Thanks to Matt K. for sending in this garage find! It’s been off the road since 1983 and on jack stands in a garage for the last 16 years until recently. Some work has been done to get the car running but it is not roadworthy yet. It’s located in Canterbury, Connecticut and is listed for sale here on eBay at no reserve. Bidding is already up to $5,600 and climbing.
The seller has included a lot of pictures including the underside, and has highlighted some issues with them. There’s also a video showing the car driving around the block, but the seller notes that the brakes are non-functional despite the seller honing and putting a rebuild kit into the master cylinder.
Metal has been welded in for some of the floorboards (MGA’s originally had wooden floorboards) and there are some rusty spots in the middle of the frame. The seller has gone into great detail to explain what was done to get the car running again, and has included a list of what they feel should still be done, starting with the brakes. While there are some extra wheels, some have broken spokes, and I doubt that I would trust the ones that are left without either having them rebuilt by a specialist or replaced.
The 1622 “B-Series” engine seems to run well and looks clean with the valve cover removed. The seller reports a little smoke that they hope will clear up with more run time. The engine doesn’t overheat after running for extended periods but I would still think a good going through would be in order after it’s been run for a while.
You can actually see the interior better in the video than you can in the pictures, but it’s certainly worn. Watching the driver get into the car for the drive reminded me how tight entry is in a MGA coupe. The lines are gorgeous, though, and there’s very little missing here. It would not take much to get this to the “safe driver” level, and then it can be cosmetically improved from there. Is that something you’d be interested in?
With all due respect to MGA lovers (I’m one myself) I’d rather have that BMW 327 Cabriolet in the next stall.
Anyway, the MG is in what looks like a pretty good shop but is being sold. Makes me wonder why. Too costly to finish? Lost interest? Too much work to tackle? From the look of the car I’d say it might be the last one. There’s lot of work there.
Would you also like to invest the money to keep that “BMW 327 Cabriolet in the next stall” alive ?…because it will, cost a lot more….(Y)
This car has a number of parts made of unobtainium, the bright work around the windows and the rear windows themselves are such items and the seller says they are missing that trim, which would be very expensive to replace, if you could find it.
The engine is definitely a replacement by someone as the 1622 was never fitted to this car. There’s no indication that it was a factory swap, which seems like wishful thinking by seller. Most folks take the easy way out and fit a MGB motor which results in more power.
Otherwise, seller seems quite forthright, but the amount of work and cubic dollars to bring this back will be much higher than you might think.
If I already owned one, I might be interested in keeping this around for parts, but at the price it’s at already, I’d give it a pass.
Really good rust free MGA frames are few and far between. I hunted one down that needed much less work than the one that was under mine. An A usually starts at the bottom. I dipped it, had pro weld up new floorboard supports, battery racks, red lead printer then black industrial enamel. New shocks and hydraulic everything. Inner and outer rocker panels any other body panels, glass, interior, wiring harness, all lord of the dark Lucas parts. Mucho dinero but fun car. All parts are easy to get, have a ball.