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.
The MGA 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. 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.
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.
The 1489 cc engine 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.[2]
An early open car was 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 (97 km/h) in 16.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of 26.7 miles per imperial gallon (10.6 L/100 km; 22.2 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost £844 including taxes.
The temperamental engine was notorious for warranty problems during the course of production, and sales were poor.[citation needed] Ironically, the source of the problem was only discovered after production had ended;[citation needed] many restored Twin-Cams are running more reliably today than they ever did during production.[citation needed] The Twin-Cam was dropped in 1960 after 2,111 had been produced.
An open car was tested by the British The Motor magazine in 1958 and was found to have a top speed of 113 mph (182 km/h), acceleration from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 9.1 seconds and a fuel consumption of 27.6 miles per imperial gallon (10.2 L/100 km; 23.0 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost £1,283 including taxes of £428.In May 1959 the standard cars also received an updated engine, now at 1588 cc producing 78 bhp (58 kW; 79 PS) . At the front disc brakes were fitted, but drums remained in the rear.
31,501 were produced in less than three years.[2]
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 (97 km/h) in 13.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 29.7 miles per imperial gallon (9.51 L/100 km; 24.7 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost £940 including taxes of £277.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 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.
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 Lincolns, Cadillacs and Stutzes.
- Movie – Animal House (1978, John Belushi & Tim Matheson) a yellow MGA roadster is driven by antagonist Greg Marmalard (played by James Daughton).
- Movie – Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier), 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.
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