Just a nice MG

Was walking around Meredith NH yesterday and stumbled on this. I really liked it and I have never had the urge to have one but this one seemed to just call to me.

that is beauty. I have 56 that has been apart fro 25 years. I got it running and moving under its own power last year, but it has a long way to go.

My favourite cars! I've owned a dozen or more and still have 3 of them.

I have always liked these, but never owned one.

I had the chance to help a gentleman move part of his car collection and this is one of the cars I got to drive. The trip was 15 miles of up to third gear going from La Quinta to the Cochlea area. No highway but in the sweet spot of what the car can do in putting around town.

I am 5'8' and 200lbs, yea working on it, and the steering wheel was at my chest with the seat set to work the pedals. Not as bad as his MG TF, or the Morgan but I one has to adapt.

Now driving a car that has been sitting for an extended period of time gets much better after about 10 miles, and the tires start to go round. Until then they all feel like clown cars.

That car just looks so right in black, and I'm not a huge fan of black cars. MGAs are growing on me too. Very classic curves.

Lovely and classy cars!

JoeTR6 wrote: That car just looks so right in black, and I'm not a huge fan of black cars. MGAs are growing on me too. Very classic curves.

Careful Joe, I hear that they somehow self replicate. When one is spotted somewhere, more follow

I personally feel that it is a much nicer looking car than the big Healeys. I had one when I was 17 but it was the one car that I failed to get on the road. I did learn a lot from that experience!

The Healeys are a classic looking car but the MGAs are usually more fun to drive, and in race trim I beat a lot of Healeys on the track with my better braking and cornering.

My favourite looking MGA shape is the coupe, though.

An MGA is on my short list after I sell my CRX and Mustang. I love them.

In reply to wspohn:

I love the coupe, too. And my wife, who could care less about cars of any kind (she describes them by color), surprised the hell out of me last month at the Bristol, RI British Car Show when she told me "I really like that red one. I could see myself driving that." It was Angus Ross's MGA coupe that looks just like this:

Well, so could I.

In reply to Gary:

My wife, who also doesn't care much about cars, really loves these too. That's one of the reasons I'm considering one.

Gary - the coupes are much rarer than the convertibles and are also much more comfortable for touring IF you add an insulation blanket to the transmission tunnel and driver side floor (under which the exhaust runs).

Many owners are installing 5 speeds (usually the Sierra T-9 box out of the British Fords) to give long legged touring.

I run a stock 1800 early MGB engine and stock 4 speed in my Mk 2 coupe and have no problem keeping up with traffic!

Here's my red one:

We have a few of them, but this is the only Coupe and probably my favorite. Excellent cars to drive. Enough squirm with narrow tires to provide manageable drift action and down right abusive to the body with sticky tires. I have a five-main 'B engine in mine, which provides power that works well in these cars. The stock 1500/1600 doesn't have much grunt. A touch more power and a lighter flywheel really made my Coupe a joy to drive. Even with insulation, I still feel like Cool Hand Luke in the hot box on sunny days.

Five years this month I've had mine. Love this car Still gives me the ice ball in the gut when I walk up to it.

I still prefer the few they made with 'real' engines, though!

In reply to Apis Mellifera:

A friend of mine had a coupe back in high school that he let me drive. He sold it for $300. after I turned it down because my dad said I could only keep one British car (my mini) in the driveway.

Apis Mellifera wrote: Here's my red one: We have a few of them, but this is the only Coupe and probably my favorite. Excellent cars to drive. Enough squirm with narrow tires to provide manageable drift action and down right abusive to the body with sticky tires. I have a five-main 'B engine in mine, which provides power that works well in these cars. The stock 1500/1600 doesn't have much grunt. A touch more power and a lighter flywheel really made my Coupe a joy to drive. Even with insulation, I still feel like Cool Hand Luke in the hot box on sunny days.

Man that's a pretty car. I saw it in the background of the motorcycle thread. I think the MGA has the upper hand in looks over the TR-3, but the 3 has it beat on motor. I love the coupe too, but I'm not sure I could get in and out of one now. I've always wanted to get one and do naughty things in the engine compartment.

How do you have that tag?

Yeah, MGAs are just such pretty cars.

In reply to 60mga: you have a very nice MGA. I aspire for mine to look like that one day!

In reply to spitfirebill:

ULJ426 is the number for the first prototype Coupe. I went to my local DMV and ordered a vanity plate with that number. I also ordered the period English plate from a guy in the UK. When the plates and paperwork arrived, I just fixed the UK plate to the car and used the US registration. I've been driving around with it for years.

My father had one in college and his lesson to me growing up was "you don't need to go fast to have fun" He said his MGA was the most fun car he'd owned..... and probably the slowest.

I've driven a few and they are wonderful. Absolutely on my short list to own someday. And they can be speedy too! (Just ask Kent Prather! )

Don't forget to ask Kent Prather how much that speed cost

I can only imagine how modern and beautiful the MGA appeared when it was first introduced, in contrast with its T Series predecessors. It still has graceful lines and timeless beauty. Then the MGB came along, looking even more modern. By the early Sixties, the future of the British Motor Corp. must have seemed oh so bright.