Also, a series of
cars produced by the
MG Car Company of
Abdington in
England, the MG
trademark now owned by
BMW. Produced from
1955 to
1962, these two-seater
roadsters or
coupes are a departure from the
prewar styling of the T series
Midget.
Engine sizes range from 1500cc to 1622cc, most of them
overhead valve (
pushrod). A few twin
camshaft engines were developed towards the end of
product development.
Transmissions are always
4 speed with
synchromesh on 2nd through 4th only.
Suspension is independent in the front and
rigid axle in the back,
coils in the front and
leaf springs in the rear.
MGA roadsters are not known for their
weatherproofing. Roll-up
windows are not present on roadsters; early
side curtains are of a folding type, easily letting in
dew and
crud. Later 1622cc models have sliding screens which provide a greater but not full level of weather security. Coupes have roll-up
glass windows, but
ventilation suffers as a result. Coupes as a rule make up for their stuffiness by the fact that all coupes are 1622cc or
Twin Cam with all-around
disc brakes rather than the all-around drum setup on 1500s. 1622 MGAs (excluding some Twin Cam roadsters) had front disc/rear drum setups.
In the
cockpit's seat the 'A' is a
treasure. The
handling is crisp in
turns but moderate at slow
speeds (both
braking and
steering are unassisted.) The only initial difficulty is the
shift linkage, which can be very rough on the
hands since the
throw is
short and very
narrow. Since 1st gear has no
synchro, the
driver either has to fully stop at a
stoplight or engage in very
creative double clutching. For this reason the MGA is not a car for daily
commuting, yet it's fun to take out every once in a while.
Bring a
poncho in case the
top doesn't fold correctly.