It’s not a barn find, but it’s not your average MGA either. This 1956 MGA Roadster has gone through a top notch restoration and is packing something special under the hood. It is located in Naples Florida and is currently listed for sale on eBay with bidding at $14,100 reserve unmet and a BIN price of $22,500. The price may seem high at first glance, but we think you may consider it fair after taking a closer look.
The seller claims that this car was restored 1280 miles ago and the work looks very high quality to us. We doubt you could pick up a basket case and restore it to this standard for less than the asking price. If you want to try here is a 1958 MGA project for $3895! We love the little details that the owner has added on this car such as the badge bar and the leather hood tie downs. The headlight protectors and luggage rack are even tasteful additions here.
The interior looks great too as would be expected with such high quality work on the exterior. Stock is normally best in our book, but we could live with the logo floor mats and badges on the dash. No aftermarket stereo here to clutter things up. Why would you want one anyway in such a fun open top car?
Under the hood is where things really get interesting. This is the photo that caught our attention when looking over the listing for the first time. There is a Judson supercharger strapped to that little 1500cc engine. Judson built these supercharger kits back in the day and claimed that it would increase the horsepower by about 50% percent. MGAs handle great, but have always lacked a little firepower so this upgrade must have made it one of the most fun cars around at the time.
The supercharger setup doesn’t look like it was just pieced together from old parts either because it includes all the details such as the Judson valve covers, engine bay stickers, and body emblems. We have always loved the look of these cars and the subtle period modifications here make this little roadster infinitely more desirable. We envy the lucky person that picks this one up.
Beautiful car.
Ditto, John.
I just wiped my hands after rebuilding a Judson blower today. They built a nice little unit, although I find a 50% increase in power doubtful. They might add that much to one’s “Impression Ratio”, though! It’s nice to see a complete kit as part of a clean & tasteful restoration. Having done a few MGA restos over the years, I can attest that the asking price wouldn’t touch the expense to duplicate this car, maybe even if you did all the work yourself.
I WAANNNTTT IT
My grandfather had 2 MGA’s back when they were new. One was a twin cam and the other wore a Judson supercharger. He said that the supercharged car was more pleasant to drive, but went through head gaskets frequently. I recall my dad mentioning that the twin cam was a miserable car under 80 mph and brilliant over 80 mph.
Love it
The price doesn’t seem too inflated to me… I test drove a 1600 with a Judson once, some years ago, and having the supercharger TRANSFORMS the performance of the MGA. This car promises to be a bundle of fun.
I own it now.
Congratulations Greg! Please send us more photos!
Someone else bought it after that barnfind posting and tried doing some things to the supercharger. They removed the Holley and replaced it with a Webber that was stock. The car was sluggish and overheated real fast. It was running way too lean. I have the correct jets arriving today to fix it. It overheated bad and cracked the paint on the drivers side around the MGA vent area. I got the car for $13k. Once I fix it, it’s going to be an excellent car. Also going to double check the torque on the head bolts. 50 ft-lbs.
Would be great two drop a tvr griffif 5 liter engine in this motor.
Would sort the powerproblem .:-):-):-):-)
I bought a 55 A for $15.00 as the motor was blown and it sat in a barn for 14 yrs , then bought a motor at the wreckers -1,600cc for $50.00 , rebuilt , shaved head the block then blueprinted and balanced. It wasn’t a speed demon but those extra cc,s were a great help.I put 58,000 miles before the door post went south , but it was a Large piece of fun for 4 yrs.