The MGA was a favorite of mine, with the swooping curvaceous body being a total departure from the T Series that came before it. The MGA replaced the MG TF 1500 and was announced on 26 September 1955 and it was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show. 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 lowest percentage of any British car.
What many people do not realize, was that the distinctive body shape was penned by MG designer Syd Enever, not for a new MG but for an MG TD in 1951, four years before it was used for the new MGA. The shape was Enever’s idea of streamlining to make the MGTD more competitive at Le Mans.
Le Man MGTD.
The first MGA’s had the B Series engine and was 1489cc, but this was progressively enlarged to 1588 and then to 1622, all pushrod single cam. However, a high performance twin cam version of the 1588 engine developing 108 BHP was released in 1958. With 40 horsepower more than the 1500, these should have set the world on fire – but unfortunately the T/C engine is remembered for its woeful reliability as it burned pistons, caused by poor quality petrol and the symmetrical hemi-head design.
MG did a hurried revamp, lowering the horsepower to 100 BHP, but too late! The damage was done and after 2,111 Twin Cams were built, it was dropped in 1960.
We re-designed a T/C engine in 1970 after being given one for no money – the engines being considered worthless.
Brilliant engineer, the late Ivan Tighe, took the capacity out to 2 liters, redesigned the cylinder head and made asymmetric pistons to optimize flame propagation and the detonation problem was cured. Estimated BHP with this engine was 175, which was enough to break axles, explode clutches and tail shafts in the MGB we had dropped the engine into. This car was described by British Leyland as the fastest MGB in the world in 1971. The T/C engine could be made to work.
And if you are an Elvis fan, in the 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.
