA in a drive in, causing the owner, another black man, to become quite irate. - Movie - "Cemetery Junction" (2010): a blue MGA roadster is seen in several parts of this movies about a little city in England in 1970s style.