1937 MG VA

Sold for $66,000 at 2014 Gooding & Company - The Scottsdale Auction.
The MG VA was produced from 1937 through 1939 with a total of 2,407 examples produced. The VA, also known as the MG 1.5 Litre, was available in three body styles including a four-door saloon, a drophead coupe, and the four-seater tourer. Power was from a push-rod, overhead valve, four-cylinder Morris TP BG motor offering 54 horsepower. They rode on nineteen inch wire wheels, 10-inch drum brakes, and a four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the top three ratios (some of the earlier cars had synchromesh on the top two speeds).

This particular example is a open four-seater tourer. It has low-slung doors, a burgundy leather interior, wooden dashboard, wool carpeting, and period Dunlop bias-ply tires.

This car rolled off the assembly line in Abington England on September 15th of 1937 with 19 other cars built for the Lancashire Police Force in Lancashire County. It left the factory in black paint with a dark blue interior. When new, it carried registration number BPM 61 (British Police Motor) with engine number TPBG1075. Later, it received a new motor by the MG factory with TPBG1182 and a new guarantee plate and registration CTD 172 in 1940.

The current owner acquired the car in January of 2014 with just 340 miles on the odometer.

The 1548cc overhead valve four-cylinder engine breaths through twin SU carburetors and offers 54 horsepower. There are 4-wheel Lockheed hydraulic brakes and a suspension comprised of semi-elliptic leaf springs.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2015

Sold for $31,900 at 2015 Bonhams Amelia Island Auction.
The MG VA made its appearance in 1936 and was the second all-new MG introduced after the company's acquisition by Morris Motors (the first was the SA). The SA was designed as a luxury car and based on the Wolseley Super Six. The VA shared the 1548cc four-cylinder overhead valve engine with the Morris 12/4 and Wolseley 12/48. It was given twin SU carburetors and developed over 50 horsepower, giving the VA a top speed of over 75 mph. The gearbox had synchromesh on 3rd and top gears, the first for an MG saloon. Body styles included a Charlesworth open tourer and a Tickford-bodied drophead coupe.

This particular MG VA Charlesworth Tourer was purchased in England and brought to the Boston area in 1938. The current owner's father purchased the car in 1939. Since then, the car has resided in Brookline, MA, Brookfield, MA, and Newport, RI before being brought to Cape Code where it has spent most of its life.

After a half-century of use, the car was treated to a restoration. The car was re-sprayed in its original black and the interior was re-trimmed in the correct green hides.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2015