The MGA is a sports car that was produced by MG from 1955 until 1962.
The MGA replaced the MG TF 1500 Midget and represented a complete styling break from MG's earlier sports cars. Announced on 26 September 1955 the car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A total of 101,081 units were marketed through the end of production in July 1962, the vast majority of which were exported. 5869 cars were sold on the home market, and the MGA was replaced by the MGB.
Design
The MGA design dates back to 1951, when MG designer Syd Enever created a streamlined body for George Philips' TD Le Mans car. The new bodywork traded the MG TF's articulated fenders and running board for ponton styling, with a single styled envelope fully enclosing the width and uninterrupted length of a car.
The TF featured a high driver seating position. 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 B-series engine allowing a lower bonnet line. The MGA convertible had no exterior door handles, however the coupe had 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 four-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.
While the make (or marque) is MG, the model was named MGA by John Thornley in 1954.
1500
The 1489 cc engine fitted with twin H4 type SU Carburettors produced 68 hp (51 kW) at first, but was soon uprated to 72 hp (54 kW). Lockheed hydraulic drum brakes 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 British magazine The Motor in 1955 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0– in 16.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 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 . Due to detonation problems, a low-compression version was introduced later. Four-wheel disc brakes 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 and "DeLuxe" MGA 1600 and 1600 MkII roadsters. These wheels and chassis upgrades were used on a small number of the "DeLuxe" models 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. A careful look at the rear wheel vents would also reveal another feature unique to Twin-Cam and DeLuxe: those four-wheel Dunlop disc brakes mentioned above.
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 reputation had been tarnished. 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 Motor magazine in 1958 and was found to have a top speed of , acceleration from 0– in 9.1 seconds and a fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1,283 including taxes of £428.
Oddly, an open MGA Twin Cam (index PMO 326), road tested by The Autocar magazine in its 18 July 1958 edition only recorded a 0-60 time of 13.3secs with the standing quarter mile of 18.6secs. The mean maximum speed was 113.5 mph, with a best of 114.0 mph.
1600 and 1600 De-Luxe
In May 1959 the standard cars also received an updated engine, now at 1588 cc producing . At the front disc brakes were fitted, but drums remained in the rear.