MGA - A Brief History

Introduced in September 1955, the MGA was the first sports car that MG produced in full width, contemporary style bodywork, however it was still built on a separate chassis. This 2-seater used first of all the BMC B series 1489cc engine, which was powerful enough to propel the car to nearly 100 mph. A year later a steel roofed coupe was launched and this featured wind-up windows and a higher level of passenger comfort. The Coupe despite being slightly heavier than the roadster, could due to its improved aerodynamics, just break the 100 mph barrier.

In 1958 a Twin cam 1600 engine version of the car was introduced alongside the 1500, and this featured an alloy cylinder head on a 1588cc version of the BMC B series engine and was fitted with disc brakes on all four wheels. Although this car could achieve speeds of approximately 120 mph it was dropped in 1960 after about 2000 models had been built, partly due to the fact that this twin cam engine proved to be rather troublesome and unreliable. From 1959 The MGA 1600 was put into production replacing the 1500 of which nearly 60,000 had been built, and this used the conventional overhead valve 1588cc engine fitted with a cast Iron cylinder head. This version used disc brakes on the front wheels but did have the option of all wheel disc brakes. 1961 saw the final version of the MGA, the 1600 Mk II which used the 1622cc B series engine, while the bodywork and interior both saw some minor styling changes. Production of this last MGA ended in 1962 when the MGB was launched.

1500

1600

1600 Twin Cam

1600 Mk II

1955 -1959

1959 - 1960

1958 - 1960

1961 -1962

2 door roadster & coupe, all steel body on steel chassis

13ft 0in

13ft 0in

13ft 0in

13ft 0in

4ft 10in

4ft 10in

4ft 10in

4ft 10in

2015lb

2015lb

2156lb

2015lb

4 cyl 1489 ohv*

4 cyl 1588cc ohv*

4 cyl 1588 dohc*

4 cyl 1622 ohv*

72 @ 5500

79.5 @ 4800

108 @ 6700

90 @ 5500

77 @ 3500

87 @ 3800

 105 @ 4500

97 @ 4000

4 speed manual  with synchromesh on 2nd, 3rd and top  

Rear

Rear

Rear

Rear

Drum all round

F / disc R / drum

Disc front & rear

F / disc R / drum

Independent, coil spring and wishbone

Live Axle, leaf springs

MGA 1600 roadster

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