1958 MG MGA

MG introduced the A (a.k.a. MGA) in 1955 and its modern appearance was a dramatic departure from the pre-war appearance of the company's previous sports cars. Designed by Syd Enever, it was conceived as a replacement for the traditional 'T'-Series MG which dated back to the TA of 1936. The MGA, launched at the 1955 Frankfurt Motor Show, utilized a rigid chassis penned by Roy Brocklehurst and powered by the 1,489cc B-Series engine first used in the ZA Magnette. With traditional body-on-frame construction, the MGA had a notably rigid structure due to a triangulated bulkhead design coupled with a very stiff chassis. The suspension was independent with coil springs at the front and by live axle hung on semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. Braking was by Lockheed drums all-round, and steering was by rack and pinion. With the help of aerodynamic and curvaceous bodywork, the MGA was capable of 95 mph. As coaxing more power from the standard engine was becoming increasingly difficult, development shifted to a twin-overhead-camshaft cylinder head for the B-Series block. Conceived at Cowley by BMC engineer Gerald Palmer and introduced in 1958, the new engine offered 108 horsepower at 6,700 RPM and was considerably faster than the stock MGA, capable of top speeds in excess of 110 mph. To cope with the increased performance, Dunlop disc brakes were added to all four corners along with Dunlop center-lock wheels.

The 1958 MGA Series 1500 was available as either a roadster or a coupe and sold for $2,275 - $2,600. The soft-top roadster could be purchased with a removable hardtop and the coupe version had roll-up glass windows and small vent wings. Power came from an overhead-valve four-cylinder engine that displaced 1489cc and offered 72 horsepower. They came with a four-speed manual gearbox with a hydraulically-operated clutch. There were a rack-and-pinion steering system and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.

There were approximately 16,250 MG vehicles sold in the United States in 1958, an increase of 2,754 vehicles over the prior year.

With 5,869 MGA examples sold to the home market, the MGA was primarily for export purposes. In total 101,081 MGAs of all types were sold, most in Roadster form and the vast majority crossed the Atlantic to the US market. It was replaced by the MGB in May of 1962. The Coupe body style was available throughout the model's lifetime in 1500, 1600, MkII, and Twin-Cam forms. Mechanically identical to the open models, unique Coupe features included wind-up door windows, external extra brightwork, door handles, and locks.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2011