1959 MG A Mark 1 Coupé

“ Built September 1959, this car had a complete chassis-up restoration in the 90's and there's a complete record of the restoration. ”
In excellent condition, with new tyres and battery.

Background
Worlds away from the MG TD it replaced, the MGA is the car that ushered MG into the latter half of the 20th century. Lower and more stable, the MGA arose from the need to create a more streamlined racing car for a privateer racer to enter into the 1951 Le Mans 24-hour race.

This – plus the fact that three prototype MGAs raced at Le Mans in 1955, with two of them finishing in the top 20 – means the diminutive MGA has a considerable competition pedigree.

The very earliest cars were fitted with the 1489cc engine from the MG Magnette engine. With just 68bhp, they had sprightly performance but no better, a state of affairs that was quickly remedied with a 4bhp upgrade shortly thereafter. This small, but important, change gave the newly revitalized MGA convertible and coupé a top speed of almost 100mph, and a 0-60mph time of around 16 seconds.

Nor is the MGA about power because its independent suspension and rack and pinion steering paved the way for the introduction of the Twin-Cam in 1958, a model that had genuine sporting credentials courtesy of a high-compression DOHC engine. Now with 108bhp at its disposal, along with four-wheel disc brakes from Dunlop and peg-drive knock-off steel wheels from the same manufacturer, the MGA was a serious competition weapon.

As with so many serious competition weapons, this high state of tune led to problems in everyday use, so a low-compression engine with 100bhp was introduced. However, even a 113mph top speed and a 0-60mph time of 9.1 seconds wasn’t enough to save the temperamental Twin-Cam and production ended in 1960.

The standard MGA gained a 1588cc engine with 80bhp and front-wheel disc brakes in 1959. The top speed rose to almost 100mph, and it proved to be extremely popular with more than 30,000 being built in three years.

Overview
Built in September 1959, rebuilt at the turn of the century, and refreshed in 2018, this MKI MGA Coupé is a genuine UK-spec example that left the factory on the 25th of September 1959 finished in Chariot Red with Beige trim.

With a history file that extends to 126 pages, ‘181 UXR’ has just three previous keepers, and we believe the first kept it until sometime in the 1980s when it had just 24,000 miles on the clock.

Contemporary notes describe it as “completely original” at the time it passed to its second owner, although it did need work as it had been in storage for a while.

The engine was professionally stripped down, and because the wear was judged to be consistent with the car’s recorded mileage it was merely rebuilt with new seals and piston rings plus a new oil pump.

The chassis was removed and cleaned before being powder coated, the shell was stripped to bare metal before being repainted, and the mechanical components were removed and restored.

Notes in the photo album state the paintwork and mechanical components were finished in 1996, but as there are many invoices on file from the early noughties too, we suspect this was a multiyear project. This guestimate is supported by a comment that the MGA covered only 94 miles in the next twelve years.

Our seller’s father-in-law bought it in 2014. A Bugatti owner and enthusiast, he and his wife were looking for something a bit more modern and comfortable than the vintage convertibles they drove for fun.

They passed the MGA to their son-in-law 2016, after which it spent time in London, leading him to pre-emptively fit an electric fan to better cope with the traffic.

He used it to attend a couple of Goodwood Revivals too but has found himself using it less and less over the years: “I don’t want a museum piece. It needs to be driven!”

Estimate: £15,000 - £20,000

View current price bid HERE